Best Colleges for Skiing?

Growing out of the tangent on the MC thread.  As a parent of a smart kid who can rip this intrigued me.

I don't know much about western schools academically.  What is the best combo of skiing and academics?  If I had to guess my son will major in Engineering.  He is only 11 so it's a ways off but we can help Sno with this now.

Coach Z wrote

Growing out of the tangent on the MC thread.  As a parent of a smart kid who can rip thus intrigued me.

I don't know much about western schools academically.  What is the best combo of skiing and academics?  If I had to guess my son will major in Engineering.  He is only 11 so it's a ways off but we can help Sno with this now.

Coach,
I would send him to Colorado School of Mines if he is serious, Montana State if he can't make the CSM cut. Both are close enough to skiing that he can actually ski a lot during the season and not spend all his time on the road - particularly mid week. MSU has the better team and he would likely need to be one of the top in the east to make it, CSM has a fun club team that gets a lot of skiing in.

Keep him on the East Coast .... all the BEST racers are from here

anyone can ski that silly POW

Google "Newschoolers best college for skiing"   that site gets at least 10 threads a year about the subject!

Dartmouth College

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~skiway/




Middlebury College

http://www.middleburysnowbowl.com

Why leave New York?

In ascending order of selectivity:

• Clarkson University; 1hr 46m to Whiteface
• RPI; 1hr 24m to Gore, 2hr 5m to Killington
• Cornell; 28 to Greek, "a drive" to anywhere big

All three are great schools, with significant alumni mafias and D-I hockey. My father went to Clarkson; I went to Cornell. His choice panned out very well for him (and me!). My choice? Jury's still out. But, then, I didn't follow my father's footsteps into engineering. My college buddies who studied engineering—let's face it, all of my friends studied engineering—have succeeded in a nearly uniform fashion.

Best of luck to your son, Coach. More proximately, start thinking, Sno! Any kid with your interest in lifts and hills is a MechE or CivE for sure.

Clarkson - $50k/yr
Cornell - $47k/yr
RPI - $47k/yr

MSU - out of state - $32K/yr, in state - $13K/yr
Do the math, establish residency in Bozeman where ancillary benefits include a 70% decrease in property taxes and Bridger Bowl.
Engineering Schools in the NE are a rip off and a BS degree at Cornell will not get you any further than a BS degree from Georgia Tech ($33K/yr) and when I was hiring engineering grads I viewed a degree from Georgia Tech or Virginia Tech just as highly as an MIT or Stanford Grad, and in all actuality they usually had less of an attitude and would be more loyal. Never hired a CSM grad but the few engineers I worked with that came from there were GD smart. The one recent MSU grad I know is working in Houston for big Oil, pulled down >$100K right out of school. Poor SOB gets no skiing in though.

Those are some steep prices.  Dudes in Ontario protest the government because its about $6K no matter if you go to some piece of shit university or the best in Ontario.  Of course much like everything else in Canada it's subsidized by the Government.  Crazy.

Claude  

My daughter is a junior at Cornell engineering...65 bones a year..it's just a number..

They have a club race team that skis at Greek..Her work load is to great to spend time training etc...

Scersk wrote

Why leave New York?

In ascending order of selectivity:

• Clarkson University; 1hr 46m to Whiteface
• RPI; 1hr 24m to Gore, 2hr 5m to Killington
• Cornell; 28 to Greek, "a drive" to anywhere big

University of Utah: 40m to Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, Park City, The Canyons. Tution- $19k
MSU Boseman: 35m to Bridger Bowl, 50m to Big Sky. $21k

JasonWx wrote

65 bones a year..it's just a number..

I hope with that mentality you aren't making your daughter pay for it.

OK , you probably will NOT want to hear this , but as a former college president and one who raised an ALL East 3 sport Division I athlete who today is a medical professional in NYC ......your sons future as an ENGINEER , if in fact that is where he ends up is The ONLY thing that really matters .

