<p>I'm new here and this is my first post:)
I'm a chinese student, would like to apply for the US grad schools entrance 2007fall.
One of my friend in Clumbia University told me never go to that school because the security there is not so good for international students. I'd like to select in top50 grad schools(major in economics), as for the security, would you please give out some idea which places I should not go for? or you have some safe ones to recommend?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot!^^</p>
<p><a href="http://ope.ed.gov/security/search.asp%5B/url%5D">http://ope.ed.gov/security/search.asp</a></p>
<p>This is a website with crime statistics for schools. You can search by various fields.</p>
<p>:) :) :) :) :) :) :)</p>
<p>This topic causes a lot of arguments on this site because some people think it's really cool to live in an area which they claim is completely safe unless you do something insane like go out for a sandwich alone after the sun has gone down. These colleges have police forces the size of the Portuguese army, and they never stop and ask why they would need such a large police force.</p>
<p>I say you've got enough things to worry about as an undergrad--you don't need the added aggravation of worrying about your wallet getting taken at knifepoint. So I'd say stay away from U of Chicago, University of Southern California, and U of Pennsylvania. You might also want to avoid Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Clark University, and Fordham.</p>
<p>Ok, now it's time for all you bohemians to tell me I'm a wimpy suburbanite who is missing out on all that great urban culture.</p>
<p>^ you sound pretty gun-shy for someone who passes 8 mile everyday to work</p>
<p>... that said, you don't get a better combination of safety, world class academics, gorgeous campus than you do at Princeton IMO.</p>
<p>I had a Motor City minister pull a switchblade out of his sock and threaten me a few years back. True story. It's not as much fun as it sounds.</p>
<p>I agree about Princeton. I mean once in a while somebody's croquet mallet gets "borrowed," but that's a long way from a beat-down in a New Haven alley.</p>
<p>I don't know about you guys, but when somebody says "It's Ok, you just have to be careful," I think, "Why do I have to be careful? Is it too much to ask that I be able to take a 2 a.m. stroll to clear my head without Curtis Sliwa watching my back?"</p>
<p>When I was studying at the U of St. Andrews in Scotland, they would literally close down the town police station at night. I said they CLOSED IT DOWN at night. NO COPS ON DUTY AT NIGHT. THAT'S safe.</p>
<p>^^^ agree.</p>
<p>UK cops don't even carry firearms - now that's SAFE (at least compared to big cities in the US where you turn on the local news and are numbed to a daily drive-by shooting)</p>
<p>Similarly, in "big city" capitals in Asia (Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong), you could literally walk around totally drunk with your wallet half falling out and nothing will happen to you.</p>
<p>Funny, I have walked around totally drunk with my wallet falling out in Morningside Heights- with no problems. No, you can't forget your laptop out on the lawn on an urban campus but I wouldn't exactly leave mine in a suburban Barnes and Noble for a few hours either. How many of you lock your doors at night? What? So many! Man, why do you live in a place where you have to worry so often! Get your asses out to rural Iowa where the cows don't have the opposable thumbs to nab your ****.</p>
<p>And people wonder why so many people find New Yorkers to be irritating.</p>
<p>Princeton would be an excellent choice. It has a top graduate program in your field and is located in a very safe, wealthy suburban area.</p>
<p>Cornell might also be good. Good graduate program, nice college town, with thousands of students living there. Not a high crime community.</p>
<p>It's not especially safe to be riding the New York subways after midnight or wandering the streets alone at times and in places when they are mostly deserted. But the area around Columbia has improved dramatically in the last 10-15 years and the campus itself is safe enough. The warnings you heard may be based on an earlier time when things were worse. If that's where you want to study, I would say safety issues are not serious enough for you to reject Columbia on that basis alone. You would have to be prepared to observe the normal precautions that most sensible New Yorkers (millions of them) observe every day in city life. Safety issues are not different for internationals than for anyone else--only those with non-urban backgrounds may have to learn some new attitudes and behaviors.</p>