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<p>Hmm...the Penn bashing on this thread is even more than I find comfortable, even for me, a Princeton student, who is trained to believe Penn is the root of all evil (just kidding). </p>

<p>45 Percenter is absolutely right. Crime in Philadelphia is hardly different than other large cities in the United States. West Philadelphia is not Candyland, and going out late at night alone is often a bad idea. However, you can expect the same at places like WUSTL, UChicago, USC, Yale, Harvard, Berkeley, and to a lesser extent Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Columbia, NYU, Univ. of Pittsburgh, and many others. If you go to college in a city, almost immediately you should take some precautions, and thats all you can do. Campus safety officers and local law enforcement do all they can to protect students, but its just a fact of life that college students, many of them not adjusted to city life, are going to be targets for petty criminals and other unsavory types.</p>

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<p>Agreed. Though I do find it awkward how your assessment based on your subjective experience and 'hearsay' balance with a major newspaper's quantitative report. And to free myself from the accusation of "Penn bashing": I don't think anybody who's been there, including myself, can easily deny the fact that Penn is one of most fun places to be in the US, with Center City only minutes away by subway. We are talking about the crime issue here.</p>

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<p>Moving on...a more generous description of Princeton, NJ and Princeton University. </p>

<p>Princeton is a medium-sized suburban town in NJ's Northeast Corridor, smack between Philadelphia and New York City. On Nassau Street, the main thoroughfare through downtown, there's plenty to do. Since the gates to campus are directly across the street from the center of town, its easy for students just to walk into the town to shop, dine, or window-shop in Palmer Square (some boutiques in Princeton are quite expensive). There are lots of small eateries (Hoagie Haven!), coffee shops, and restaurants around of all types, and of course there's McCarter Theater and the Princeton Garden movie theater, which despite showing only 3-4 features at a time, has stadium-style seating. Princeton is not a huge college town like State College or Ann Arbor, but its very comfortable. </p>

<p>Princeton University's campus is also very compact and easy to navigate. Full of trees, green space, courtyards, and archways. It takes ten minutes at most to walk across campus. Despite the terrain gently sloping downhill, its not a pain to walk back up again since buildings like the campus center and others have entrances at different levels. Public transportation is very good. Princeton Station, which is practically on campus has a small shuttle which takes passengers to Princeton Junction, where they can catch NJ Transit trains and Amtrak to New York and Philadelphia (about 45 minutes to both cities). Many students use the train to get to Newark Airport. NJ Transit buses stop at two spots directly next to campus as well.</p>

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<p>Responding to your response bluekorea, I Googled "(some university) student shot", swapping in names of various universities (other than Penn) that have been mentioned. Here are my results:</p>

<p>Chicago</a> Maroon » Hyde Park burglaries increase during Chicago crime upswing</p>

<p>Johns</a> Hopkins Student Held in Fatal Shooting - New York Times</p>

<p>The</a> Daily Californian</p>

<p>WTNH.com</a>, Connecticut News and Weather - Yale student robbed, shot</p>

<p>The</a> Georgetown Voice | Student victim of armed assault - February 6, 2006</p>

<p>Student</a> shot, killed downtown - News</p>

<p>cbs2.com</a> - Man Shot Near USC Student Housing</p>

<p>Anyway, I wasn't necessarily accusing you, blukorea, of Penn bashing, because obviously you're not. That information isolated makes it sound like Penn students are ducking bullets all day and are constantly in fear of becoming victims. As you can see, crime near college campuses is not unique to Philadelphia.</p>

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<p>Princeton is indeed gorgeous. A bit boring for me, though ;) but undeniably stunning in physical plant.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Not much there? Berkeley has tons of bookstores, restaurants, and shops adjacent to campus...ever hear of Telegraph avenue? </p>

<p>Also, you can take BART to Oakland Airport, SFO, Oakland Colesium for Athletics/Raiders/Warriors games, or go into the city of San Fran.

[/quote]

I took the Summer Focus Program (6 weeks on campus) a summer ago and felt like I had explored everything within the mile or two. I'm sorry if you mind find that offensive in anyway, but maybe it's because I've only visited five colleges. As I mentioned, I found the BART to be very convenient.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I think it would be easier to tell us what YOU want so we can tell you which schools fit you.</p>

<p>And just saying that the Top 30 US News schools are not surely all the schools you are looking at....

[/quote]

Initially I wanted to keep it as un-personal as possible, so others could find this thread useful too.</p>

<p>Thanks for all responses, they were helpful!
Also, can someone comment on UMich? Thanks again.</p>

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<p>UMich...huge buildings on main central campus, which is adjacent to one of 2 downtownish areas of Ann Arbor. Central campus is wooded and buildings are a mixture of architectural styles. Some (eg, Alexandre) find the campus beautiful. I find it utilitarian and uninspired. Other campuses are a short bus ride away. Ann Arbor itself is a great college town, with endless quirky restaurants, bars, and shops. Decidedly on on the liberal side, and more intellectual than "jock-ish" despite high profile sports teams. Atmosphere is quite cosmopolitan--many faculty members and grad students are from other countries.</p>

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<p>Ann Arbor is a decent looking town. Very nice number of shops and a ton of good and good looking places to eat. Always a lot of people out doing their thing (When I was there a few weeks ago, people were playing beer pong in the street). Athletic facilities are amongst the best I've ever seen. I liked it, cant say I loved it. I dont think it touched Evanston in any way.</p>

