Places to consider (caveats included):
-
Oberlin: campus not entirely self-contained but integrated with small, charming college town that has a surprising amount to offer. Felt very safe. Decent endowment for a school this size, a good # of environmental science majors, and I think for your student (if you demonstrate interest) this could be a strong match, even verging on a likely, probably with a nice chunk of merit aid.
-
If you go visit Oberlin, and I think you should, I recommend you also check out Case Western Reserve, Kenyon, Denison, and maybe the College of Wooster. The latter would be a likely. Charming LAC with maybe a sleepier/more regional feel. Required research sets them apart. Denison should be a match but their admissions have been getting more competitive and they seem to favor ED candidates. Preppier/sportier feel than Oberlin, but similarly safe (even smaller town walking distance from campus) and they have a gorgeous research preserve right off campus. Kenyon is gorgeous, might feel too isolated? very safe, academic-feeling. Case is an outlier – larger undergrad student body in a city with research labs etc. Cleveland gets a bad rap but the area around Case was basically museums/parks/symphony hall and the campus felt more connected than, say, Pitt or BU or some of the other more urban schools. I think if you demonstrate interest it’s a solid match. I think the size of the school and the flexibility of their program makes it appealing for well-rounded students who aren’t sure what they want to do yet. e.g. if your kiddo ends up wanting to do engineering, he can, and he doesn’t have to apply to the engineering school ahead of time.
-
In the Upper Midwest, do consider visiting Macalester. They have a large contingent of environmental science majors. I wouldn’t exactly describe the campus as self-contained – it’s small, not quite as charming as most of the other LACs that we visited, and tucked into a pleasant, tree-lined neighborhood of St. Paul. It’s definitely not a big sports/frat school – more academic/artsy. They do a decent amount of merit aid for with strong stats and offer EA.
If you want my color commentary on our tours of some of these schools, read more here and here and here. (FWIW, our son did end up applying to/being accepted at Macalester and St. Olaf as well as Oberlin and Case. Despite my LAC and small university advocacy, he chose UW-Seattle for engineering, west coast vibes, and proximity to Asian and Middle Eastern restaurants. It seems to be working out well so far…)
Places we didn’t end up visiting but they might be worth checking out:
-
In the Pacific NW, both Lewis & Clark and University of Puget Sound seem to have decently sized environmental science departments and I believe would meet your other specifications as well (both would be likely admits). I’m not sure actually about how completely financially solid either school is (and this might go for many LACs where your kiddo would be a likely admit?) Disclaimer: we never ended up visiting either.
-
In California, Occidental seems like it could be a match. (And if it seems exciting and you end up visiting, might as well check out the Claremont Schools. All are reaches but Pitzer maybe a bit less so – and it’s got a strong environmental science bent.)
-
In the Northeast I’d check out Bates, Skidmore, and maybe Vassar and Wesleyan. (disclaimer: these are reachier schools.)
Hope this is somewhat helpful – it’s fun to make the list! and there are so many terrific schools out there.