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July, 2025

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Colleges out west?

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Swaggermager
Posts: 2576 - Karma: 950
Hey NSers. I know you've probably heard this 100 times but it might be slightly different. I did some research and..shit. I have absolutely no clue where I want to go or what I want to do. I'm only a sophomore,so I'm not in a hurry, but I'd like to narrow down my choices because I may be heading out west this summer with my parents to check some schools out.

Here are my criteria:

No community colleges
A good 4 year school
Need skiing close by(I know I might need to sacrifice this for a big campus)
Big campus (I know I might have to sacrifice this for skiing) This is mainly because I want to get out of the suburbs.
A stereotypical college feel



I know that really sucks for criteria, but like I said, I have absolutely no clue what I want to do.
Thanks for your help NS!

Also +K
14 years ago
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canudoa9
Posts: 382 - Karma: 99
dartmouth :1
14 years ago
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low_fidelity
Posts: 2673 - Karma: 118
Colorado bitch
14 years ago
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Funnel
Posts: 7820 - Karma: 1,593
U of Utah, CU Boulder(?), UC Davis, UN Reno, USC (other So Cal schools have ski teams, too).
14 years ago
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EmperorKuzco
Posts: 6660 - Karma: 256
haha im in the same boat as a sophmore except im basically committing to go to CU because im pretty sure i can get in
14 years ago
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gr4
Posts: 1499 - Karma: 945
utah is probably the best big campus with skiing really close. 30,000 students, pac 12 sports, 7 ski areas within 45 minutes. Good academics, can be very good depending on your major. really close to downtown salt lake city.
14 years ago
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Anorak
Posts: 281 - Karma: 13
UNR
14 years ago
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Swaggermager
Posts: 2576 - Karma: 950
Yeah U of U is probably the most appealing to me right now but I just want to take a look at some other places too. Just curious, are there good skiing colleges in Idaho?
14 years ago
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Dsnov832
Posts: 102 - Karma: 12

University of British Columbia

14 years ago
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Swaggermager
Posts: 2576 - Karma: 950
Out of country might be a little too spendy for me :(
14 years ago
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steeze-free_lee
Posts: 295 - Karma: 28
if you can't afford ubc, you probably won't be able to afford any other schools people have listed. i'm going there next year and at 30k all-inclusive (international tuition mind you) a year its only about 2-3k more than i would have paid to go to a UC as an in-state resident. i'd say at least give ubc a look, i think its pretty underrated and honestly i liked it a lot more than boulder or u of u.

as for california, you might wanna give uc davis a look esp. if youre interested in agriculture or anything farm related. good school, decent location, and less than 2 hours from the closer tahoe resorts.
14 years ago
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Dbouch
Posts: 1059 - Karma: 13
Goddamn I wish I lived in California and could get in-state tuition to a UC school.
I would kill someone to go to Berkley I think.
14 years ago
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steeze-free_lee
Posts: 295 - Karma: 28
the whole UC system is a gigantic shitshow. even for residents it is WAY too expensive and honestly with the exception of Cal and UCLA (plus *maybe* Davis and Santa Cruz) theres really nothing special about them.
14 years ago
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Dbouch
Posts: 1059 - Karma: 13
I don't know, I'm just a poor white kid whose never seen the west coast.  It less the fact that I could see myself in California, and more so that it seems like one big fantasy to me. This state constant sunshine, mountains, beautiful people, beautiful things.  Then their state school system dominates the college rankings.  Me thinking about California, or the schools there is pretty much me rambling about a dream I had.

Goddamn it I hate Pennyslvania.
14 years ago
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eheath
Posts: 61974 - Karma: 126,970
Dude, CU boulder, best skiing school ever!
14 years ago
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steep
Posts: 6063 - Karma: 298
wanna be room mates if I get in devin? (;
14 years ago
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captainEMERICA
Posts: 1386 - Karma: 122
MSU
14 years ago
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steeze-free_lee
Posts: 295 - Karma: 28
haha don't buy into the hype too much but get out here if you can. csu's are always a good route too and fuck the money theres a lot of ways to make this shit happen.
14 years ago
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Style+eeze
Posts: 6901 - Karma: 551
UW
14 years ago
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Forkstealer
Posts: 508 - Karma: 16
U of U, DU, USC, (most of the UC's actually), U of O, OSU, Portland State, MSU, University of Puget Sound are all reasonably large schools with skiing within a few hours.
14 years ago
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lands11
Posts: 1818 - Karma: 1,678
Quoting for emphasis
14 years ago
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Rachy
Posts: 4355 - Karma: 2,761
As far as types of skiing goes...

