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Yeah, and my other kid is very happy to be off campus as a senior–but I know a lot of families who have struggled with the off campus housing situation at publics.
Sounds like he is on the way to developing a great list!
When you mentioned mountains and wilderness, I wondered if he had considered any schools in the pacific northwest? Or maybe he ruled that part of the country out because of weather? (My kids LOVE pacific northwest weather, but this is a personal preference thing for sure.)
Kind of…but it’s SO far. He’s expressed a bit of interest in UW, but he’s not really a big city kid.
Weather doesn’t feel like an issue to him–he is royally sick of FL heat.
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There are some LACs in the PNW with more generous admit rates than you will find in the east… although I don’t personally know a lot about them because my kids are not into LACs. I’m sure others can tell you more.
Also, a lot of CA kids like to add one of the Oregon flagships to their lists as a likely/safety (either U Oregon or Oregon State or both); these schools are outdoorsy, located in college towns, have generous admit rates, and both have wonderful honors programs. We’ve known a lot of happy kids attending these schools.
UW has a pretty campus (I thought it was one of the prettiest we visited) and it isn’t smack dab in the middle of the city, but it does have a lot of urban neighborhood texture near it.
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If you don’t want to go over $50K, I’d remove CU Boulder. Not sure W&M fits the near mountains, etc. Nor does Macalester. Sewanee sounds perfect actually, if it hits cost, and he doesn’t have a technical interest.
Have you looked at Arizona, Utah? Nevada Reno? New Mexico? Oregon State? These are not at the higher end level - but neither is CU or Maine. UNC Asheville is a small school making cuts. Whitman is in the PNW - and will give you a merit pre read - so you can see if you can make cost.
Have you looked at App State, W Washington, Montana State, N. Arizona? Again, they don’t match his stats per se but they do his desire and your cost.
Good luck
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Or University of Maine, main campus. Excellent outdoor activities for sure. I’m not sure if the tuition match applies to Florida. Someone will need to check.
But it’s a great school especially for those who love the outdoors.
University of New Hampshire is also worth a look see.
I’m hoping @WayOutWestMom will elaborate on the outdoor things available not all that far from University of Nee Mexico, which should meet the family price point.
Take a look at the University of Vermont.
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Since he seems to like Colorado, add Colorado State to the list. A bit less expensive than Boulder and more of a target than Boulder is right now. Colorado State is very much a “pick your own adventure” school, so he can do well in just about any major. Much less of a big game/party/frat culture than Boulder, but it’s there if you want it, and off-campus housing (and parking!) is plentiful and cheaper than Boulder. As I said, very pick your own adventure. I believe the Wildlife Society and Outdoor Club are the biggest clubs on campus, so lots of wilderness to explore and lots of people who want to explore it with you. S23 lived in a dorm where people were much less interested in partying on a Friday night because they wanted to get up early to go camping and hiking on the weekends.
It will come in under budget, even more so since he qualifies for the Green and Gold merit scholarship. I highly recommend their Honors program, and that will give you another 1K a year. If he applies early (helps with Honors as it fills up) he’ll likely have a response by mid-October.
Funny thing is, between this post and my post upthread, I think I already hit on all of your cons before I even suggested the school.
If he’s interested in UVM and Maine, I’d also look at UNH.
The larger LACs that would be targets/safeties seem to be pretty Greek dominant. Perhaps that’s where an OOS public (non-southern) comes in. Most of them have Greek life, but it’s a small percentage and only seems to matter to those who are actually participating. That’s a pro for bigger schools. Even if a lot of people participate in something, there are also a lot of people who don’t participate in it as well.
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Outdoor activities aplenty. Skiing/snowboarding at Sandia Peak Ski Area about 30 minutes from campus. Ski Santa Fe is 65-75 minute away.
ABQ is partially surrounded by National Forest and there’s a mountain range (two actually) on the east side of town. Trail running, rock climbing and mountain biking are popular. The National Forest lands/ABQ open space adjacent to the National Forest are accessible by a city bus from campus. Bikes allowed on city buses. Students gets free bus service by showing a student ID. Tons of walking/jogging trails along the Rio Grand bosque, not far from campus. Kayaking/paddleboarding/canoeing on the Rio Grande that runs through town–though if you want white water you’ll need to go north of Santa Fe.
World class skiing in Taos (3.5 hours away but the ski club runs buses).
Horseback riding. Hot air ballooning. White water rafting on the upper Rio Grande. Because ABQ is at about 7,000 ft above sea level and has a mild, dry climate, many highly competitive runners live & train here. Many attend UNM. Lots of road cycling too. City has plentiful dedicate bike lanes for commuting. DH commuted by bike to work daily for over 20 years. Both daughters used to commute to and from campus by bike during med school. Lots of rural roads for long bike rides starting from in-town.
AAA Baseball team in town with a great sports stadium that’s directly across from UNM’s basketball arena.
