best ski college - Page 4

It's interesting that if you are from the U of U or BYU no matter how long it's been since you graduated you won't recomend the other school, even though
both schools would be good for a skier, and education.

Emotions in rivalries aren't logical.

Even though I'm a BYU alum, I will readily admit that BYU is a horrible choice for the typical college-aged skier. BYU doesn't get many students who are there primarily for the skiing for the same reasons it's not able to attract good defensive backs - alcohol and hormones.

Wow, if the number of Wal-Marts is in your selection criteria, you're on the wrong forum. Burlington is one of the greatest towns in the US for outdoor activities. You wouldn't believe the social life in that town and if you really crave big city action, Montreal is an easy 90 minutes away.

I realize that the majority of the schools that I mentioned in my list do not have decent skiing nearby. That was a comparison of public universities that have better reps than UVM. Yes, SUNY-Binghamton is ugly, but if you want to talk about academic reputation and what's going to give you an edge in getting a job, vine covered bricks get you nowhere. When I look at an applicant for hiring, I don't care what the buildings looked like. I do care what the academic rep of the school is so the GPA means something.

Do I have an inferiority complex? Nope. I could have gone to Tufts, but wanted to ski. UVM was a great school for a mix of decent academics, incredible social life, and outdoors at your doorstep. But it's not any advantage due to its academic rep compared to a lot of other schools. And by the way, the plural of alumnus is alumni.

Most people I know who graduated from the U of U loved their experience, both mormon and non-mormon.

I would never recommend BYU unless you were a pretty dedicated mormon. They have some very strict standards (no caffein at all on campus, including soda) that would be difficult to endure. But from what I understand you can get a good education, but not as good as the U of U.

if I go to college ever(and its on the east coast) I will reapply at RPI. Hands on programs, rank very high for what my major is, SAE team begging for a driver, and good east coast skiing near by.

Dartmouth stands out in terms of quality undergraduate school plus convenient skiing ... though of course the skiing isn't quite of the same type or quality as the Rocky Mountain (or Cascades or Sierras) choices.

In terms of racing competitiveness (which, admittedly, the original poster put to one side) If there were no NCAA eligibility rules, and you could actually get the top racers to fit it into their schedules, Dartmouth could blow any college in the country out of the water in ski racing, and that's without any athletic scholarships.

You still seem to be trying to convince yourself that it was a good choice.

Nope. It was a good choice for me. I don't regret my choice on any level. It never held me back in what I chose to do with my life after college because academic reputation wasn't important in succeeding in my chosen field. I was just trying to give some perspective to the youngsters that believe the hype that UVM is a "public Ivy". Other than the costs (which I believe I noted in my first post on this thread), UVM doesn't rank in the top tier of public colleges. If that matters to you in your college decision process, then you need to consider it. If you're decision process is more holistic, academic rep is but one piece of the pie. I've tried to convince all of my kids (2 in college now, next 2 within 4 years) to go to UVM because of my experience there. They all think it's too cold....

bjohansson - cold? Compared to Syracuse? Seems like a lateral move, temperature-wise.

Nah....Syracuse gets tons of snow, but the snow generator (Lake Ontario) also tempers the temps quite a bit. We've lived here for 4 winters (if last winter counts) and we've never gone more than 1 or 2 days in a row when the temps stayed below zero. Then there's the wind from the North Pole via La Prairie that gets funneled down between the ADK's and the Green Mtns...Venturi effect.

Amen. Syracuse, Buffalo, Oswego, Rochester, etc., all get a lot of snow, but if you want bone-chilling cold, Burlington and the Adirondacks take it hands down. For a real enlightenment, I suggest ice fishing on Lake Champlain.

We used to drive out on the ice and when we got too cold, we'd turn on the heat. Much better than those little shacks.

Back in the mid 90s they had a ski team that would come up to West Mt to train a couple of times a week. IIRC they had a pretty big spread of ability, from Ski Academy kids that could arc 'em to kids that had never run gates before. Their coach seemed to be on the ball.

It has really come up in ratings. Saratoga is a great party town. Gore is not too far. West Mt for real close for nite skiing. Killington is about an hour, I'd guess.

I recall it being kind of soft in nature. I don't thing I would have fit in back then. I doubt it would be a place for me. It has been mentioned as one of the "new" Ivys. May that's why I wouldn't fit in.

It is not known as a skiing school.

