[20][b] During his freshman year, he switched his major from mechanical engineering to geology after working for John Casper Branner, the chair of Stanford's geology department.  During his sophomore year, to reduce his costs, Hoover co-founded the first student housing cooperative at Stanford, "Romero Hall".[22]  Hoover was a mediocre student, and he spent much of his time working in various part-time jobs or participating in campus activities.[23] Though he was initially shy among fellow students, Hoover won election as student treasurer and became known for his distaste for fraternities and sororities.[24] He served as student manager of both the baseball and football teams, and helped organize the inaugural Big Game versus the University of California.[25] During the summers before and after his senior year, Hoover interned under economic geologist Waldemar Lindgren of the United States Geological Survey; these experiences convinced Hoover to pursue a career as a mining geologist.[26]

Mining engineer
Bewick, Moreing
Hoover, aged 23; taken in Perth, Western Australia, in 1898
When Hoover graduated from Stanford in 1895, the country was in the midst of the Panic of 1893 and he initially struggled to find a job.