How safe are these colleges' campuses and surrounding areas?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi there! I’m a high school junior, and there’s a chance I won’t get to do a college tour before EA applications are due next fall. I’ve already toured most of my target and safety schools pre-pandemic because they’re all in my home state; I’ve also toured Stanford (I was in the San Jose area) and loved how incredibly safe it felt. I’m deciding between a few Ivies for REA (you can check my other questions if you want my stats, but it’s kind of irrelevant to this question), and I want to know how safe the areas feel.

How safe is the Yale area (I’ve heard mixed things about New Haven), Brown (ditto about Providence) and Harvard? Can you walk on campus without feeling on edge? The area off campus? For a reference point, I’m coming from Santa Monica, CA.

2

The Harvard area is quite safe, as is MIT. For the area in between, Central Square, you just need to be a bit more careful at certain times.

3

If you want just straight statistics, the federal government requires schools to publish safety data. The easiest way I’ve come across to see that is to look up a particular school on US News and locate the section on campus safety.

Also consider reading the school’s student newspaper.