Diving during grad. school

[RedCash02]

Well apparently I haven't learned my lesson and decided to keep studying engineering :11doh:. I'm getting such a headache trying to decide which school to attend because they all have their pros and cons. I have fellowship offers at these schools, but I'll still be too poor/busy to dive much. So I thought maybe someone could lightheartedly weigh in on the scuba aspect of my decision process - it's of paramount concern, of course. Anyone dove while at these schools?

I'll try to at least hide each school's identity to make a fun challenge:

1) known as "the farm"
2) is named after the territory, not its location in the current United States
3) is in the smallest state
4) home of the Brass Rat
5) is in the city where HAL was made
6) employed the man who is associated with the saying, "billions and billions"

Enjoy!

P.S. couldn't decide where to put this post since technically I am asking about diving

 

[Gombessa]

Palo Alto means you have to travel down to Monterery (couple of hours) to get decent diving, and the water here's pretty cold.

Dunno how far Evanston is from the great lakes, but it gets at least as cold as Ohio

Cornell is definitely cold 7 months out of the year, and unless there's good diving in Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is literally 3-5 hours drive from civilization.

Hmm, apparently I have this thing about being cold.

 

[EvaL]

I think I know the places you mentioned. I've lived in (or near) some of them. They're mostly cold water diving, though:
Palo Alto, CA - if you have a car, drive 1.5 hours to Monterrey for great California diving (45-55F, kelp forests, 40-50ft vis on good days). Check out Point Lobos State Park too. There are many good dive shops (eg. Diver Dan in Santa Clara, Blue Water Divers in Sunnyvale) and dive clubs (including diving singles club of Silicon Valley) in the Bay Area. You can also check out the Channel Islands a little further south for slightly warmer waters, better vis.
Evanston, IL - Lake Michigan and ponds/lakes in Chicago area and southern WI. You'll find some of the best-preserved wrecks in the super cold waters of Lakes Michigan & Superior. If you're willing to drive 2+ hours, there's Devil's Lake (I hour north of Madison, WI) in Baraboo, WI (local dive op is Three Little Devils).
Urbana, IL - I was OW-certified in Sportman's Lake in Danville through U of I. Not too many dive sites around unless you drive up to the Great Lakes. A trip to the Bonne Terre Mine (south of St Louis, 4-5 hrs away) is an option. The shop that certified me (in Champaign) closed down, I'm not sure if there's another.
Providence, RI - Newport and Providence, RI, have some cool water diving (as warm as 60F in summer), with a chance to see tropical fish. I like Newport Diving Center in Newport, RI.
Cambridge, MA - A short drive up north to Cape Ann, MA, or Maine for cold water dives in summer (40-50F, drysuit required other seasons). I prefer driving south to RI, where waters are warmer. MIT has a scuba club, I like PG Dive in Newton, United Divers in Cambridge and Cape Ann Divers in Gloucester, MA.
Ithaca, NY - here's one I dunno about diving. What the heck, pick a dissertation topic involving warm water (I'm thnking Hawaii or FL Keys) and you can dive there while you "work" on your project.
Good luck in Grad School.

 

[RedCash02]

Hey EvaL, you nailed them all. Perhaps I should have tried to make the clues more esoteric . Sounds as if you've been all around this country.

I'd love to make my project somehow related to warm water, but that would seem like a stretch for solid mechanics.

Buying a drysuit would force me to live off of Ramen for an entire year, unfortunately. I suppose my 7mm might suffice for Monterrey though, if I can find another poor diver. If not, I'll still be able to visit some of my family in Florida over breaks.

 

[EvaL]

I've spent most of my life in academia (undergrad in U of IL, grad school in U of WI, postdoc work in northern Cal and now Cambridge, MA) so it helped. Confession: I had to rely on Gombessa's post for the location of Cornell, though.
A single 7mm fullsuit is OK for Monterrey usually, but if you put a second 7mm layer over it, it would be great all year round. I know what you mean, I still can't afford (or come up with a good reason for buying) a drysuit either - I'd rather take a dive trip than spend the $1K on a drysuit.
Good luck!

 

[rhlee]

I (unfortunately) didn't do any diving while I was at "the 'tute", but word is there is some pretty decent diving around there. I believe there is even a moderately active scuba club there.

Palo Alto would put you near my current stomping grounds, and within arms reach of incredible diving in Monterey.

 

[Homunculus]

mit scuba club is great. lots of organized dives during the summer plus occasional warm water flights (to cozumel or other places).
http://web.mit.edu/scuba-club/www/Membership.html

wetsuit is ok for the summer dives and if you'd like to do ice diving there will be plenty of opportunities. lots of LDS. United Divers in Somerville is the closest to MIT or Harvard but PG Dive in Newton is my favorite. "Cape Ann divers" are conveniently located on the way to Cape Ann dive sites but they are overpriced.

 

[TheHobster]

Great Lakes diving could be handled with a 7mm -Evanston is on the water pretty much and capt Dale is not that far away; or Burnham Harbor either

 

[Hoosier]

Diving during grad. school

You mean during a course work? Are you insane or in So-So program?

 

[polysemous1]

I'm with hoosier, I could never have afforded the dollars or the time to dive when I was in grad school. It was hard enough to find the money to eat and time to finish reading.

Dave