Skiing while our passion is just that a passion, not a profession , unless Your son is the next Ted Ligity with his entrepreneurial skills . So my advice choose the school based on the QUALITY of the engineering program while considering the availability of either varsity or club status skiing.

as a former college athlete myself and one who also coached at the inter collegiate level many FINE students THRIVE both academically and athletically , but when a young person is in a rigorous program of study it requires a tremendous ability to focus and MANAGE time exceedingly well.  

So plan for life , make sure the proper perspective DRIVES. The decision, maintain and nurture his passion and ability as askier but temper decision making with the longview of life success and things will usually turn out quite well.

Good luck , enjoy the journey , it is an exciting time in both your lives.

The kid is in 6th grade and you know you want him to be an engineer?  Really?  Granted becoming an engineer or a medical proffestional is about the only thing you should go to college for in my opinion.  

In 7 years college prices will either be so out of control it won't be affordable or they will have hit a bubble as people start choosing to not go to school because they will never pay off the loans incurred... which will send university's into a tailspin.  Either get the best education possible for the least amount of money or learn a trade.  Whatever you do ensure the kid graduates debt free or with very little debt (under 10k MAX).  If you have the choice between student loans w/ skiing in Colorado or a full ride in the south go south every time.  No kid should be 22 and have essentially a full mortgage to pay off before they have earned a cent.  The best thing you can do for your kid is not sending them to a good school but ensure they don't incur more debt then they can afford to pay off.  The kid who comes out of school debt free can afford to take the easy to get low pay jobs that will teach them their craft vs the kid who has to make big money otherwise they won't eat.  The 100k out of college engineer jobs are really hard to find anymore and are HIGHLY competitive to get.  It is no longer a guarantee.    

tBatt wrote

JasonWx wrote

65 bones a year..it's just a number..

I hope with that mentality you aren't making your daughter pay for it.

I say that tongue n check..The cost is sureal..Hard to rap your mind around it..

I think Coach was just guessing at Jr's path.

My story is surely outdated, as the tech revolution has probably changed everything. But that won't stop me from telling it LOL.

I went to a "good" (?) small eastern school and had a great experience. Expensive I think at the time, probably has an even better reputation now than it did then. Tuition went up $1000 each year $8k, 9k, 10k, 11k which were huge prices and increases in the late 70s/early 80s.  Lucky for me my parents paid, it's kind of a tradition in our family. Yikes :)

Had great, good and mediocre professors. NEVER missed class... (missed 4 in 4 years).  Total liberal arts, majored in Economics/Art. My opinion is clouded by my experience but — in the long run — I don't think your school choice will make or break.  It MAY help you get that first job, which is nothing to sneeze at, but ultimately your brain and motivation will rule the day.

Like I said, my experience probably clouds that. I'm 56 and no one has ever seen my college transcript or even asked what college I attended.

My dad tells me that I should look for a college with not just access to skiing, but a skiing culture as well.  My high school has incredibly easy access to skiing with MC only 15 minutes away.  However, besides the people on the race team, there are only 6 kids in my grade including me who go to MC regularly (at least once a week).  When I go to college I want to go somewhere where there is like 50 students who ski all the time.  That will mean I have a lot more friends and a way more enjoyable time.  It isn't all about the money.  Of course you need to go to a good school that will give you the education you need, but it is also necessary to enjoy yourself at college.  If I get a full ride to University of Miami, there's not going to be any debt, but no skiing at all either and I sure as heck won't fit in or enjoy myself.  That would be 4 years of hell right there

campgottagopee wrote

Keep him on the East Coast .... all the BEST racers are from here

anyone can ski that silly POW

Go west if you want a true college ski experience. Forget VT. It sucks compared to outwest.
Posts like this are such a JOKE.
FROM...being the operative word. Then they moved on....lol Typical east coast "homer" nonsense and inability to be honest. The ec sucks in every single category of skiing compared to the west. Everyone knows toughest inbound runs are out west, nevermind the backcountry. Don't confuse SUCK ASS icy crud conditions with difficulty in good conditions. Skiing powder in snowblades is difficult as well. And forget difficulty, how about enjoyable/fun? More vertical/more snow/less thaws/steeper terrain/less crowds/better weather generally compared to freezing ass cold new england ect ect.  And what's the percentage chance of becoming a olympic skier? Less than 1%. Probably better chance winning the lottery. Even if your'e good enough, injury takes people out all the time. It's incredibly dangerous. They ALL blow out their knees and break legs ski racing and many get massive TBI's. It's a brutal sport

