<p>Did you eliminate any college choices on the grounds that the campus was in or near a "dangerous neighborhood" and/or that the college did not guarantee on campus housing for all four years? If so, which schools did you drop from your list? Did you decide to have your child apply anywhere in spite of these fears?</p>
<p>My parents almost eliminated my first choice because of safety concerns. It wasn't an ungrounded fear either; I certainly saw their point. When I visited they left me to my own devices as they did a "safety check" of the campus and its environs. They got so chummy with security that they ended up in one of the guard's squad cars taking a tour of the area! </p>
<p>They are still wary, but a few things have reassured them: this summer, I did a test run by participating in a program on campus. Because there was a lot more monitering and "control" of the participants, they were reassured, and it allowed me to see the real deal. Also, I've stepped up on showing responsibility. I always carry my cell phone, keep enough gas in the car, and lock up when I leave home, even though we're in the middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>So they're basically OK with it - the bottom line is, stuff can happen anywhere, and if you examine the individual events, a lot of them are either preventable or in circumstances which your S / D can avoid. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>No, but I think it may have played some role in my DD's decision-making. She didn't like the urban settings, I don't think fear was the main reason, but perhaps part of the issue. She's going almost cross-country, and I think an urban area was just a little too different.</p>
<p>If she had chosen Columbia or Penn, or even Swat where she might go into Phil. with some regularity, we would have started a practical course in "street smarts", much as Silver describes. As it is, we are having talks, but no active practice yet. She comes from a place where people lock their doors, but the kids are in a bubble.</p>
<p>Baltimore is a wonderful city with many colleges but they also have a high crime rate and many shootings in the inner city area.
I don't like the Univ. of PA campus because of all the traffic on the small streets. The insidence of crime increases as one moves further away from the university (3-4 city blocks)and time and again one hears of insidents, usually happening to students out late at night. There are shootings in West Philadelphia.
Forget about George Washington. After staying near the university and hearing all the sirens all night, I really wondered why this college is SO popular.<br>
Now, many will come to the rescue of these colleges here. These are MY personal opinions!</p>
<p>Thanks for your honesty, backhandgrip, it was Baltimore that had been worrying me. There's been another Thread here on what your kid should know before leaving home. I guess "street smarts" should be on everyone's list--even those on rural, safe campuses--they still might end up visiting in less safe places.</p>
<p>This is an interesting topic. And, it is one for which there is no real answer - campus safety. Consider:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>"crime" is a pretty broad term. Thefts from (unlocked?) dorm rooms? muggings/armed robbery? How far away counts?</p></li>
<li><p>perception versus reality. Some neighborhoods look scary, even though they are stable lower SES neighborhoods, with reasonable crime levels. </p></li>
<li><p>all too many people equate neighborhoods of color with high crime. It is sad but true. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>funny thing is that the risk of injury due to alcohol is probably higher on some campuses than the risk of injury from crime on other "risky" campuses. We hear about those rare cases of forcible stranger rape, but never about those cases of alcohol enabled date rape, for instance. We hear about a stolen wallet from a dorm room, but not about the "lost" wallet at the frat party.</p>
<p>Interesting standards!</p>
<p>The only neighborhood where I felt any trepidation was when we visited USC with S five years ago since it's right on the edge of South Central LA. That said, there probably are areas in any major city where people are more cautious. Even here in Boston, my hometown, there are places where I am more alert when driving through them at night.</p>
<p>Cangel and Silver have the right idea....street smarts will keep you safe. Many who experience crime on these urban campuses are those who come with little sense of how to be safe. No, it's not a good idea to get drunk and wander around West Philadelphia, away from campus, at 4am. I liken this to the people who will never travel to the Caribbean because they think there's a major crime problem there (I hear this all the time). There's always the story: "lat time we were htere someone broke into our car while we were snorkeling and took $2,000 worth of camera equipment!" ......you get the point. </p>
<p>Being aware of one's surroundings is important. For some of us, that's second nature. For others, it's a lesson.</p>
<p>Last time I was the victim of a crime was in Charlottsville, VA......where a man circled my car in a Wallmart parking lot one night when my H and S were inside (we were on a ski vacation) and I was in the car with D, who was 3 months old at the time. The guy must have thought I was a kid because I was in the back seat...hair in a ponytail...no makeup. After several circles around my car (in his car) he got out, exposed himself and started to walk to my car. I was thinking "look at this freak! Get me back to the city!" I hit the horn and he took off....my H and S came out and jumped in the car to chase his car.....called the police...and they eventually caught him in a motel nearby. HE claimed it wasn;t him...but I was able to describewhat he had been wearing and the police found the outfit hanging in his closet...adn his car engine was still hot, though he claimed that he had been asleep. The police were great...but advised that I would have to return to the area to prosecute him, which I declined (I never want to go there again...ugh!).....so the police gave my H a few minutes to say his peace to the guy. </p>
<p>So, there's my Charlottsville, VA story. Things really can happen anywhere. I'll take the rough city guys over creepy freaks like that anyday.</p>
<p>Wow, momsdream, I'm so glad you were okay. And you are so right, anything can happen anywhere. You can be safe and careful and and a birck or icicle can fall on you. Sometimes I think it's all fate- but don't tempt fate.
