Clinical Psych PhD programs near mountains?

I’m starting to research programs for Clinical Psychology.  Ideally, I’m looking to be in a mountain town.

I’m putting together a list.  I have a lot of the usual suspects (SLC, Bozeman, Denver), but I’m wondering if there are any less obvious ones I might be missing!

I would go SLC. Denver isn't really close enough to the mountains and Bozeman is s freaking exspensive. 

SLC & Denver are not towns. Bozeman's costs are mitigated by all the free dog treats you are given anywhere you go. 

How about Oakhurst or Mammoth or Lander or the hundreds of real mountain towns.

Why not a remote program? I'm a 37-year-old headed back to school in the fall for counseling/LCPC. I've never done remote learning so I'm a little freaked out by the potential for a "lack of accountability" when you're not required to be in a class, at a desk, physically surrounded by peers ... but I was far more freaked out about housing prices in other places compared to where I currently am (and own a home). I'd much rather be there in-person, but in-state tuition for an online program definitely creates some equity in higher education. I looked at essentially the same program at Montana State in Bozeman which requires in-person ... I'd be paying twice as much to live there (if I could even find a place) ... I instead chose Montana State Billings (online) which costs exactly the same and I don't have to fight for housing that's going to cost twice as much. Food for thought. :)

https://mitch.web.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4922/2013/10/Admissions-Rates.pdf Try cross referencing this list with places there are mountains? It seems to be a few years outdated, but I am sure with a bit of googling you can find a good one...

University of Nevada, Reno has one im pretty sure. Worth a look

Chase Morgan wrote:

https://mitch.web.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4922/2013/10/Admissions-Rates.pdf Try cross referencing this list with places there are mountains? It seems to be a few years outdated, but I am sure with a bit of googling you can find a good one...

Scrolling through that list, universities reasonably high up the list (acceptance 10% or less) that would also be decent to great places to live for climbing and general mountain access include:

University of Colorado - Boulder

University of Utah

University of Montana

University of Arizona

University of New Mexico

University of Nevada - Reno

University of Nevada - Las Vegas

University of British Columbia

Simon Fraser University

There are also various SoCal options - USC, UCLA, UCSD, etc. SoCal would not be my first choice as a climber by any means, but some climbers like it there.

There is also University of Kentucky (presumably in Lexington). No mountain access, but sure does have good sport climbing options. This might work well anyway as a grad student. When I was in grad school (in a different field) I basically just opted out of alpine/multipitch endeavors and focused on sport climbing since it was more time efficient and fit my lifestyle better. A few years of sport climbing also payed some good dividends in the long run for future trad climbing endeavors once I was out of school.

This is very helpful! Thank you everyone for your thoughts!

JCM has some wise words about time efficiency. 

Edited now that I have time to write.  The reason I think JCM is spot on is, having gone through a doctoral program in the sciences myself, and having two friends who went thru Ph.D. Clinical Psych programs, is that they are intense and time consuming.  I can't imagine having whole weekends free to climb.  If you live in a place where your drive time is minimal, you'll maximize your climbing. Good luck.

Wake forest university and Clemson university 

UT Knoxville, or  Chattanooga 

If they have psyc programs

Looks like you're coming from the east coast. Some of these are not directly in mountains but certainly mountain adjacent
University of Vermont
Virginia Tech
Dartmouth
University of Kentucky

University of Calgary.

The unfortunate reality of the situation is you won't get a strong program in a mountain town, but you can find a strong program with access to mountains.  My personal thoughts are that if you're committing a number of years to a challenging graduate degree, might as well get a good one.  Sure you won't be in a true mountain town, but that doesn't mean climbing has to take a complete backseat.

For what it's worth I'm in grad school at CU Boulder.  Like JCM says, time is often tight but I'm able to run a lap or two on the second after work and get out most weekends.  Not a bad place at all to study if you're a climber.

R 3 wrote:

The unfortunate reality of the situation is you won't get a strong program in a mountain town, but you can find a strong program with access to mountains.  My personal thoughts are that if you're committing a number of years to a challenging graduate degree, might as well get a good one.  Sure you won't be in a true mountain town, but that doesn't mean climbing has to take a complete backseat.

For what it's worth I'm in grad school at CU Boulder.  Like JCM says, time is often tight but I'm able to run a lap or two on the second after work and get out most weekends.  Not a bad place at all to study if you're a climber.

^^^ Agree with all this. Finding the right program (for you) and the right location (near climbing) are both important. And it is possible to have both. For many this often means going to CU. Being really close to convenient climbing is a critical feature since it lets you get out frequently despite being time-limited. At least as a grad student, it is much better to be 15 minutes from OK climbing than 2 hours from amazing climbing. Academia in general and grad school in specific can be a somewhat abusive environment, and having climbing as a readily available outlet to keep the sanity is of great value.

Hey Reuben, I've been building a similar list as I'll be applying this fall and have similar criteria. Some that maybe you haven't seen are Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas, Laramie Wyoming, Logan Utah, and Missoula Montana.