And racers aren't the only type of pro skiers anyway. Sickest skiers are the backcountry guys slaying that pow in huge mountains in bottomless pow. That's the best and most entertaining thing to watch for me.

lmao...right. Anyone can ski lines like this:

warp daddy wrote

OK , you probably will NOT want to hear this , but as a former college president and one who raised an ALL East 3 sport Division I athlete who today is a medical professional in NYC ......your sons future as an ENGINEER , if in fact that is where he ends up is The ONLY thing that really matters .

Skiing while our passion is just that a passion, not a profession , unless Your son is the next Ted Ligity with his entrepreneurial skills . So my advice choose the school based on the QUALITY of the engineering program while considering the availability of either varsity or club status skiing.

as a former college athlete myself and one who also coached at the inter collegiate level many FINE students THRIVE both academically and athletically , but when a young person is in a rigorous program of study it requires a tremendous ability to focus and MANAGE time exceedingly well.  

So plan for life , make sure the proper perspective DRIVES. The decision, maintain and nurture his passion and ability as askier but temper decision making with the longview of life success and things will usually turn out quite well.

Good luck , enjoy the journey , it is an exciting time in both your lives.

   +1 Warp Daddy.

Here's a link to the USSA development guidelines for alpine skiers: http://ussa.org/sites/default/files/documents/athletics/alpine/2011-12/documents/ats_matrix_september_09.pdf

UVM.  Great town, close to great ski areas.  Can drive to home on break.  My son just finished a very happy first semester there, its been a great choice.  College is a huge transition, and I'm a big advocate of taking the next step after college.  That could be living in a big city or moving out west.  I went to Cornell, and would not recommend it for anyone interested in skiing as there is way too much academic pressure to enjoy yourself.  For me, Greek peak just didn't excite me back then.  Maybe it's better now, but its not VT.  Oh and one more thing about UVM if you are a guy, the F:M ratio is like 1.4:1.  

My dad suggested today that I check it out.

snoloco wrote

My dad tells me that I should look for a college with not just access to skiing, but a skiing culture as well.  My high school has incredibly easy access to skiing with MC only 15 minutes away.  However, besides the people on the race team, there are only 6 kids in my grade including me who go to MC regularly (at least once a week).  When I go to college I want to go somewhere where there is like 50 students who ski all the time.  That will mean I have a lot more friends and a way more enjoyable time.  It isn't all about the money.  Of course you need to go to a good school that will give you the education you need, but it is also necessary to enjoy yourself at college.  If I get a full ride to University of Miami, there's not going to be any debt, but no skiing at all either and I sure as heck won't fit in or enjoy myself.  That would be 4 years of hell right there

Hopefully your dad is OK paying for you to have an "enjoyable time" and does NOT check the box to accept students loans on your behalf.  The days of "finding oneself" in college is over... unless you want the cost of finding yourself to be 100k in the hole @ 4.6-6.8%.  College is not about making freinds, partying, and all of that stuff.  If you don't see college as a means to getting a job you should not go.  If you want to go to college to be near a ski area just forget college all together and run a lift at that area.

I just paid off my wife's and I's student loans 6 months ago.  We basically paid a second rent every month for 6 years straight to get that done.  I have friends that will never get out from under them.  

Hopefully your dad is also putting some cash into the kitty to allow you to go to school without loans.  If he does, great, enjoy yourself, if not... consider that full ride school w/ no skiing OR that lift shack.