<p>I come from a very small agricultural town, and I have attended very tiny private schools and charter schools for my entire education. The largest school I've attended so far is my high school which has a total of 400 students. My class is the largest in the school with about 150 kids... Two years ago, the senior class had about twenty students.</p>
<p>Anyway, I am very comfortable with small towns, and I've never been to a large town for more than a day, really... And by large town I mean bustling metropolis (e.g., San Francisco). This being stated, going to college is pretty scary for me... This is why little college towns like Davis (one of my favorite places) are so appealing to me.</p>
<p>Can someone list other small, college-themed towns? I'd also like to add that I'm not interested in very conservative, right-wing communities.</p>
<p>I second Hanover. It's so cozy-feeling and little
Cornell's campus is very rural, and Ithaca isn't a very big town...
Depends where you're looking, really</p>
<p>My favorites:
Ann Arbor, MI
Madison, WI
Chapel Hill, NC
Ithaca, NY
Boulder, CO
Missoula, MT
Eugene, OR
Gainesville, FL
Charlottesville, VA
Northampton, MA
Santa Cruz, CA</p>
<p>Do you want to stay in state or go out of state? Stay on the West Coast or go anywhere?</p>
<p>Do you need a research university or prefer a liberal arts college? For LACs, there are many, many in small towns at all levels of selectivity. Whitman in Walla Walla, WA, may suit you. Denison or Kenyon in Ohio. Beloit or Lawrence U in Wisconsin. Willamette U in Salem, OR, might be a good
choice. </p>
<p>UC Santa Cruz is small town. Just from reading the guidebooks, I think that U Vermont sounds absolutely idyllic and it's supposed to be a great town. How far away do you want to look? </p>
<p>Give more specifics about the type of programs, selectivity and location you're looking for and there could be hundreds of other suggestions.</p>
<p>Boston/Cambridge is/are the ultimate college town(s), but they're not exactly "small" like the OP was looking for.</p>
<p>Clemson is also a great college town, out in a rural area, but again it doesn't sound to me like the OP is looking for a school with 18,000 students.</p>
<p>Duluth, Minnesota
Mankato, Minnesota
Bemidji, Minnesota
Spearfish, South Dakota
Ithaca, New York
Northfield, Minnesota
Madison, Wisconsin
Winston/Salem, North Carolina</p>
<p>To respond to jazzymom: You're going to just hate me for being so indecisive but... I'm truly not sure! I am just petrified of leaving what I know, which is very much a small, suburban (possibly rural?). I'm afraid of venturing into a large research school (UC Davis has more students than there are people in my town) because I'm afraid I'll be "culture shocked." At the same time, where's the fun in always sticking by what you are familiar with? I want to learn and grow.. But I'm scared to leave my comfort zone. I also don't honestly believe I'm a very strong person, and I don't want to just lose it and be far away from my family... At the same time, my home life can be... Inhospitable, we'll say, and I was told by a therapist to go to school far away... I don't know...</p>
<p>I am interested in anthropology, and I'd like to attend a fairly selective school. My test scores are not so great (I'm going to try to break 2100 for the SAT), my GPA is excellent, but my EC's are just so-so... I'm not into sports or clubs or socializing much, I guess. Heh. I do have some EC's though.</p>
<p>I'm glad some of you brought up Eugene! I've been very much considering this area. Is anyone here from Eugene, or just from Oregon? Could a California native handle the rain? I have a blood disorder which makes me extremely sensitive to cold, and I imagine it's very, very chilly up there...</p>
<p>As for Claremont, I've never been to that area of southern CA before. Is it nice? I have seen lovely photos, but I've heard the air quality for the Claremont Colleges is disgusting.</p>
<p>As for those of you kind enough to mention Cambridge: Not sure I'm quite there yet. ;)</p>
<p>I'm from California and Davis is not appealing at all. While some consider it to be a college town, I see it as more of a cow town. There's nothing to do in Davis except drink. UC Davis is a very good school but the town of Davis is atrocious.</p>
<p>Santa Cruz is a really nice, chill town with great weather. Good academics - pretty underrated. It's one of the smaller UC's too.</p>
<p>Goleta, California is where the campus of UC Santa Barbara is located. It (along with Isla Vista) feels like a college town inside of a medium sized city.</p>
<p>I just got back from visiting University of Oregon and Eugene was amazing. Great outdoor opportunities and a lot of things that cater to college students. I have good grades (3.9 uw gpa and 2300 sat) so I think I'll be able to get into their honors program. Right now U of O is my number 1 choice. The school is really good for Journalism, Business, and the sciences (they recently received a $75 million donation for the sciences from the founder of business wire). The one bad thing about Oregon is that it's not very diverse (mostly whites and asians).</p>
<p>The Claremont Colleges are very good academically if you are looking for a small liberal arts school. It's in a decent area, but it can be very hot in the summer and cold in the winter. You're right about the air quality though ;)</p>
<p>Ithaca is a very nice cozy college town. Small, very comfortable relationship with the students at Ithaca College and Cornell, viewed by some as a throw back to the "hippie" culture. When we visited, we even saw a Volkswagen Beetle police car painted with flowers. If you like small, Ithaca could be a good place for you. But you must also like snow - and lots of it!</p>
<p>Don't worry about being undecided about your major --- many if not most students are. If you're sensitive to cold, then forget about the suggestions in Wisconsin, upstate N.Y. and anywhere that gets serious snow. </p>
<p>I think you'd be fine in Oregon. It's far enough away to put some distance and test your mettle, but not so far that getting home is a huge hassle. Visit UO and also Willamette, which is nearby. Salem is the state capitol, but it's small, so it wouldn't be intimidating. In fact, I'm told that WU students will often go to Eugene to hang out on weekends because there's more there for college students. You could also look at small Linfield college in McMinnville; supposed to be a very cute small town. You don't say whether you need financial or merit aid, but both WU and Linfield offer merit aid. </p>
<p>If you want to stay in CA, you could look at Chapman U in Orange. The town of Orange is very small, of course surrounded by the greater Santa Ana suburban sprawl, but walking distance from the university is a town center with sections so quaint it's been used in numerous movie/tv shoots. From there, you could venture out to the malls (particularly The Block at Orange), or the beach, or Disneyland, etc. as you like. No cold weather to speak of.</p>
<p>Other than the air quality, the Claremont Colleges (particularly Scripps, Pitzer) may be just what you're looking for. What about the smaller Cal States? Monterey Bay, Sonoma, Humboldt, and in the south, San Marco.</p>
<p>One thing you can do is go to College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics
and type in the name of colleges you're interested in. You can get a quick read on the programs available, and how many students are in those programs, what the admission rate is for males/females, how much it costs to attend. It will help you compare colleges quickly.</p>
<p>With your interest in anthropology and desire for a small town/small school, check out Beloit College (one hour north of Chicago, small town in Wisconsin.) Has a reputation for an excellent anthro department and very engaged profs, great campus community.</p>