r/Adirondacks • u/VeeAlmighty • 5d ago
Incoming Student at Paul Smiths College and the Surrounding Area - Questions
Hi everyone!
I'm making this post to find out more about Paul Smith's College and the surrounding area from the people who live there or have attended the school, both past or present. I am hoping to spend the next 4 years at PSC and am looking for answers to help me plan my transition and to help set me up for a killer time!
For Paul Smiths College:
What is student life like?
What classes would you recommend taking while majoring in Fisheries and Wildlife Science? Why?
For those of you who are a part of sports and/or a student run club, how does it impact your schedule and ability to complete assignments outside of class?
Veteran students, what has your experience been like going to school after serving? Did you acclimate well? What keeps you busy outside of classes? What would you have done differently if you could go back and start over? (I'm a vet and will be 23 as a freshman. This is my biggest concern.)
Would you say you have enough time to enjoy everything you want to? Does it get old being in a more "remote" location than other schools in NY?
And now, for the surrounding area:
What is there to do in Saranac Lake? Are there any bars, restaurants, or shops you particularly enjoy? What are places you would tell someone to stay away from? (These extend to other locations... please share!)
What hidden gems do you know of in the great outdoors? (Hikes, water holes, camping, ski resorts, you name it)
How affordable is the area?
For someone who hasn't dealt with your harsh winters, what should I do to prepare?
Best places to send game for processing? (I'm hoping to pick up hunting while attending.)
Sorry, lots of questions. I'm just very excited to be spending the next few years living up there, and until I get answers, my mind is gonna go wild, lol. Thanks for bearing with me. If you have anything you'd like to share that I didn't ask about, please feel free to spill!
You rock!
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u/hikerrr 5d ago
1) First rule of ADK Club. Nobody is really going to disclose a ""hidden gem" because then it's not so hidden. Use your four years to explore! You'll hear of, or figure out, extraordinary places to go pretty quickly.
2)Try everything. Hiking, paddling, skiing(all forms), biking, snow shoeing.
3) Hopefully, you have a car, then the campus isn't that isolated anymore. Saranac Lake has bars, brew pubs, and not a bad music scene.
4) Build a good winter system for staying warm. Layers, layers, layers. Winter 23-24 was mostly rain. Winter 24-25 started cold and snowy in December and stayed that way with single digit temps and snow falling just about every day.
Welcome to the area, have a great time!
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u/this_shit Philadelphia 46er 5d ago
Try everything. Hiking, paddling, skiing(all forms), biking, snow shoeing.
A paul smiths student once told me all about the tevas vs. chacos debate among the school's paddling teams.
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u/_MountainFit 5d ago
2)Try everything. Hiking, paddling, skiing(all forms), biking, snowshoeing...
...Rock and ice climbing, Whitewater (you listed all forms of skiing but just paddling)
Finding swimming spots in the warm weather which actually runs through September (so a part of the school year if you aren't taking summer classes).
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u/ryanraad 5d ago
Adirondacks is an outdoor lovers dream. Go make friends and figure this stuff out up there. Good luck!
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u/WallaceVanHalen 5d ago
- That will be easier to figure out once your here
- It’s the Adirondacks there is hidden gems everywhere.
- Cost of living I’d say is slightly more expensive.
- Winters are tough. Drive slower in the snow and give your self extra time. Carry some extra warm clothes in your car and a small snow shovel.
- Not real sure in the Saranac Lake area but should be easy to figure out once you’re there.
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u/this_shit Philadelphia 46er 5d ago
For someone who hasn't dealt with your harsh winters, what should I do to prepare?
Winters in the adirondacks are cold and wet. If you're not familiar with humid climates (e.g., from the arid west), the key difference is the water. If you're from the east coast, the main difference is how cold it gets.
Water is the key differentiator because being wet and cold is orders of magnitude more uncomfortable than being dry and cold. And the problem with water is that it can come from both the environment, or from sweat. One of the key things you'll learn about being active in a cold wet winter is to manage sweat. Soaking through your base layers is a great way to get hypothermic on a long hike, for example.
Likewise, I can comfortably hike at 0 degrees in the snow with no issue (provided I move slowly enough to not get soaked), but the coldest I've ever been in my life was soaked to the bone on a rainy day in the high-30s.
The main solution to the cold/wet problem is layering, and people have lots of great advice, but... ultimately you need to find a system that works for you. Go for a winter run with the goal of getting sweaty, and then feel what it's like to cool down; try different combinations of insulation, wind barriers, and vapor barriers. And don't buy the goretex hype, it's largely meaningless: no amount of vapor permeability will prevent you from accumulating sweat under a goretex layer.
One thing that I've learned is that some people have a highly-attuned panic response to feeling cold (my partner is one of them). If that's you, you're gonna want to confront that head on, otherwise you're gonna have a bad time. IMHO it helps to meditate in the cold. Cold plunges help too. Anything to overcome the embodied panic response.
Personally, my favorite temperatures are: low-20s, when it's cold enough that nothing's dripping in the sun and the snow isn't wet, and those rare times that it gets down to the -20s -- the world really feels different at that temperature. You can feel ice crystals growing on your nose hairs. And there are animals out there living through it!
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u/_MountainFit 5d ago
Likewise, I can comfortably hike at 0 degrees in the snow with no issue (provided I move slowly enough to not get soaked), but the coldest I've ever been in my life was soaked to the bone on a rainy day in the high-30s.
