photo by Madison Martin

The Taughannock Falls located near Ithaca NY, is one of the tallest waterfall in the eastern United States.

Students who prefer to be in a relaxed, woodsy environment compared to a crowded city are sure to feel right at home in Ithaca College in upstate NY— and the school is a must see for anyone interested in music or performing arts.  

Ithaca college has on-campus hiking trails that run through the college’s own nature reserve managed by students and staff. There are more than a hundred waterfalls within a ten miles radius of the campus including the Taughannock Falls— which are the highest waterfalls on the east coast of the United States.

Although the campus itself is surrounded by wilderness, there is a bus system that can take students from the campus into the city of Ithaca that is only five minutes away. The city of Ithaca, although relatively small, is full of restaurants, has an independent movie theatre and many familiar chain stores alongside some small “mom and pop” shops.

The college started off as a music and theater school when it was founded in 1892 but has since grown to include schools of business, communications, health and human performance, humanities and sciences.

Although Ithaca has expanded immensely in the amount of degrees it offers, the school still has a large performing arts department. There are two large stages on campus where students studying theater arts put on plays as well as a smaller stage for students to perform their own original plays. The college also has a large number of alumni who have gone on to work on large Broadway productions such as Cats and Hairspray.          

For students who are less interested in the performing arts, Ithaca is a division III athletic school and has baseball, basketball, crew, cross country, field hockey, football, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball and wrestling teams. The school has two athletic facilities on campus, one of which is reserved for athletes and the other which is open for use by anyone. There are also two pools on campus, a large Olympic sized indoor pool and a smaller outdoor pool.

For dining services at Ithaca, there are three dining halls that serve a variety of food. The college is known for frequently offering fresh vegetables and fruits grown on farms in the region of upstate NY and will also offer organic options. Besides the three dining halls, there are also a few food court style restaurants on campus and a twenty four hour convenience store.

Ithaca is worth looking into for students who are interested in being close to nature during their college experience or hoping to explore upstate New York.