UNM’s football team majorly upset UCLA at the Rose Bowl a week ago–so the football team is looking good this season. Lobo basketball is always good.
Plenty of hiking and camping in various National Forest lands around Albuquerque. Some excellent trout fishing if you know where to look….
What kinds of sports is your son interested in?
University of New Mexico will significantly less expensive that CU or CSU in Colorado.
Read about LUE and LUE+ scholarships. LUE :: Albuquerque, New Mexico | The University of New Mexico
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Yep, we know Macalester isn’t that, but he likes the school, so it’s an intentional exception.
We haven’t looked at many Western schools. It just feels far. We have a lot of family connections to New England, and UNH, U Maine, UVM are just a lot more logical focus travel wise. I’m also hesitant about red state state schools. I know NC is red, and the NC interest isn’t that serious.
I don’t really know anything about this school, but I appreciate the info. Do you think these outdoor opportunities are easily available to a student without a car? What about travel?
He’s not super sportsy exactly–more of an outdoors kid–although he is interested in club soccer and ultimate.
I agree, and think similarly. He’s fine with some Greek presence, but just doesn’t want it to be Everything.
Yes…. But only if you can afford it. I didn’t read the thread but portions of it. My son went to a large Big Ten. My daughter went to a small Lac around 1500 students. Both had small classes. Both kids professors knew each of the kids names. Both had easy access to their professors. Both did study abroad. Both made a name for themselves with school support. Fit and affordability is key. Regardless if it’s in state or not.
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Yes, the outdoor area will be accessible without a car–though if he has a bike that will help. ABQ really is good biking town with well laid out commuter bike lanes all through town.
A lot of UNM kids have cars on campus so it’s pretty easy to find someone with common interests who will give you a ride.
ABQ Open Space starts just east of Tramway Blvd and runs up to National Forest which crosses the mountain range. There is a city bus line that runs from campus to Tramway. (My house was a couple of residential blocks from the Open Space and my neighbor’s daughter lived at home and rode the bus to UNM’s campus for classes for 4 years. It’s very easy to do.)
The Bosque is short bike ride from campus. There is dedicated bike trail along the flood diversion channel that starts a few blocks NW of campus.
Travel. There is an international airport in ABQ. Albuquerque Sunport. Airlines that have flights out of the ABQ include: Alaska, Southwest, American, Delta, Jet Blue, Delta. It’s 15 minutes from the Sunport to campus.
There’s also an Amtrak station in downtown ABQ. And there’s commuter rail service between Santa Fe and Belen (about 30 miles south of ABQ) Schedules | Rio Metro Regional Transit, NM
Ultimate Frisbee? https://www.instagram.com/unm_frisbeeclub/
They practice on the soccer practice field next to the Johnson Center (Rec center) right by the freshman dorms. I always used to see them out playing when I went by campus.
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I’d personally recommend Arizona over UNM - Arizona is a national leader in many fields, over 40% out of state students vs less than 20% at UNM and they come from all over vs regional (this might reduce over time given merit reductions). The campus is an aboretum so you have plenty of greenery right there. They don’t have public transport to nearby Mt Lemon or Saguaro National Park but many will have cars. And Tucson > ABQ by far although that’s subjective.
That said UNM will be less expensive.
Many states also have a state LAC in the state system. St Mary’s in Maryland, UMinn-Morris, Ft. Lewis in Colorado. Ft. Lewis is a little harder to get to, but once you are there you are in the mountains and close to skiing, hiking, biking.
I agree that CU is going to be very hard to get to below $50k, but there is CSU, Mesa (Grand Junction, also close to mountains, ski hills, biking). And Wyoming, while in a red state, is just a few miles from Colorado and will be half the price of CU. Most people fly into Denver and then either take a bus to Laramie or catch a ride with friends. Most cities in Florida have non-stop flights to Denver (I had one kid in college in Florida and another at Wyoming so I know the route).
Colorado College is very different, and VERY expensive. They give merit, but if you don’t get it, it’s expensive. Denver University is urban, but in a weird way doesn’t seem like it as it isn’t huge and everything is sort of together, even the hockey rink right in the center of campus. It is surrounded by residential housing, but the light rail lines have a stop there so students can get to anywhere they want to. They just announced that the light rail line to Golden is going to have a shuttle bus to 6 places along the foothills to get you to Red Rocks, hiking, dinosaur ridge, etc.
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To answer your question, it doesn’t sound to me like you’re missing much. Between you & your husband, you have the combined experiences to be quite insightful about this.
You are looking at a different educational experience when you compare a large public with a small LAC.
I have run cost of attendance at Colorado College and it comes in around mid 50s. It looks to be higher than other similar LACs. The 50ish number is based on COA at various schools. Lower is great, of course.
I only have one child in college at a small LAC, but her experience has been intensely personal in a way that kids we know at our state schools absolutely has not, but I realize it varies. Her school has not been perfect, though.