Potential College Suggestions

[swimmermom3]

My youngest had the privilege of listening to Gary Jobson of the International Sailing Federation speak at sailing practice yesterday. This inspired him to start working on his list of requirements for potential colleges:

 

1. Near mountains and water - he is a swimmer, sailor, hiker, and native Oregonian. Environment is important.
   
2. Sailing and swimming teams - see above
   
3. Excellent mass transit - is highly independent and will own boat before car
   
4. Urban - while he likes his scenery, he also is an urban explorer
   
5. Liberal, but does have a healthy respect for Jesuit academic institutions - we told him Fordham is out of his league
   
6. Political, economic, business focus - this is rather horrible, but sometimes I think the CIA might find him more interesting than an MBA program would
   

 

Do you all have any suggestions? He has a good sailor-buddy, girl-friend who is being groomed for the Ivies as she is a legacy. Sailor Dude is just not that intense. I think he'll be a strong student who'll probably keep sailing and swimming on his resume and given his quirky nature, he'll probably have a good hook because he deliberately moves off the beaten path. I can't tell you if he is a STEM guy or a liberal arts guy. There doesn't seem to be a preference yet, but he does enjoy languages.

[Nicole M]

Yoo-hoo!

[MBM]

I don't know much about this college, Connecticut College, but a girl who went to my son's elementary school who was majorly into sailing attends there. She's on their women's sailing team. She was a good student, IIRC.

 

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/connecticut-college-1379

http://camelathletics.com/sports/sailing/index

 

I'm not sure it meets all your criteria, but who knows?

[Nicole M]

I don't know much about this college, Connecticut College, but a girl who went to my son's elementary school who was majorly into sailing attends there. She's on their women's sailing team. She was a good student, IIRC.

 

http://colleges.usne...ut-college-1379

http://camelathletic...s/sailing/index

 

I'm not sure it meets all your criteria, but who knows?

 

 

It's an excellent school, and yes, very close to lots of water and good sailing. I grew up near there, on a boat.

 

I will say that having your child an airplane ride or two from home is difficult, financially. I wish now we'd had more options within a 300-mile radius of our home. I don't regret E's decision, it's the right school for him, but that's a lotta money we dish out for travel.

[swimmermom3]

MBM, thank you for the suggestion; that wasn't even on my radar, but then it isn't all that far off from Fordham in pricing either. :tongue_smilie:

 

ETA: I know have had a chance to look through Connecticut College's site. Wow! There is a lot to like and the primary majors are Economics, Political Science and Government, and International Relations and National Security. Thanks so much; this suggestion is going in my permanent file.

 

Nicole, his "requirements" really place him on either coast, right? I am grateful to have sailing appear in our life when it did and fill the void that swimming left, but by gosh does it complicate things. On the other hand, it is a really great group of kids that seem to be fairly academic. Sailor Dude routinely crews for a senior who has been sharing some fairly solid wisdom such as "Don't crash your sophomore year!" There are also several travelers so that is opening his eyes as well.

 

I wish I had a better sense of where his eventual academic interests will be. It would help narrow the field. Maybe you can talk to him about Connecticut the next time we see you. A friend of dd's is currently attending Brown and promised to stop by for a chat next time he is in town. Sigh. Your youngest is heading across country too, right? I would love for ds to have the great experience that your older one has had.

[Nicole M]

What about the Great Lakes region?

 

Thinking, thinking....

 

What year is your Sailor boy again?

 

And, yes, we need to get together!

[Nan in Mass]

LOL - I'm not much help. My first thought was, "But don't all colleges have sailing teams?" I, too, have doomed my children to be happy only in a small strip around the edge of each continent lol. My son says Boston College has an amazing sailing team and is urban. No mountains, though, and awfully far away from you. If you want other New England suggestions, let me know, but my knowledge of non-techie New England colleges is pretty outdated and my suggestions are likely to be expensive (because colleges here just are). I can easily make enquiries, though. Plenty of water here, lake or ocean. You might want to think about about being dumped into the chllly Atlantic in March. How does he feel about dry suits? I'm fuzzy on the climate in Oregon. My impression was that it was a good bit warmer than here? If so, and if sailing is going to be his main focus, I think one of the first questions he needs to answer is how he likes very cold water. That might eliminate New England. I also might tentatively suggest not choosing a college where he is at the bottom, academically. We met quite a number of parents whose students were waiting out a season while they got their grade point average back up and my son eventually had to drop sailing team because it was competing with his studies. Long van rides and cheap hotels aren't really the ideal study environment.

 

Nan

[Teachin'Mine]

St. Mary's College of Maryland - it's secular, has sailing, go a bit inland and there's great hiking, DC not far ...

 

SUNY Maritime might be ideal ...

 

College of Charleston ...