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<p>I like, I like :p</p>

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<p>as a bay area native, i'm gonna tackle berkeley and stanford. and toss in ucla (my brother went there)...</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Stanford: Stanford is set in Palo Alto, which is pretty suburban/wealthy. There is a pretty good atmosphere set up for the college students (streets with restaurants, shops, etc) and Stanford Mall. Sometimes people say that it is pretty easy to get to San Francisco, but I kind of disagree. It's doable, but a slight hassle. To do so without a car would require you to take Caltrain for about 40-60 minutes (depends on if you take the Baby Bullet train) or Caltrain then BART (it is pretty far south from SF). It is however very near Silicon Valley, the booming center for things like biotechnology/technology in general. </p></li>
<li><p>University of California—Berkeley: I think that Berkeley's a really amazing place in terms of multiculturalism, with a definite eclectic, hippie feel. It is known as being very liberal (vestiges of the 70s), and BART makes getting to and AROUND (harder with Stanford for example) SF pretty easy. And it is also nice (if you are a basketball fan) because you can get to Oracle Arena easily to see the Warriors play. There are a ton of really amazing ethnic restaurants and quirky shops, although it is not for everyone. For example, there is a problem with homelessness. Parts of Oakland (near area) are known to be dangerous. </p></li>
<li><p>University of California—Los Angeles: Usually for the first year people stay in Westwood (kind of wealthy, cute, clean town type thing) at UCLA when they try and venture off campus. It's a fairly short walk and there are a lot of really, REALLY good restaurants, shops, and places to stake out a movie premiere. Of course you are in Los Angeles and get all the benefits of the different areas (e.g Santa Monica beach), but be warned that unless you have a car it is difficult to get around sometimes. If you do have a car, traffic is positively awful and parking is difficult, so driving in LA is not for the faint of heart.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Hope this helps!</p>

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<p>Thanks, it did.</p>

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<p>wow i wish this thread was around when i applied</p>

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<p>/<em>randomtext</em>/</p>

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<p>I’ll focus on the colleges in the USNWR Top 20 that IMO offer the best combinations of outstanding academics, great social life, and nationally meaningful athletic life:</p>

<p>STANFORD: Originally a location for breeding and training of horses (hence the still current nickname of “the Farm”), Stanford has an absolutely beautiful campus with red terra-cotta roofed buildings and wonderful trees and greens throughout. The facilities here are so outrageously good that you’ll think you died and went to heaven. And close proximity to Silicon Valley (not to mention SF is only 45 minutes north) is a big, big plus in soooooo many ways.</p>

<p>DUKE: The campus is beautiful-Durham is not. Stay on campus and take a drive around Duke’s West Campus (freshman spend their year at nearby East Campus) and you will see great, great beauty with colorful gardens, fabulous gothic buildings and the very impressive 210-foot tall Duke chapel (not to mention Krzyzewskivile and the surprisingly intimate and nationally famous Cameron Indoor basketball venue). </p>

<p>NORTHWESTERN: An absolute stunner of a 240-acre campus if you like wonderful architecture, gorgeous vistas overlooking Lake Michigan, and spectacular views of nearby downtown Chicago (“El” trains available to downtown and ORD and MDW). If you can stand the wind and the cold, then Northwestern’s campus and setting is close to ideal and gives you the best of so many different worlds. </p>

<p>RICE: The residential colleges of Rice are truly a defining and differentiating element compared to many of its larger, better-known peers. Located on 285 acres with no internal public roads, Rice is a leafy campus with wonderful Spanish architecture. Well-heeled neighborhood that is prime real estate in the USA’s 4th largest city. </p>

<p>VANDERBILT: Campus is located only 1.5 miles from downtown Nashville, but its 330 acres are so well protected and green and tree-studded that the campus has been designated a national arboretum. Students often refer to their bucolic environs as the Vanderbubble as they like it there so much, they rarely want to leave the campus. </p>

<p>NOTRE DAME: Don’t be fooled by the small town rep of South Bend-it has almost everything a student could possibly want with incredible facilities that are improving almost daily (current projects include ND Commons and new dorms). From the multiple quads (North/South/DeBartolo) to superb athletic facilities (ND stadium, Joyce Center, etc and more on the way), ND’s campus is a wonderful oasis for its students.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
As you point out, safety is a relative term, and Philadelphia does, indeed, have its share of problems, but it's really no different than Boston/Cambridge, NYC, New Haven, Baltimore, Chicago, and a host of other cities in that regard. Those who claim that Philly or Penn are uniquely dangerous--and I realize that you're not one of those--demonstrate a lack of perspective and knowledge.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Hmm...I beg to differ and let's look at the numbers:
From Jan 1 through Nov 1, 2007, Philly had 339 homicides.
From Jan 1 through Dec 24, 2007, LA had 386 homicides.
NYC is on pace to have fewer than 500 homicides in 2007.
From Jan 1 through July 8, 2007, Chicago had 211 homicides (couldn't find year-end number).</p>

<p>So they all have roughly the same number of homicides. BUT,
LA is roughly 3 times larger in area and population.
NYC is 3 times larger in area and 6 times larger in population.
Chicago's population and area are roughly twice the size of Philly's.</p>

<p>Another thing I found about the homicides in Philly is that the areas with very few homicides are pretty limited: The</a> Philadelphia Inquirer shows that pretty much the center city and penn campus (it's no surprise with the level of security they employ) are the only ones, unless you go all the way to the far northwest or northeast of the city. In LA, areas like Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills have yearly rate of 0-2 homicides; these are large areas in the middle of LA and Santa Monica and West Hollywood are pretty happening areas. I live in West Hollywood and I can travel a fairly large distance in all 4 directions without feeling I have to be very careful. On the other hand, if I were in Center City, I wouldn't have to travel far to feel a sudden change in vibe.</p>

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<p>Philadelphia is a lot safer than it seems. Funny, because the only incidents with college kids seem to happen at Penn. Still though, unless you're an idiot wandering around to places you shouldnt, you'll be fine.</p>