Best College in the Connecticut, New York, New Jersey Area

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Random question: My nephews will be visiting us in New Canaan, CT during July. They aren't in a family where there is much thought given to college, and I've tried direct, conversational approaches to get them to think about the question with both of them (it worked with one, and decidedly didn't work with the other).</p>

<p>In order to make college real to them in a different way, I want to take them on a college tour of the most interesting/most beautiful campus nearby, but I am new to the area. My recollection of the Yale campus when I was there years ago was that it's kind of ugly. The same with UConn.</p>

<p>What about others such as:</p>

<p>Fairfield
Vassar
Princeton</p>

<p>Others in the area I may be missing that would be a good choice to try to show perhaps uninterested early high schoolers (the nicer the campus the easier I think the task would be)? Princeton is as far as I MIGHT want to go from where we are and frankly is probably not going to happen, though I've heard it's nice. And my nephews are very unlikely to be Ivy material, so I am not biased towards showing them a campus like that.</p>

<p>Any suggestions would be welcome.</p>

2

<p>weslyan is small but ive heard it is very nice</p>

3

<p>Check out Trinity College in Hartford, its a very nice, kinda small campus. Also, try Connecticut College, from what I hear its a pretty nice place. Quinnipiac in Hamden is also pretty nice.</p>

4

<p>Vassar and Princeton are 2 of the loveliest colleges around. Wesleyan is beautiful. But these three are also among the most selective colleges in the country. Connecticut College is lovely, and very close to Mystic, CT and the ocean. Seton Hall is also a pretty campus in a not-so-pretty area. Drew University has a beautiful campus. (And of course it depends on what an individual considers "lovely" - some people think NYU is beautiful because they love NY.)</p>

5

<p>Take a road trip to Colgate and/or Cornell. I have heard TCNJ is a nice campus, too.</p>

6

<p>I have not visited many colleges but I can tell you that Vassar (I'm a frequent visitor) is BEAUTIFUL!</p>

7

<p>Marist is cool too just to let you know, especially if they're into sports and stuff.</p>

8

<p>Is the idea to show them somewhere that might get them excited about college or somewhere that they might actually want to consider? If it's the former, you might want to know whether they'd be more attracted to urban, suburban or rural.</p>

9

<p>UConn is a great school</p>

10

<p>What about Connecticut College?</p>

11

<p>The College of New Jersey?</p>

12

<p>If you want to show them an idyllic, beautiful, classic place, Connecticut College is the place to go. </p>

<p>Just go straight up I95 to Exit 83; go left; then go right on Rt 32; then go left at the second light. Couldn't be easier!! And it's only about an hour and 20 minutes. </p>

<p>(And, if you get off at Exit 63 on the way back, you can shop the outlets at Clinton Crossing.)</p>

13

<p>I haven't been there in years, but I recall Sarah Lawrence College's grounds are quite attractive, though small.</p>

<p>Columbia's campus is impressive, though rather compact.</p>

<p>I actually thought Yale's main "quad" looked pretty good, for the two minutes I got to see it. I wouldn't count it out.</p>

<p>Branching out farther, for absolute best within about 2 hours, I would pick Princeton or Vassar.</p>

<p>Vassar's is the most attractive for what it's got, but Princeton's is up there also, and more impressive because it's bigger. </p>

<p>As for some of the others: </p>

<p>-To me, Connecticut College has kind of an odd campus.</p>

<p>The buildings are, mostly, old, stately, and attractive, but they're in an odd layout: this long narrow rectangular corridor that seems to go on forever.</p>

<p>And they seem to have more cars on campus than I've seen anywhere, to such an extent that I wondered if it's a commuter school. Less of an issue this time of year.</p>

<p>Finally, there seemed to be evidence of disrepair. Paving stones in sidewalks were crumbling. Some building interiors seemed like they could use their once-a-century makeoever. I'm pretty oblivious to these types of details, so for me to notice them is something.</p>

<p>-Wesleyan's campus didn't astound us.</p>

<p>-We never made it to Trinity College; hear it's got the nice, stately buildings but the area surrounding the campus is not too nice.</p>

14

<p>^^^^^</p>

<p>Thanks to all who have weighed in so far, and thanks especially to MonyDad for all the detail (which is really helpful). Chedva, good suggestion on working in a visit to Mystic; we'll probably try to do that if we see Yale, Conn College, or Wesleyan.</p>

15

<p>BTW, it may not be obvious but Sarah Lawrence, Columbia, and Vassar may be closer to New Canaan than some of these Connecticut schools are.</p>

16

<p>Bard or Skidmore if you go a bit farther away. The Amherst, Mass. area is a good one to visit with a variety of schools.</p>