 

California Maritime Academy ...

[RoundAbout]

University of Washington

 

I don't know about a sailing team but excellent and affordable yacht club when my DH was a student.

[memphispeg]

Eastern Washington State....There's a volcano in the background and a bay in the foreground of the pictures. Have a friend whose son went there for industrial design....loved it.

We loved Conn. College - so prep!!!!

[Jen in NY]

Webb? I think everyone comes out with a naval architecture/ marine engineering degree. :)

 

http://www.webb-institute.edu/

 

Half joking here, but ya never know!

Feel like I remember that everyone goes tuition free.... I'm going to go poking around on their website......

[Teachin'Mine]

Vassar might be worth looking into. It's suburban, but city, mountains and Hudson River are all nearby. Being a West Coast sailor dude, he'd provide some nice diversity and they do meet 100% of need.

 

(Edited to change Californian to West Coast.)

[Nicole M]

Eastern Washington State....There's a volcano in the background and a bay in the foreground of the pictures. Have a friend whose son went there for industrial design....loved it.

We loved Conn. College - so prep!!!!

 

I think you might mean Western — good thinking. Bellingham is lovely and close to Vancouver. I don't know about their public transportation up there, although it is a direct Amtrak ride home. UW is also a good suggestion. Seattle is terrific, and close to me! :) I know lots of kids who are there, and a few staff and faculty. They have excellent computer, science, math, and engineering programs, from what I've heard, too. I don't know about sailing there.

 

I guess I kinda see him at a smaller school, but I could be projecting. Vassar! The few bits of the Hudson River Valley I've seen are just gorgeous.

 

We're in a similar pickle, since son 2.o has very specific interests. Actually, interest, singular, aviation. I mean, that narrows the field quite a lot, but that means that all our eggs are in just one basket, with about four schools. Darn youngest children. ;)

[Gwen in VA]

Webb not only has a sailing team but is VERY near New York -- lots of urban excitement readily available! It is tuition-paid, but the ONLY major is naval architecture / naval engineering.

 

BC also occurred to me -- it would fulfill a number of your criteria.

[Luckymama]

St. Mary's College of Maryland - it's secular, has sailing, go a bit inland and there's great hiking, DC not far ...

 

 

Yes, but it's really isolated. I don't think Sailing Dude would like the location if he specifically wants urban. (My dd was accepted at St Mary's this year so I'm familiar with the school. Great school!)

[southcarolinamom]

I second the College of Charleston! www.cofc.edu

 

The school is in a beautiful urban setting, in the middle of downtown historic Charleston. The ocean is a couple of miles away from campus. The school has a sailing team that finishes strongly in competition: http://sailing.cofc.edu/ I'm also a bit partial because my daughter will be starting there in the fall :laugh:

[3andme]

 

This list of College Sailing teams might spark some potential candidates.

[Jane in NC]

For a traditional academic path, I would recommend Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI.

 

For a non-traditional path, how about the Landing School in Maine. Check it out here. Not at all urban, but a certificate in something like Marine Systems might lead to a job anywhere on the planet.

[Teachin'Mine]

Yes, but it's really isolated. I don't think Sailing Dude would like the location if he specifically wants urban. (My dd was accepted at St Mary's this year so I'm familiar with the school. Great school!)

 

 

Yes, it's hard to find all the requirements. I wasn't sure if he needed the campus to be in a city, or just needed access to one for some urban exploration. St. Mary's & DC definitely fit the bill if it's the latter. It sounds like an amazing school. I know that our own college search is challenging as it's hard to find one school with everything. So we're finding it will probably be more a case of choosing which seems like the best fit overall, whether all the ideals are met or not.

[SkateLeft]

I only just saw this thread! My daughter has been an ISSA sailor for years, and crews at our yacht club. She grew up sailing SF Bay pretty much every weekend. Since moving to MN, my husband keeps our boat up in Lake Superior, and they both go up there as much as possible during the season.

 

You can find a list of ICSA teams here, if you haven't seen it already: Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association.

 

We crossed off a lot of good schools because she wouldn't be able to sail, but she knew she wanted to stay in the Midwest, which made it harder. She focused on having proximity to the Great Lakes. Minnesota has a lot of sailing, but there really aren't many college options for her here. The University of Minnesota has a sailing team, but she didn't want to go to a huge school. She finally decided that she didn't need to be on a sailing team, but she did still need to be able to sail. We crossed off the schools where she'd been accepted, but would be too far from sailing.

 

Best of luck to your son in his search!

[Karen in CO]

I'll add a plug for the University of Northern Michigan. :) My sil teaches there and my brother is a math tutor on campus. It is in the UP (upper peninsula ) and right on Lake Superior. They do have a competitive sailing club. Marquette is the best town I've ever been it - it is not urban, but it is wonderful. There are abundant natural resources and a great sense of community. The kids and I spend about 6 weeks there last summer, and if I move from here it will be to the UP.

