My younger son, a junior, loves chemistry and biology, and excels at it. He also is passionate about the natural world and craves being outside. He’s looking for college programs that combine deep dives into the hard sciences with opportunities for field experience, and would love to have a career that looks at forest ecology or other environments through the lens of cutting-edge chemistry and biology. Many of the programs we’ve found in ecology focus more on human interactions, or pollution, or even industry (timber and forestry)— and that’s not what he’s looking for.
We know about Colorado College’s focus on the outdoors and the opportunities for field work that their block schedule creates, and it’s at the top of his list. We also found the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) program at UC Santa Cruz (we live in California), which seems to focus on applying chemistry and bio in the field without watering down the study of sciences— and also seems to have some great opportunities for field study. There’s also UC Berkeley’s Rausser college? But besides that, we’re lost.
Any suggestions are appreciated! His brother is at Princeton, but I don’t think that’s the place for my younger son, even if getting in weren’t the barrier it is.
Other info:
No SAT scores yet, but tests fairly well
3.9 GPA (UW)
Taking a challenging course load (AP classes, advanced math, IB classes)
Avid mountain biker with some championships and lots of leadership; rock climbing; he’s a laid-back outdoors guy
Self-study of additional chemistry as well as programming
I think there’s so many - from small LACs like in Maine to Montana State, etc.
What matters - size (you mentioned small Colorado College and not small UCSC), cost, football or greek or otherwise.
There are some schools known for biking, others for rock climbing. I know a climber at UT Chattanooga.
You list a lot of things - and there’s many a school that could fit.
If you could narrow down on size, cost, geographical preference, weather - some more things, you can get a more targeted response vs. the several hundred schools you may now get.
PS - besides the outdoors stuff, what types or level of ECs or part time job, etc.?
Yes, he needs to start narrowing down based on the factors you mention— but hasn’t gotten there yet. He doesn’t look humid or muggy weather, and so isn’t as interested in schools in the south? EC’s mostly have revolved around mountain biking— besides the sport itself, team leadership, fixing trails, volunteer at neighborhood bike clinics, etc. We live in CA. Thank you!
Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado has great mountain biking and he can look at the majors they offer to see any would be of interest. @NCalRent had a son attend whom can tell you more about the Mountain Biking program and about the school. It is part of the WUE program so OOS costs will be lower.
Other schools within the WUE would be worth investigating.
I think a lot of the schools on your prior post will still make the cut. I’d look later - but I bet Utah, the Montana schools - check the WUE.
But you sort of have to know at least big vs. small school - because it’s a huge difference in the day to day.
The WUE might be a good place to start. You can sort in by major and find who has what he’s looking for - and then go to them individually to see about their field type offerings.
It’s great that you’re in California! Tons of great options at the UCs, CalPolys, and CSUs! @Gumbymom’s UC Davis recommendations are awesome. I have a few others to toss in as you’re exploring.
One you mentioned — Rausser, at UCB — is excellent, especially with his forestry+science interest. Their Ecosystem Management and Forestry program could be a great fit, or if he goes another direction, he can still get a minor by going to Forestry Camp. Obviously, Berkeley is a reach for everyone, so it’s good to go into the process with eyes open. Biking and climbing are going to be a bit harder to do while at Berkeley, though there are some options in the general area, and the Cal Hiking and Outdoors Society seems active.
Another excellent option is at Cal Poly SLO, in their Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences department. Their BS’s include Environmental Earth and Soil Sciences, Environmental Management and Protection, and Forest and Fire Sciences. Cal Poly is all about “learning by doing”, so I expect there’d be a LOT of time in the field. I suspect a lot of their Forestry work might be geared towards industry, but looking into it will give you more insights. The Earth and Soil Sciences degree struck me as “geology + chemistry” when D22 was looking around; even if it’s not forestry-related, that might align with your son’s scientific interests.
A bit easier to get into would be Cal Poly Humboldt, which has a Forestry major with different concentrations that might appeal to him, like hydrology or soil science. As with the other Cal Polys, they really emphasize the “learn by doing” approach.
My niece was a graduate of Cal Poly SLO from their Environmental Earth and Soil Sciences. They have combined the old Geology and Soil Science majors into this program and there 2 concentrations on Geology and Hydrology as options.
as @gumbymom notes, my son is a recent Ft Lewis grad (BA Psych) from CA, He did get a small scholarship from them for mountain biking, with WUE was cheaper than a Cal State. He had a phenomenal experience and is well prepared academically. Small classes at all levels, very accessible and supportive profs in a beautiful setting with breathtaking views in every direction. Reach out to the coaches and set up a visit. Coaching Staff | Cycling | Fort Lewis College | Durango CO
If your son wants to see how far he can go as a competitive cyclist, there is no better program. My son busted his ass and went from mid pack HS racer to USA Cycling top 20 ranked (XCC and XCO disciplines) pro for about 3 years, he earned his way to a wearing a USA jersey at UCI World Cup race in Austria in June of this year. He is home making some money and deciding between a few chiropractic colleges.
here’s his youtube channel
that’s the USA cycling college page, schools listed as Varsity have staff and scholarships. Those on the club list are student run and vary widely.
An aside, the only US male mountain biker at the Tokyo Olympics was Chris Blevins, a CP SLO grad who grew up in Durango. The 3 women, Kate Courtney, a Stanford grad who grew up in Marin County. Erin Huck went to UC Boulder and Haley Batten went to school in Canada somewhere.
when we were looking into it, CPSLO, UCSC, Humboldt CPP and UNR had the biggest teams - they had 5-6 races each season.
my other son went to Chico and also had a great experience.
I should add, Co College, UCB, CPSLO and even UCD are reaches for most freshman applicants. Just sayn… don’t spend lots of cycles falling in love with the perfect school if its not a good fit.
Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff)
University of Utah (Salt Lake City)
Utah State University (Logan)
University of Alaska Fairbanks (Fairbanks)
University of Idaho (Moscow)
Washington State University (Pullman)
University of Washington (Seattle)
Colorado State University (Fort Collins)
University of Nevada Reno (Reno)
New Mexico Tech (Socorro) - more chem/earth than bio
I personally know biologists at each of these institutions and they are worth a look based on your son’s interests. Those are just the ones in the West that came to me off the top of my head.
I would consider Carleton. Bio, Chem and Geology are all outstanding. Has an adjacent 800 acre arboretum with prairie, river, and oak savanna ecosystems, also biking and XC ski trails. Excellent rigorous academics, as good as any LAC in the country, but a little easier to get into than Williams, Pomona etc. due to location being Minnesota. Collaborative students, friendly, outdoorsy.
Lots of great ideas shared above. You might also look into schools that offer special and focused study abroad semesters, for example, the Costa Rica program with Texas A&M’s Biomedical Sciences major, and I am sure many other (typically larger) schools offer similar niche study abroad options: