CP Rankings for the USNWR Top 25 IV: Off-Campus Housing

College Search & Selection
1

<p>CC provides information elsewhere that is drawn from College Pr owler. CP rates a number of elements of college life and I thought it might be interesting and fun to compare on various characteristics of colleges ranked in the USWNR Top 25 National Universities and the USNWR Top 25 LACs. </p>

<p>Here are the grades for Off-Campus Housing for colleges ranked in the USNWR Top 25 National Universities and the USNWR Top 25 LACs. Some pretty atrocious grades for many National Universities and LACs. This factor is worth taking a close look at when you do your college tours. </p>

<p>Note: Not all colleges have data available (Caltech, UCB, and UCLA among the national universities and Smith, Bates, Macalester, USMA & USNA among the LACs).</p>

<p>Off-Campus Housing , College</p>

<p>A , U Penn
A , Carnegie Mellon
A- , Wash U
A- , Brown
A- , Rice
A- , Emory
A- , U Virginia
B+ , Cornell
B+ , Johns Hopkins
B , Yale
B , Dartmouth
B- , U Chicago
C+ , Northwestern
C+ , Notre Dame
C , Georgetown
C- , Duke
C- , Vanderbilt
D- , Princeton
D- , MIT
D- , Stanford
F , Harvard
F , Columbia</p>

<p>Off-Campus Housing , LAC</p>

<p>A- , Davidson
A- , W&L
B , Swarthmore
B , Carleton
B , Wesleyan
B- , Vassar
B- , Oberlin
C+ , Grinnell
C , Bowdoin
C , Colgate
C- , Williams
D+ , Amherst
D+ , Middlebury
D , Wellesley
D , Haverford
D , Claremont McK
D , Bryn Mawr
D , Colby
D- , Pomona
D- , Harvey Mudd
D- , Hamilton</p>

2

<p>This survey of off campus housing is somewhat misleading. From appearances it is affected negatively by many things that are seen as positives on other surveys. For instance schools with very inclusive house style living systems like Harvard or Yale are downgraded because there was never much need for off campus housing so not much is availible. </p>

<p>Also the housing seems to be inversly affected by how expensive and desirable the surrounding area is. So NYC or Boston get downgraded though many people considering them to be very desirable college locations. </p>

<p>So the best ratings are for schools that are in low cost (less desirable areas) such as Pittsburgh or Philly, especially if they are schools that traditionly had on campus housing shortages but recently built more dorms leaving plenty of nearby low cost vacancies in the traditional student apartments surrounding the school ( Cornell, Penn, Carnegie). </p>

<p>I suppose a student should look for the availibility of on campus housing combined with the ranking of off campus housing. Not a big deal for Stanford where it is traditional to live on campus for 4 years, but a bit of a concern for schools with a lack of undergrad housing combined with bad off campus housing (columbia?).</p>

3

<p>West Philadelphia.....hahahaha.....laugh of the day......gotta love 43rd & Baltimore....hawkette, you know I wuv u, but, um, no......</p>

4

<p>
[quote]
I suppose a student should look for the availibility of on campus housing combined with the ranking of off campus housing.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Agree. I mean, does it matter if Wesleyan has a B while Pomona only has a D-, when at either school you are very unlikely to live anywhere but on campus?</p>

5

<p>I didn't have to read past the first on the list before I was laughing. Penn has plenty of off-campus housing, so maybe there is an A for quantity, but the majority of it is deplorable! My kid is in great, brand new, off-campus housing now, but it is really expensive. We talked to a number of parents who were moving kids into this particular housing last September and every single one felt that the alternatives were horrible and they were willing to pay a lot for this ONE good choice.
On the other hand, Rice has a variety of off-campus housing and much of it is wonderful and cheap.</p>

6

<p>rodney & MOWC,
I agree with you on the grade for U Penn. I'm not sure what College Pr owler is thinking in giving them an A. West Philly is a pretty scary place and I think I remember seeing a lot of lousy neighborhoods very close to U Penn's campus. Not sure if students are ever living there or not (I hope not!).</p>

7

<p>^^The neighborhoods right around Penn are OK, but the housing is horrible. From the outside it doesn't look too bad, but a couple of slum landlords own most of the row houses, and the insides are disgusting. There are a few decent ones, but most are slums. The kitchens and bathrooms are awful.</p>

8

<p>A for U Penn and C+ for Northwestern? This survey doesn't pass the sniff test. Off campus housing for Penn is nothing to write home about, whereas in Evanston off-campus housing means an apartment in a safe, charming and often upscale neighborhood.</p>