Challenges at Rural Colleges

Parents Forum
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<p>I went to college for four years, and not once did I have a medical emergency. Come to think of it, I had a small handful of close friends during those four years, and not once did any of them have a medical emergency.</p>

<p>Number of small handful of close friends = 4
Number of Me = 1</p>

<p>x 4 years of college apiece.</p>

<p>Total = 20 college-people-years, and not one medical emergency! Yowza!!</p>

<p>And this, mind you, was waaayyyy before cell phones were invented. And still, no emergencies. And everybody knows that the likelihood of an emergency occurring is much higher when you don't have a cell phone.</p>

<p>The moral of the story is, if your son/daughter loves the rural school, and it's a good fit, and you like the rural school, go ahead and jump in with both feet. Have no fear.</p>

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<p>This is my thinking--if fifty percent of the students have cars, fifty percent don't. And they're surviving, I'll bet, despite the occasional mishap or need such as broken glasses or dental problems. Why not ask the college student center *how *they do, rather than wonder *if *they do. </p>

<p>For the record, neither of my kids ever needed that kind of off-campus service through their years of college. Not that nothing can come up, just that,for an otherwise healthy kid, it's not a regular occurence.</p>

<p>I really feel that for an otherwise good-fit school, this should not be a deal-breaker.</p>

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<p>Pretty simple solution get the kid a car.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
It's not rural if there is cab service ROTFL!!!

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I guess that's a matter of perspective. I could argue that it's not rural if there is a University there. I've been to a ton of podunk universities and they nearly all have cab service in their towns. I'm not saying that they all do, but it take a very small town not to have cab service. Off the top of my head, Canyon, TX, home of West Texas A&M, with a city population of 13,000 does not have a cab company located in the city, but even it has cab service (cab within 11 miles).</p>

<p>Sure, I guess if you go to a school like Sul Ross State in Alpine, TX, 6,000 people, located hundreds of miles from any city, then you probably can't get cab service. However, if you are in a city of 6,000 people, there is nowhere to take you anyways.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I went to college for four years, and not once did I have a medical emergency. Come to think of it, I had a small handful of close friends during those four years, and not once did any of them have a medical emergency.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes. Unless her son is 72 yrs old, or he just has a propensity for doing very stupid things, it's not likely that he will have any major medical emergencies.</p>

<p>BTW, there's not a whole ton going on in small towns. So generally students will probably be very receptive to giving others rides. Also, there is no traffic to contend with (unless you are in a town like Morgantown).</p>

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<p>Sometimes unexpected things do happen. My super healthy kid got a corneal ulcer fr. wearing contacts during his soph. yr. Campus Health center could not treat it and referred him to a Opthamologist. S ended up having to make weekly trips to the eye Dr. (and trips to phamacy) for more than a month before it finally healed. </p>

<p>In his jr. year, his orthodontic retainer (the one that's glued in) broke on one end (was dangling in his mouth) so an orthodontist had be be found to fix it. </p>

<p>In his sr. year he had a knee injury (he's an every day runner). The Health Center recommended seeing an Orthopedic Dr. which he did. He ended up needing twice a week physical therapy treatments ( for 3-4 weeks) that luckily he was able to get at the Physical Therapy Dept. at his big state u. </p>

<p>S had his car at school so getting all this taken care of was not that bad. He just had to plan his appts. around his class schedule. If he had not had a car and had to schedule appts. around his class sched. plus a friend's (to drive him) it would have been
a mess. S's big state u is in a city and has it's own bus system so we never had to really worry about it. </p>

<p>S is not s sickly guy. Never missed a day of school for seven years. He is in great shape and has been selected for U.S. Navy Special Ops. Never had any chronic condtitons. Sometimes things just happen. I don't blame NEM for giving it some consideration.</p>

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<p>Go to the nearest small business (convenience store, restaurant, cleaners) operated by hard-working immigrants. Say to someone there, "Hey I need someone with a car who could take me to X in an emergency. I can pay $50 anytime I need a ride. Do you know anyone who would be available for that?".</p>

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<p>Thanks packmom! Sorry that your son had to go through all of that stuff, esp. the corneal ulcer, that sounds terrible!</p>

<p>sorghum, lol, my brother broke his foot and he was unable to drive for a couple of weeks. My brother is married to someone who grew up in another country and she was able to get a driver for him in a similar manner as you described. Of course it helped that she could speak the same native language as the driver and that made the communication part easy. I did not think of that, btw, but that is a good idea to keep in mind!</p>

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<p>Just another personal experience: S1 is in his 2nd semester soph year. Somewhat of a rural school, and far enough out of town that there are no services within a couple of miles and no regular bus service. He does not have a car and he's even living off-campus about 8 miles away from the school this year. He has yet to have a problem getting rides to buy supplies, food or entertainment; and his campus is small enough that not much happens there on the weekends. Probably a similar 50% of the students have cars.</p>

<p>We have always assumed that he'd have to use the airport shuttle (about 90 miles) to get back from breaks, but every time he's flown, he's managed to find someone from campus to get a ride with (of course after the last holidays he had to wait about 7 hours!)...friends, fraternity brothers, roommates, even a friend's mother who was visiting. I think if they are resourceful, they figure it out. I would not rule an otherwise good school out because of a lack of public transportation. In fact, I can't imagine my son using the bus, if he could bum a ride from a friend.</p>

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<p>archiemom, How does he get to and from his classes?</p>

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<p>northeastmom, are you talking about Hiram?</p>

<p>If so, other posters should know that Hiram is an excellent small college academically but does not have the resources for things like zipcars-for-rent.</p>

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<p>^^ Hey! That's where I went to undergrad!!</p>