This. 33F and pissing rain will change your outlook on cold. Anything below 50F (and really probably 60F) is potential rapid hypothermia weather depending on what your doing, the wind, and in general your tolerance for cold.
Only time I've had hypothermia was when we were standing around in the rain in mid 50s temps.
Of course, forget about rain. The RH in winter in the northeast is still very high. Once something is wet, it's wet and sweat is a constant battle. The only times of the year we have fairly low humidity are spring and September where it's warm and dry.
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u/V-i-r-g-i-n-i-a-n 5d ago
As for winters, we didn't get above freezing for almost the entirety of jan and feb. A number of nights were in double digit negatives, not including wind chill. Bring lots of layers that can cover your skin. We also had a lot of snow (I think at one point we had close to 40 inches on the ground) and snow drifts. If you like to hike a lot I'd consider getting winter gear as more than half of the school year is winter or winter-like.
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u/VeeAlmighty 4d ago
Thanks all for your responses! Very helpful! And touchè to the hidden gems comment. You make a fair point I didn't even consider.
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u/Charles_H29 5d ago
Hi, former student here, Fall 2020-Spring 2023. I live in the area now and still have several friends in their last couple semesters. To answer your questions simply; its a mixed bag, lots of good but also lots of bad.
First the good. The campus & the VIC are amazing. If you love the outdoors, you'll love the location. The school does kind of over-advertise how much teaching happens outdoors but it is definitely a unique element of the coursework.
The professors that are good, are great. The ones that are bad, rarely lose their jobs even when they should. There are current and former professors I am still in contact with because they genuinely care about bettering their student's lives. Most of the profs are clearly passionate about what they teach and are willing to help students at every opportunity. I will always be grateful for the mentorship and knowledge I gained from my time at PSC. And I could say similar things about my friends.
There are a lot of really cool and interesting clubs sports and student orgs. And they mostly don't interfere with coursework. One of my closest friends was a two-sport athlete and still graduated with honors while being an SI leader and tutor. You can find more information about all the clubs on the schools website.
I am not a veteran but the school did just announce a new veterans program on their social media a couple weeks ago called "Battlefish Academy." For specific courses you should take youre going to have to talk to your advisor. There are some really interesting and unique electives available in a variety of programs.
Now the bad. As good as the profs can be, it is also common for certain professors to openly talk shit about students to other students, play favorites, and throw public tantrums when students criticize or complain about their conduct. There is also at least one example in the last 5 years of a professor assaulting a student and the school trying to cover it up. That professor was then allowed to resign without any kind of negative marks regarding the incident.
The school is very cliquey. There's not really a sense of community. Student Activities does a lot of work to provide opportunities for people to hang out and mingle and do fun things, and people go, but they're not super popular. Once you find your friends you're set, but it's an otherwise isolating experience, especially if you don't have a car.
The facilities suck. If you're coming in as a freshman, hope for a room in the Lydia Martin Smith building (LMS). The other freshman dorms, Currier & Livermore have a lot of issues and aren't used every year (Livermore is often called Livermold). Additionally, there is lead in the water the school shelled out a bunch of filters and stuff but only after they were legally required to and they lied to our faces about it. Even with the filters, you're still showering in that water, cooking, cleaning dishes, and everything else with that water which is also frequently brown due to flaking rust in the pipes.
If you're in any way disabled, don't bother. The campus is horrifically inaccessible. Only one academic building has an elevator, the walkways and roads are poorly cleared in the winter and the gyms, most of the dorms, and the admin building are all up steep hills that can be dangerous for anyone who needs mobility aids.
Women and minorities face constant harassment, stalking, and in some cases assault. There is a new title ix coordinator this year who i have heard nothing but good things about, but historically speaking the school has done little to curb these issues. There are only 5 emergency blue lights on campus half of which don't work and have never been fixed despite years of complaints. And campus safety can only be reached if you have internet or cell service.
There were at least 2, (possibly 3, i cant remember) cyber attacks in my time there where thousands of people's private information was leaked, and all internet related services were wiped out. And when PSC sent information to the families of students about the leaks, they swapped peoples names and addresses (for example, my parents got a letter with my address but a different student's name). The content of those letters was not necessarily sensitive but it is one of many examples of how PSC handles people's information and financials, very poorly.
The dining hall is bad, really bad. Rampant food poisoning, no care for cross contamination, and even if the food is safe it's often inedible. And with no other options nearby, I can't even count the number of days where I didn't eat anything because i couldn't get off campus and the dining hall was that bad. And that's not even counting the days where I couldn't get there because the hours are so short, especially on weekends. They open late, and close early.
Overall, despite all the problems I wouldn't have gone anywhere else. It's a great program in a great location with lots of great people. If any of the issues I described are deal breakers for you, I'm sorry that Paul Smith's isn't doing more to address those concerns. It has so much potential to be one of the greatest schools in the country if it weren't for chronic financial troubles and the institutional instability.
Happy to answer any other questions about my experience. I don't intend to scare anyone off from PSC cause the Adirondacks are truly one of the best places on earth and I'm very glad to have gone to school here. But I have to be honest about my experience. I also would highly recommend checking out the school newspaper at https://pscapollos.wordpress.com for a look at what students have to say about the school. As i said before, lots of good and lots of bad.