If you ever come for a visit, be sure to pm me. I'll show you the better side of Troy. RPI is a great school.

Can't speak about their ski program but Skidmore seems to have a pretty strong rep academically. I could be wrong but I think it started as an all-girls school, then went co-ed (but I could be thinking of Russell Sage too). The people I knew who graduated from there were pretty sharp cookies and spoke highly of their education. Paul's right: Saratoga is a great town, really pretty this time of year and lots of stuff to do (horse track, great concert series, fab jazz festival). My daughter's at Geneseo and while they get a ton of snow, she's only skied a few times out there. RPI is a great school, very strong academically and usually has a great hockey team too!

School and ski

I will give a plug for Boulder. I am a hillbilly from deep in the heart of Apalachia and it took years to warm up to living in boulder. Even though the dark hollers keep calling me home I have continued to stay in this town. The ski options have been covered but I can tell you the cycling is great. Lots of mountain bike trails in Nederland and they are working on a trail that goes all way to Lyons. The kayaking is great as well. They have whitewater courses in Boulder, Lyons and Golden all withing 20 minutes of town. Last Sunday I did a 30 mile ride out of Lyons on my road bike, got back to my truck pulled out my kayak and surfed a hole on the South Saint Vrain for a couple hours put the boat back in the truck and walked across the street and had dinner without ever moving the car. Rock Climbing is another sport that is right in your back door and trail runners by the truck load. There is just not enough time in the day to do all the stuff that is going on in this town. My daughter is 9 and she averages about 30 days a year on the slopes.

Although I did not got to CU I am on campus alot and the students appear very vibrant. I have several co-workers and friends in the IT industry here and they all appear to have gotten a solid eduction there.

The football team looks like they are going to suck this year but nobody gets down about it becuase it certainly is not the only game in town

The University if Denver is cool as well. There campus is very nice looking.
One of my high school friends went there and got a great education.

Let me pose a question here. How does the air quality in Salt Lake compare to the Colorado front range? I know ours gets blown out occasionally by the westerly winds. I will certainly concede that Utah has better snow.

That is probably the most ignorant thing I've ever heard anyone say about VT. Who needs Wal-Mart? If you really HAVE to have multiple Walmarts just stay down south where they're everywhere. The Burlington area is a big metropolis actually (300k), and there is plenty of stuff, both indoors and out, to do. As mentioned, Montreal is 90 minutes away, Boston 3.5, NY 5.5 if you really need that.

In Burlington, and VT, you have "a ton of outdoor folks" and great skiing.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from going out west (I'd be at CU if I could afford it), I just wanted to let you know that Burlington and UVM have everything you're looking for and more.

Boulder does not have a Wal Mart, and likely will never have one.

American College Of Switzerland, Leysin

(Schiller)


Hem

Brother!

im on S prospect on the UVM redstone campus, where are you?

http://www.american-college.com/fron....php?idcat=132


Hem

Marsh 4th!

Jeanne Mance. It's sick.

Dartmouth and Middlebury come to mind immediately. Both have small ski areas of their own as well as numerous other nearby ski areas. Also St. Lawrence University in upstate New York seems to turn out a lot of skiiers, although I'm not sure why.

U-Heights North here! Who else is planning on getting the Jay-Bolton pass?

I spent two years at St. Lawrence and hated every waking hour (and many of the sleeping ones, too). I transfered out quickly.

If you like frigid weather (we're talking -30), isolation, ex*****ve drugs and going to class with a lot of trust fund kids who screwed around too much at boarding school even for daddy's money to buy a place at Harvard, it's for you. It wasn't for me.

My freshman year it snowed on the day I went home. That was May 17th. No idea why it would attract a lot of downhill skiiers. You can ski cross country right out of your dorm, but its a long way from the hills.

For what it's worth, a lot of the students spent most of their time stoned talking about how cool UVM is. I never figured out why they didn't just go there, in that case.

I see what you mean- VT isnt for everyone. When Ben & Jerrys and pot are the states biggest business, you know its a pretty small place (relatively speaking) as a whole. Burlington is a great city- and it is certainly a city, not a town. Youll get the same type of atmosphere as in a lot of other colleges near ski areas. With all the mountains used for the skiing, there arent going to be too many colleges in the area anyway. Check out CU- Boulder or U Denver- large city, skiing nearby, no cows. Visiting with the fam isnt the saem as living there either though, so dont disregard Vermont so easily. Hope i didnt contradict myself too much...