 

 

If you hadn't said mountains, I'd add my typical plug for Eckerd College for all things water.

[Gwen in VA]

And proximity to water and a decent harbor can lead to interesting results. My son, a freshman, celebrated finishing his third week of classes by buying a beat-up 28' boat (with his own funds). He sailed it a bit last fall but has spent much of the fall and spring terms doing some serious work on it. Launch date is in three weeks! So his sailing plans are independent of the school sailing team.....

[Nan in Mass]

And proximity to water and a decent harbor can lead to interesting results. My son, a freshman, celebrated finishing his third week of classes by buying a beat-up 28' boat (with his own funds). He sailed it a bit last fall but has spent much of the fall and spring terms doing some serious work on it. Launch date is in three weeks! So his sailing plans are independent of the school sailing team.....

 

 

LOL - Gwen, this sounds familiar... A friend of my son bought one of the boats donated to the school and then he and my son spent the winter working on it. In the spring (much too early) he convinced my son, who had more sailing experience, to sail it home down the coast so he could use it for the summer. I got a phone call that I will never forget:

Friend: Mrs. ---? --- would like to talk to you.

Me: (Wondering why my son was incapable of phoning me himself?!?) Are you ok?

Friend: Yes but --- can't let go of the tiller so I had to dial.

(Hands phone to son.)

Me: Are you ok?

Son: Yah. It was a rough trip and friend wants to get off the boat. My hands are so cold I'm having trouble hanging onto the tiller. Good thing brother lent me his foulie pants. We're coming into blank and it is pitch dark. Do I keep the red blinky light to starboard or port?

Me: Do you know where you are?

Son: Yes. I know exactly where I am on the chart but I don't know where on the chart the town dock is. The bouy's coming up fast. Which way should I go?

Me: What can you see?

Son: Nothing. I told you. It's pitch black out here.

Me: (Frantically trying to remember the order of the bouys from the one time we entered that harbour last summer.) So you can't see a lit church?

Husband: Quick, tell me whether I'm supposed to be taking this exit or not? (We were driving on a strange freeway through NY city, narrowly avoiding accidents in commuter traffic.)

Me: Ummmm...

Son: Mum? Just tell me which way to go. I'm having trouble steering and holding the phone at the same time and that bouy is coming up.

Me: (Finally remembering what the harbour looks like.) I'm pretty sure that you are at the first bouy, if you can't see the church. That bouy marks rocks. (and so forth - UG)

 

Just about everything minor that could go wrong, went wrong. They ran out of gas and had to have a friend come lower them some down from a less-than-friendly wharf. They tore sails in a squall. They had fog. They ran aground (in a harbour fortunately). They lost gear overboard. They arrived safely, though. It was my son's first trip by himself in anything other than a dinghey. He did a good job. We were very proud of him. I will never, ever forget that phone call.

 

LOL Beware, Lisa! And Gwen!

 

One of their friends was the commodore of the local yaght club while he was in college. He had to buy a jacket and he came in for a fair amount of teasing, but he enjoyed it very much and it looked great on his resume afterwards.

 

Nan

 

 

[Gwen in VA]

Nan,

 

You are a great mom! What a story! And yes, that's the phone call I sort of expect to receive this June sometime. :scared:

 

Hopefully all of our kids will make it to age 25. If they do, they will have some great stories to tell.....

[Nan in Mass]

Nan,

 

You are a great mom! What a story! And yes, that's the phone call I sort of expect to receive this June sometime. :scared:

 

Hopefully all of our kids will make it to age 25. If they do, they will have some great stories to tell.....

 

I hate to tell you but the worry doesn't exactly stop at 25. Oldest turned 26 and flew to Costa Rica with a friend to explore for a bit. When he comes back, he's going off to Alaska to help friends get started homesteading. Then, when their house is built and he feels like they are set for the winter, he'll go back to work. At least when he was coming down the coast, my whole clan could guess about where he was and what he might be doing. For the next few months, he is going to be so far out of our experience... I've been saying for years that I would be lucky if I got them to 25. I should have taken into account that mine have always been behind those childhood development charts and added a few years. : )

 

Gwen (and Lisa), it looks you are going to have to start seeing your children off with my clan's goodbye wish: May you have an uneventful trip.

 

Nan

[Amominfl]

Univ of Miami

No mountains but definitely near water!

Sailing team, but unfortunately the cut the mens swim team due to Title IX issues

Metro-rail station on the edge of campus

Suburban setting (it is actually in Coral Gables)

International relations/business are strong points

 

Oh yeah, they have pretty good football and basketball teams too!

(Yes, I'm an alumnae)

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Naval Academy.