momsdream; did you see on the other thread- I am old enough to be your mother! Hey, your mom and I are probably the same generation! How's that for a kick!</p>
<p>bhg- of course, it's all in the eye of the beholder. For me, JHU is in a v nice part of Balto altho I know crime can and does occur everywhere. I grew up in DC and my reaction to your GW comment was ?????</p>
<p>"Funny" siren story - one of my real estate clients is a New Yorker (Park Avenue) and had a summer home here on a Maine island. Immediately upon being widowed, she put the island home up for sale: her H had loved it, but she had only gone along for the ride - just "couldn't sleep it was so quiet. I need the sirens."</p>
<p>btw, bhg, I am not only old enough to be momsdream's mother, but have a step D several years older than she. Momsdream has already been busted for trying to make a case for herself on the "knew I was old when" trhead.</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins campus is gorgeous, and borders on one side some very nice neighborhoods; however I believe one end of the campus merges into some bad areas. They are getting quite a bad rap right now, with 2 students being murdered in 12 months, and no-one arrested.</p>
<p>Yes, please don't lump all of a city in with the area around a campus. Baltimore does have some dangerous areas, but they are nowhere near the Homewood campus of JHU. (The Med School, however, is in a not-great part of town.)</p>
<p>pyewacket, if your student is considering JHU, I strongly recommend you visit and see for yourself. The Homewood campus is beautiful and is located amongst a couple working-class neighborhoods which in general are not bad areas. Common sense, alertness, and traveling with a buddy if one has to travel very far off-campus late at night are all good skills to employ <em>anywhere</em>. You should also note some impressive new security measures JHU is putting into place for city areas around the campus where many upperclassmen live. Feel free to drop a PM if you want more info on Baltimore.</p>
<p>So true, jmmom and momsdream: crime can and does occur anywhere. There's nothing special to worry about in Baltimore, just be city-aware and things will be fine.</p>
<p>With respect to the 2 Baltimore murders: one was at a frat house that was left open and unlocked after a large party (the frats are a short ways off-campus), and the other may have been committed by someone the student knew: a "person of interest" is being investigated. They are both terrible tragedies, but it is not as if random violence invaded the campus. JHU officials are looking now at a security camera system similar but more advanced than that implemented at Penn in the mid-'90s after concerns about crime surfaced there.</p>
<p>Clearly some places are more dangerous than others, but the real issue is that young people are vulnerable wherever they are. College campuses attract bad people because students have things, e..g., cars, computers, bikes, books, which can be taken and readily turned into cash. Students as a group are easy victims; many are trusting and friendly, lack experience, careless with their personal possessions, and often walk around in a fog unaware of their surroundings. Perhaps it's part of the invulnerability that most young people feel. The same sense of invulnerability that leads them to drive too fast, drink too much, and engage in dangerous relationships.</p>
<p>Going back to '71-'75, we had a break-in every year in Ann Arbor, mostly stereo equipment, as we didn't have computers at the time.</p>
<p>fwiw: while the the area surrounding USC may not be pretty, it is extremely safe -- it was one of the few SoCal areas unscathed during the Rodney King riots. The reason for that is USC has been outstanding in local community relations: 1) they are the employer of choice for many in the area; 2) the college gives large tuition discounts to local area HS kids; 3) they have Saturday morning academic workshops starting in middle schools for any high-achieving local kid, and any kids that wants to try an academic challenge. Kids who go thru their program thru HS, are offered a full ride, I beleive. (This is a great volunteer oppotunity for undergrads, btw.) According to Mini's data, USC has the highest number of Pell grant kids of all the major private colleges -- I would guess that many are local area kids.</p>
<p>Of course, that doesn't mean that coeds should be strolling the streets at 2:00 am unescorted.</p>
<p>Every college is required to post their annual crime statistics. This can usually be found on line and indicates whether the crime occurred on campus or in the surrounding area. Some schools where there is more criminal activity - such as USC - post daily reports. I think it is a good idea to read these reports and decide how much "street smarts" are necessary. I have found some surprising levels of crime at colleges in even relatively small mid-western towns, so don't assume that just because a campus is not in a major city that crime does not exist. Far better to check the facts.</p>
<p>"According to Mini's data, USC has the highest number of Pell grant kids of all the major private colleges -- I would guess that many are local area kids."</p>
<p>USC has been really outstanding in this regard, and the urban Ivies could take a lesson from them. (Of course, they already know what they are doing - they've taken the lesson, and rejected it. Lots of them have community service programs to go out and "help the poor", but bringing them on campus as students is not part of the agenda.)</p>
<p>By the way, here is a link to the national database of campus crime statistics - it is searchable by school:
<a href="http://ope.ed.gov/security/Search.asp%5B/url%5D">http://ope.ed.gov/security/Search.asp</a></p>
<p>Thanks for the link, Carolyn.</p>
<p>What bothered me about JHU is that only 54% of students live on campus. So juniors and seniors are living off campus-probably in cheper rental neighborhoods? Safe?</p>