Hi I’m going to be Freshman next year but I won’t have a car until after college. (I don’t want to be responsible for car accident anyway)
I want a place with a few minute walk to the cvs.
Should I only apply to the colleges with urban settings?
I’m within five minutes of a CVS and my university’s suburban/rural in the middle of nowhere. What you really want is walkability, and that’s separate from being urban or not, imo.
Can you recommend me colleges with good walkability?
There are literally hundreds. Why don’t you tell us what you are looking for? What can you afford, what are your stats, what do you want to major in, is there a certain part of the country you’d prefer?
Also, you can take any college suggested and look them up on Google Maps. Zoom in around campus, and you can see what types of stores there are (if you zoom close enough, the names show up).
Many colleges also have shuttle bus services available to take students to local stores.
Many colleges have Maven or Zipcar, and rent to 18 yr olds. There is almost always a drugstore within easy walk of campus ; often just a minute or two from the campus borders, unless they are a tiny college in a tiny town. Just use google maps at every college you are interested in.
Depending on where you go there may be a good on campus stores, prescriptions delivered to health services, zip car,uber, lyft, cab etc. Bikes are also big at some schools. There are also shuttles and busses. Pick a school your interested in and if you call admissions they can tell you how people do there without a car.
Many colleges do not even permit students to have cars on campus until sophomore or junior year.
My daughter didn’t have a car till med school, and her UG was rural. She survived, and thrived. You will be ok.
Ditto. My s’s fiancée is 27 and still doesn’t have a car. It is a luxury, not a necessity. And depending on what you are needing, you may want to look into mail order prescriptions.
I have two daughters. One didn’t have a car until Jr. Year and one is a freshman right now without a car.
The D without a car now uses the weekend shuttle to go shopping and she is in an urban environment so there is some public transport.
I think that all but the most isolated schools would work for you. Colleges usually have shuttles to grocery stores, often cars and bikes to rent by the hour and many kids use Uber and Lyft.
My Ds also use amazon for some of their more difficult to get purchases
I wouldn’t let this be a guiding factor in making your choice. There will be lots of kids without cars (unless it is a commuter school) So go with what you like, can afford, and can get into. Then check on transportation options when making your final decision.
Why do you need to go to CVS? If say, for prescriptions, then some campus have an Rx deliver service. If for snacks, your school bookstore sells snacks.
Colleges also often have shuttle busses that take you to stores around town.
They also have zip/car share situations that even freshman can rent cars by the hour.
You will make friends that have a car.
I would not pick a college on this aspect alone…find a college that is the right size, the right major, the right area of the country
Colleges and college towns are an economy unto themselves. Suppliers of goods and services figure out pretty quickly what the average college student will need access to and either provide it in very close proximity to campus/housing or provide the means to get there. I’m with @bopper - don’t make this your major criteria for selecting a college. There are urban schools that are not close to anything practical; there are suburban/rural schools that cater very well to the college student.
As far as I can recall every university that I have visited has a pharmacy near campus, and most or all have stores on campus that has a reasonably wide range of items for sale including snacks and pharmacy items. This is true of both large and small schools, regardless of whether they are in small towns or bigger towns or large cities. At most universities and colleges a significant number of students, probably a large majority, don’t have a car.
As such I think that from this one perspective you are fine pretty much anywhere.
Check with Zipcar and ask if they have the service in the colleges you apply. The best way is using Zipcar instead of owning a car, even the 2nd hand one. Just make life simple and easy, and focus on academy and sports
For any college you are considering, go to googlemaps and look up the university. Once you are there, then enter a search for “restaurants” or “pharmacy” or “coffee shops” or whatever you are interested in having next to campus and walkable. All places will pop up on the map, and you can see how close they are to campus. You can then use the streetview to virtually walk from campus to those places, and see if the streets and sidewalks are manageable. I did that for all the universities my daughter considered, because she also did not want a car during college.
Another thing to look for is public transportation. Once again, googlemaps can help you figure out what is available. You can also do searches online, and often university website will have information on transportation options. My daughter’s university is by a city and has a light rail stop on campus, so in addition to the places she can walk to in the neighborhoods surrounding the university, she can also hop on the light rail train and go downtown to a major city.
If you just want a few restaurants, a pharmacy and coffee shops nearby, most universities (but not all) will have that near campus, even if they are in remote areas. However, if you want lots of theaters, museums, art galleries and more, you might want to focus on colleges in major metro areas.
You should also consider transportation issues for getting to and from college to see your family back home. If you will be flying to your university, look at how close the airport is, and what type of transportation exists between the campus and the airport. Also look at how large the airport is. Major hubs have frequent flights that are easy to schedule, but remote airports have limited flights, impacting flexibility in planning trips.
Like @mommyrocks, we did consider how our child would be able to get home for Thanksgiving/etc. What transportation is available and how easy it was for our student.