<p>We all know how important location is when selecting a college; if you're going to be spending four years of your life there, you might as well try and find an environment you'll be happy in. That being said, different surroundings work for different people: someone who loves their rural, traditional small town college isn't going to be as happy in a city, and someone who loves the "always something to do" hustle-and-bustle of a city isn't going to like the constraints of a small town.
Thus, I thought it might be helpful to start a thread for those who love the city life, and try and collectively gather a list/summary of a number of colleges situated in urban environments. Hopefully, this could become a great research start for those just starting to look for colleges.
So, this is the format for leaving info about a university:
-Name of college
-City it's in
-How it's situated in the city (is it a campus, or a bunch of buildings? is it directly in the city, or do you have to take a subway from another town to reach the city?)
-Other information that would help someone decide if the college was for them. Is it sports-focused? Is it a "nerd" school? Any renowned programs for a particular major? Anything you can think of to give a general idea/feel about the college.
Thanks for reading! Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with :)</p>
<p>George Washington U
D.C.
Its basically a bunch of buildings-it has once block of green space. THey say they use the National Mall as their quad. Its right int he city, a few blocks from the White House.
Also, they have a campus at Mt. Vernon, about 20 min. outside the city, that is more traditional. It houses about 1000 kids, mostly freshmen, and has their athletic fields there. It is known for a good internation relations program, and has great intern opps. It doesn't seem to be as competitive as a place like Georgetown, but it definitely has this intellectual, pre-professional feel.</p>
<p>Don't mean to throw off-topic, but :
The totality of one's experience as a student is not always optimized by an urban location, even from the perspective of those who love cities.</p>
<p>Sometimes schools located in cities take advantage by themselves providing quite limited offerings directed to social experience for students, which would be needed to create a cohesive on-campus community. Or to the extent on-campus activities are offered, students may nevertheless tend to prefer to fritter off into the city in all directions, which has the same effect on cohesiveness and social experience. Some can become nearly akin to commuter schools. Though the quarters one may be commuting from may be on or near campus, this may make little difference since the campus provides practically no social experience.</p>
<p>To all those contemplating, suggest pay close attention to factors such as the degree to which people stay on campus on weekends. Are there parties in the dorms, and on the campus, or do people just "go downtown" all the time? </p>
<p>Another issue is: the vast resources of the city may be best appreciated by someone who is earning lots of money. Which most students aren't. When considering what might be available to someone with little money, it's possible a more isolated environment may actually take one further.</p>
<p>The same concerns may be relevant to colleges located in close-in suburbs.</p>
<p>-Seattle University
-Seattle (shocker!!!)
-Really small campus in Capitol Hill surrounded by buildings such as hospitals and thrift shops. It's right next to downtown.
-Its business students apparently get treated very well</p>
<hr>
<p>-Loyola University Chicago
-Chicago
-Well, according to Google Earth and my knowledge from researching it on the web, they have two campuses. One that's on the shore of Lake Michigan and one that's downtown. The business and law students take their classes downtown and everyone else takes classes at the Lake Shore Campus (I could be wrong, for instance: nursing students may go downtown too). The Lake Shore Campus is in Rogers Park and there's an El station right on campus. Also, I learned that students can dorm at the Water Tower Campus (the one downtown) starting their sophomore year. Oh, and, I think 2 of the resident halls have private bathrooms at the Lake Shore Campus.
-There is apparently a lot of red tape. Also it's pretty pricey. On the flip side, Loyola is supposed to have a fabulous program in Rome and another one in Beijing. Also, it's in Chicago baby. </p>
<hr>
<p>-Occidental College
-Los Angeles
-It's in Eagle Rock, which looks pretty far from downtown on Google Earth.
