What are some of the nicest college towns and cities (keep limited to good colleges, 30% acceptance rate and lower)? What colleges are in the nicest areas with the best and most opportunities?
For me. Not considering the campus itself. But most have great campuses too. Schools with your parameters of housing schools with less than 30 percent admissions rates .
Considering - do businesses and locals love, support and cater to students. Interesting stuff off campus. Safety. Local. Transportation. Cultural options and fun. Plus scenic when considering towns. Cities less so.
Towns
Amherst. Chestnut Hill. Ann Arbor. Annapolis. Georgetown.
Cities.
Boston DC San Diego Providence Pittsburgh Austin
Charlottesville
@Cavitee I was thinking of that but UVA has a 36 percent acceptance rate instate and that’s 70 percent of the students, roughly, are instate. So I didn’t add it to the list. But I agree. And the op is out of state I believe. And that’s a 19 percent admit rate. So it qualifies and the blended total does as well.
My mistake. Great addition.
Seconding Amherst, Chapel Hill, Ann Arbor, Boston, San Diego
Would like to add State College (PA) and Twin Cities, respectively for college town and city - and for college of business or engineering probably not far off the mark for acceptance rates.
Ann Arbor is a given. WashU is nice. UChicago. I personally like Michigan State. Boston and Chappell Hill as stated.
Madison, Wisconsin.
I love Madison but DH went there and said it’s incredibly cold in the winter, the way the wind blows off the lake. I don’t think I could take it and I live in Maine!
Ann Arbor, Evanston, Davidson, Cambridge, Princeton, Hanover, Nashville, & Boston are some to consider.
The 30% acceptance rate may cause you to miss out on some great towns & cities with “the best and most opportunities” such as Austin, Madison, Boulder, Seattle & San Diego. Some majors within large universities have low acceptance rates.
It would be helpful if you defined some of your terms regarding what types of opportunities you are seeking, as well as your definition of nice.
P.S. Also, the 30% admit rate means that you may miss out on great locations with outstanding opportunities at state honors colleges. Oxford, Mississippi is an example of a great college town, although not sure of opportunities regarding job placement, but social opportunities are incredible. Athens, Georgia is another.
Possibilities (for the under 30% crowd):
UVa (~29% admit rate, Charlottesville)
Barnard (24%, women only, Manhattan)
Colorado College (18%, Colorado Springs)
Georgetown (17.4%, DC)
Cooper Union (15.1%, Manhattan)
Amherst College (13.8%, Amherst)
Vanderbilt (13.1%, Nashville)
USNA (7.9%, Annapolis)
MIT (7.9%, Cambridge)
Columbia (7%, Manhattan)
Harvard (6%, Cambridge)
The above college towns/cities will appeal (or not) to different people differently. Taking internship/research opportunities (as well as other factors) into account, IMO the best of the above locations might be Manhattan, DC, and Cambridge (depending on your interests and tastes).
@tk21769 new meaning to the “under 30 crowd”. LOL
My favorites - Ithaca (Cornell), Evanston (Northwestern), and Ann Arbor (U. Michigan)
Charlottesville and Chapel Hill are really cool places. I’d say quintessential college towns but also nice places to live (many stay in the area). For a city, hard to beat Boston with all the schools, culture, history, sports, etc.
A relative newcomer to these lists, but, worth looking into: Middletown CT (Wesleyan - 16% admit rate)
Young professionals with jobs in Hartford and New Haven are beginning to discover this central Connecticut hub with its squeaky clean main street and mile-long string of ethnic restaurants and pubs. It also boasts a very handy and attractive river front:
https://www.collegeconsensus.com/rankings/best-river-colleges/
I hate to be a party pooper but with a Max budget of $20k your focus needs be on affordability first and foremost with anything else (to include “nicest college towns”) a distant second. Come up with a list of affordable schools first and then come back and ask about those particular college towns.
Yea you’re right