This is a general question, not about any school in particular:
My kids are in 11th grade, so just beginning to learn about colleges. A few preliminary visits have made it clear to them that they want schools that are either in cities or very accessible to them. My son, in particular, wants an urban feel as much as possible, while my daughter would probably be content with an active street near the campus and easy access to a city. But different college guidebooks will categorize the same school in different ways based on the local ambiance or population, and it’s very difficult to tell what the actual feel of a place is based on population or guidebooks. There are towns of 5000 that have a more “urban” atmosphere than some very populous cities. So what have you and your kids done during the learning-about-schools-and-weeding-down-the-list phase that helped you get the feel of a town without visiting/before visiting? What sources were most helpful and accurate (for places that you later visited)? What metrics for a town or city are useful? Do you look at Google Street View? Many thanks for ideas!
Here is something I found to be true: Fiske really nails it. Of course, we didn’t realize how accurate it was until after the visit, and didn’t think about it at the time. My kid was primarily concerned about the school itself, not so much about the town. If you want a good idea of what the town is like, read Fiske’s entries on the colleges you are interested in, and pay attention to what it says.
Of course, it can’t cover everything. Post on a particular college’s forum, and ask this question. You will probably get good responses.
Can you name a few specific colleges that might come up in your kids’ search but that you haven’t visited. Maybe we know something about them.
For example, my son went to the University of Maryland at College Park, and if that school happened to be on your kids’ list, I could tell you that it has a lovely campus, with an adjacent strip of stores and restaurants that serve the campus community, but that the larger community surrounding that area is downscale, ugly, and generally useless except for an IKEA a couple of miles from campus. On the other hand, there’s easy access to Washington, DC, via a Metro station one mile from campus and a shuttle that takes people back and forth to the Metro, and many students consider this a huge plus.
If these are the kind of specifics you’re looking for, we need names of colleges.
@marian, That’s exactly the kind of thing I would like to know, but it’s still too early for specifics…no standardized tests or junior year grades yet. However, we are in the mid-Atlantic, they will likely be aiming high, and they will need financial aid (need and/or merit). I’m sure I will harass the parent board again as more details accumulate. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!
Another vote for asking here and also for google maps. You can get an idea of which shops or dining places are within walking distance and take a virtual walk from campus to see what it looks like.
Of course, a real visit is the most helpful, since I’ve noticed here on CC that one person’s “great college town” is another person’s unsafe or boring town.
And be as specific as you can. If you have a kid who likes unusual, ethnic restaurants on a budget- don’t ask “are there restaurants near campus”. Some kids are happy with a Subway and a Domino’s. If your kids are used to biking everywhere where you live now, don’t ask “is it easy to get around?” There are kids who have been dropped off and picked up their whole lives, who leave for college Freshman year with a car – and of course their parents think it’s easy to get around. Ask specifically about transportation options for kids without a car- bikes, campus operated shuttle buses, what happens when there is a foot of snow on the ground, does the college run a bus to Target for shopping runs, etc.
Even the definition of how easy is the walk to town (shopping, groceries) can differ. Both my kids’ colleges, for example are “near a Whole Foods” - that translates into 1.5 blocks from dorm for one kid and a good solid mile for the other.
I agree with all the suggestions above. But if at all possible, once the list is shortened near the end of junior year, I would strongly suggest, if possible, a trip. If you’re on the East Coast then you’re in good shape. We live right outside DC and during spring break we were able to go all the way to Maine and back and 4 days, seeing 8 or 9 schools. It is still one of my fondest memories. But it was also helpful because there were just some towns that as soon as my child drove into them, she said, “oh no”. There was one where she said immediately, “this town looks sketchy” (teen speak for weird or whatever). Her dad, who had been the silent driver most of the trip said, “I don’t know what sketchy means, but I don’t like the feel of this town either”. It was quickly bolstered by our stop in a Subway Sandwich Shop for a quick bite. We have been all over the country, but the hostile stares we got were very disconcerting. While we did go visit the school, which she actually liked, I felt she would be trapped on campus with no where to go even to get toiletries or a quick bite off campus. So it became a No.
I tell this story often because like some have said, schools are more than names and what is listed about them in books and lists. It has to “fit” your kid. Its like moving into a terrible neighborhood cause you happen to like a particular house. Some will be trailblazers and do that, most won’t.
Unfortunately, the college my kids are most familiar with is Princeton. Oy vey. But what they usually see there is the busy, heavily pedestrian-trafficked shopping street next to the campus. They like that; it gives a city feel to what is really not a big town. Google Street View is telling me that many, perhaps most, colleges and universities are very self-contained and have little contact, especially little walkable contact, with the towns or cities they inhabit. BTW, my auto-correct makes it very hard to type walkable. It really wants me to say wallaby instead.
There are TONS of colleges with vibrant shopping areas nearby. Places we saw that had this:
College of Charleston
Boston University
Santa Clara (shopping nearby but LOTS a short bus ride away).
John’s Hopkins
NEw England Conservatory
Southern Methodist University
Wake Forest
I could go on and on. Bottom line is…most college campuses have at least things that will be appealing to college students.