-They're a small school, about 1800 students I think, and it's pretty competitive to get into. It's really pricey, like $47k a year. They have an internship at the UN which looks really cool. One of the places that most hires Oxy graduates is the CIA ;) This is definitely a place worth looking at if you want a small college that's not in the middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>^^"To all those contemplating, suggest pay close attention to factors such as the degree to which people stay on campus on weekends. Are there parties in the dorms, and on the campus, or do people just "go downtown" all the time"</p>
<p>My daughter has expressed an interest, and we have toured several urban schools, including NYC. After we returned from NYC and my daughter was very "psyched" my husband said to me later that he was a bit concerned about her being "distracted" by NYC. I have been doing the majority of the "deeper" and reading, pros and cons of various schools etc. After I thought about it, knowing my DD my reply was that I would rather have her "distracted my all the offerings in the city than "distracted" by a campus with a heavy party/frat scene as its only outlet.</p>
<p>The issue I was raising is not level of distraction from studies, but the degree of social cohesiveness of the student body, and the nature of the college social experience. Heavy frat scenes are hardly the only alternative choice. Different strokes, but FWIW a city-loving family member recently transferred from an urban school for the reasons i cited, and I have read a number of other posts on CC from students who were negatively experiencing the same issues.</p>
<p>Obviously many people love these schools anyway, but I thought it was worthwhile to highlight this perhaps less-obvious issue ,since I feel it may be worth looking out for and evaluating as one considers urban colleges.</p>
<p>I heard that Seattle U and Loyola both have a lot of commuters. When it comes it Oxy, I haven't heard anything about commuters (so I'm guessing there aren't many).</p>
<p>-McGill University
-Montreal
-It's a campus (well, parts of it - like the bio/med buildings - feel like it's not on campus, but really in the city). It's right in downtown Montreal, there's a subway stop right outside the campus, and it's walking distance to the shopping area, strip clubs (lol), and China town.
-Great reputation (I think they cheekily called themselves the 'Harvard of the north' once.) It's not very sportsy. Many freshman are in single rooms. It's a lot cheaper than US private schools (and even some public ones)</p>
<p>-UMd College Park
-DC
-It's a campus, in the suburbs. You have to take a subway (station is a 15min walk or so away, but there are shuttle buses, apparently), DC is 20 mins away on the subway
-Really beautiful campus, in a fairly dodgy neighborhood. The school is known for its journalism school.</p>
<p>Temple University
Philadelphia
In the city, not far from Center City, not campusy, but not a bunch of buildings like BU and NYU. Layout isn't just miles of buildings
Very varied mix of students. School is known for being one of the most diverse schools in the country (in every way). D-I basketball and football. School is known for the art school, business (brand new building), sports management, communications, journalism, education
Gets a bad rap for being in North Philly, but the school and immediate area are very safe with security always around</p>
<p>Boston College
Boston
we have a cohesive campus in the suburbs. from the high parts you can see the boston skyline, and the bottom of our campus is right on the border of Boston/Chestnut Hill. theres one subway line leads right into campus that brings you past BU into Boston and another line that is more direct into downtown only 5 mins away.
i would say 85% of the social scene is on campus. we have no frats, but there are tons of on campus parties and "dorm parties". once you know people of campus there are parites in off campus apartments 5-10 min away from campus in safe neighborhoods. once youre 21 (not before because boston is very strict on IDs), people go to closeby bars and downtown too. and if youre not into drinking.. theres so many other activities, shows and dances everyweekend and Boston right next door. plus we have awesome sports!</p>
<p>-the University of Pennsylvania
-Philadelphia ("come for the cheesesteaks, stay because you've been murdered!")
-It's a campus-y campus with greenspace, huge old trees, and lovely old buildings, but also has several roads crisscrossing it at parts. Standing in the center of College Green and walking half a block down to 34th & Walnut is a trip to another world. The campus is in Philadelphia proper, located just to the West of Center City (the "Manhattan" part of Philadelphia). You can walk there in 20 minutes. The University is currently building up the hitherto sparse area of campus in between Penn's campus and Center City with skyscrapers and appropriate urban street fabric.
-It's a phenomenal Ivy school and one of the few top-tier schools in the nation to offer easy access to a vibrant major city and still maintain a very dynamic, campus-centric life to its students.</p>