Denver = Park + dry snow but less than any of the other locations + short to medium season (excluding a basin which is meh)
Durango = Big Mountain + Lots of dry snow
Utah = Big Mountain + Park + Lots of dry snow + medium length season
California = Big Mountain + Park + Lots of snow that varies a lot + Longest season
Oregon = Big Mountain + Park + Lots of snow that varies a lot + medium to long (excluding Mt. Hood)
Washington = Big Mountain + Park + Lots of snow that varies a lot + medium to long season


You will probably ski just as often at any of those places except the ones with longer seasons since school usually gets out mid may and you could still have a solid 1 - 2 months of skiing after that.

Denver has a cool scene, but it didn't make my list because the schools offering my program were expensive and at the time, park was the least of my concerns.
Looking back, Durango probably would have been rad, but my program didn't exist there.
Utah was.... not diverse enough for my liking.
Oregon was at the top of my list but the school I wanted was out of budget.
Washington... Just wasn't feeling it.

Ended up in California. Perfect decision for me.

14 years ago
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qbehr
Posts: 1044 - Karma: 686
Seattle University

14 years ago
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Olde_English
Posts: 445 - Karma: 117
UW or Western Washington
14 years ago
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Swaggermager
Posts: 2576 - Karma: 950
Thank you for putting price in perspective!
14 years ago
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Swaggermager
Posts: 2576 - Karma: 950
Thank you! +K
14 years ago
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gr4
Posts: 1499 - Karma: 945
lies. u of u is ~$9000 a semester out of state and you can get in state after a year and then its like ~$3000-4000 a semester.
14 years ago
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Toasty.
Posts: 6198 - Karma: 2,341

washington state university of vancouver. like an hour a way from mt. hood meadows. or university of washington, in the top 10 for medical schools. like an hour and a half away from snowqualmie? or around there

14 years ago
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.frenchy
Posts: 18232 - Karma: 12,420
JOHNSON AND WALES
14 years ago
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Tasche
Posts: 5422 - Karma: 103
please explain how you rated season length?
14 years ago
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steeze-free_lee
Posts: 295 - Karma: 28
that was definitely a generalization, but its still probably true for most of the schools listed. and 9k for out of state is a pretty big deal but there always cost of living and books to add on top of that.

bottom line, out of state is always pretty pricy but theres some deals that are better than others.
14 years ago
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steep
Posts: 6063 - Karma: 298
shits in my town!
14 years ago
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.frenchy
Posts: 18232 - Karma: 12,420
They came in my foods 2 class this week, and the one in CO sounds legit. THey said its 15 minutes away from major ski resorts!
14 years ago
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ShredTheGnarnia
Posts: 2544 - Karma: 79
University of Utah derp

i'm going to CU Boulder next year, but only because I grew up in Salt Lake and want to try something new
14 years ago
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.Cal.
Posts: 354 - Karma: 66
Well U of U for one..as previously mentioned
but Fort Lewis is also a really good school, in a pretty chill town.
If you want more info about schools (admissions and junk) go to princetonreview.com

Personally, If you go to Colorado, id choose CSU over CU. Just because cu has a lot of hippies, and rich stuck up people from my experience.
14 years ago
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Mt_P0wDerJuNkIe
Posts: 1506 - Karma: 58
Montana state. Three ski area's close by. Good size campus. Awesome people.
14 years ago
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Chunter
Posts: 2050 - Karma: 1,894
Thats funny because me and probably 80% of my friends are leaving California for other 4-years out of state...
14 years ago
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hoodratz47
Posts: 12028 - Karma: 9,586
Portland State
14 years ago
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.nasty
Posts: 10598 - Karma: 11,396
CMC (colorado mtn college) is offering 4 year bachelor programs starting next year at most the campus'. I know one is in business, not sure what the other is. and then you could live in dillon/breck/steamboat and be within a minute or 5 of ski areas
14 years ago
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hoodratz47
Posts: 12028 - Karma: 9,586
don'f forget LEADVILLE
14 years ago
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