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<p>My D#2 got mono her freshman year & was sent to hospital by the health center. She had the support of her friends & it was difficult for her to finish freshman year. I emailed her advisor & her advisor called me on the phone while she was cooking dinner for her family & we talked about what D#2's options were to finish out the school year. She was able to successfully complete her freshman year. </p>

<p>Between Thanksgiving & Xmas this past semester she was so ill with a flu with symptoms of meningitis that the health center sent her to the hospital again & she had all kinds of tests & a spinal tap. She got extensions on all her fall semester work. She had the support again of her friends & suitemates & professors. D#2 has never had a car at college & has survived both these illnesses. Canton, NY is in the frozen tundra of Northern New York, not a suburban location, rather in the middle of nowhere. </p>

<p>I do understand your concern, Northeastmom, my daughter had two serious health problems which were unexpected & she received medical care, all without owning a car or relying on public transportation. I think the kids do really look out for each other & help each other as well.</p>

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<p>SLUMOM, thanks. Glad to know your DD survived all of that!</p>

<p>Keilexandra, although my question applies to several rural schools, yes, I am referring to Hiram College, so Modadunn now you know that I am talking about RURAL!</p>

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<p>That can be an issue in suburban schools too. My son looked at Rhodes College. There really is no public transportation from the campus to other places in Memphis. There are many programs that the school has where the kids go off campus. The answer I received about transportation, was that the kids carpool and that it works out somehow. </p>

<p>For kids who have chronic health conditions where an upscale hospital is important, that definitely should be something on the list for consideration.</p>

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<p>cpt, I am shocked this is an issue in Memphis! I know that some people object to the surrouding neighborhood, but I would have thought transportation would not be an issue.</p>

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<p>Hi northeastmom.</p>

<p>Sure, I understand your concern. This is our job as parents. But I think every situation has potential dangers and rewards.</p>

<p>It's up to the student to decide how each figures into his/her decision of where he/she wants to be.</p>

<p>My D is in school in NYC. She can get her laptop fixed twenty-four hours a day at the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue. Great. All well and good. The downside? I have to worry about her getting back to her dorm at midnight. SHE sees no problem. She does take a cab, but hey, she's a really pretty girl. I decided I would have to ignore the dangers to stay sane. That's where she wanted to be. She loves NYC.</p>

<p>My S is in school in very rural MA, or at least as rural as MA can get. The little town has almost nothing. The hospital is a half hour away. That's where he wanted to be. He wanted to "be able to see the stars without light pollution." Those are his own words. That's where he wanted to be. Again, I decided to just ignore all the potential problems. So far so good.</p>

<p>It is a pain to get him. There is public transportation home, but he'd have to go through NYC, and we're on LI. A trip that takes four hours by car/ferry takes seven hours that way, with a lot of shlepping from Port Authority to Penn Station. So far we haven't made him do that. We get him.</p>

<p>Oh, he had laptop problems too, and just had to wait until he got home. He used the school's computers. I know health problems are different, but neither kid has really had any.</p>

<p>Oh, my D in NYC waits until she gets home to get her glasses tightened, eyes checked, get new contacts. Everything is right there, but not so much in her neighborhood. When she's sick she wants to come home, too.</p>

<p>In an emergency, of course there are many hospitals. But if S were sick other kids, campus security, or even an ambulance is available.</p>

<p>Of course, the example of the corneal ulcer would be a pain, but it would be a big pain for D in NYC too. She'd been independent and not have to rely on anyone, true, but it would interrupt her day and might be a really long subway ride.</p>

<p>Things are hassles in cities too.</p>

<p>Anyway, to reiterate, I do understand your concerns. I'd let my S decide if I were you.</p>

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<p>D attends college in MA and had bf w/ a car. Hedrove her most places, still, there were occasions when she wanted to go to the mall or some other place in which he had no interest and she had to rely on the bus. There were also occasions when, b/c of his study or work schedule he was unable to drive her. D is not is a rural area; having access to a car was not a necessity, but it was really a plus. </p>

<p>Now that D has broken-up w/ bf, she occasionally gets rides from friends. It takes some planning and compromise since she has to work around someone else's schedule and destination (ie a friend offered D a ride home, but driver wasn't comfortabe driving into the city so D had to travel home from driver's suburban NJ home about an hour from the NYC). She has found frend-rides to be do-able, but an imperfect solution. Fortunately, the school now offers zip-car, which has been a God-send.</p>

<p>My point is simply that D did not find relying on friends to be as easy as some posts have suggested. Also, what if, even though half the students on campus own cars, no one in your child's circle of friends owns a car? </p>

<p>A number of "maybe" schiools on D2's list are what I would call remote. I am increasingly less excited about these schools. I haven't said "no" to any of them, but I do not talk them up and they will not be priorities for visits, so they will likely fall off, ot to the bottom of her list - - benign neglect.</p>

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<p>Northeastmom, I asked. Rhodes is in a nice part of Memphis. But you can't get anywhere from there because it is not on the transportation line. It appeared that a lot of kids have cars. My son would not be one of them.</p>

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<p>ok.. While I am sure things have changed/grown, at least now you know that when I said I knew rural, I know rural! But here's the thing, when I went to school I will admit that I only had to go to the health clinic only once or twice, and I don't recall it as the place where I felt all homey. However, I did love the library. It was actually what sold me on the school -- and now I think that it's been turned into the admissions building. </p>

<p>It is a really small school and because of this, I am pretty certain that if he needs help, his friends will be there for him. I agree about Taxi and Buses, but there are a lot of options and I had relationships with a lot of people including professors, students and best of all, the cleaning crew -- who were very much like mom's because most of them were who lived in Garretsville.</p>