<p>So I'm a junior in HS and starting to look at colleges. I live in Oakland, CA (which is a medium city- about 400,000 people I think) and am used to going to San Francisco often too... I would definitely think of myself as a city person and at first I really thought I wanted to go somewhere like Columbia or NYU but I also really like the idea of a residential campus. I've been looking at some colleges like Allegheny, Colgate U, Wesleyan U... but I'm really unsure about how small the towns are. I want to go somewhere that has a college community and where there are lots of things going on on campus, but also somewhere that I can have an internship opportunities (I'm thinking about PreMed). </p>
<p>Any suggestions for colleges?
Also, does anyone have any advice on adjusting to living in a small town, or how to decide rural vs urban?</p>
<p>Colleges in rural areas tend to have more drinking and binge drinking, possibly because there are fewer other recreational opportunities compared to more urban areas.</p>
<p>I’m from a rural area / small town and went to college (/now live in) a suburban area very close to urban areas, and I definitely prefer rural areas/smaller towns, actually. In a small town, parking is almost always free; I had never paid to park anywhere in my life until I got to college, and now finding an unpaid lot to park in within walking distance would be like freaking Christmas, and parking on campus = you can just forget it here. Rent is drastically cheaper in smaller towns, in my experience (despite not that big of a difference in average salaries!)–hell, everything is cheaper. When I go to visit my parents I stock up on groceries. I walk around in the stores gawking about how “This would be a full $2 more expensive back home,” and gas prices are always around 50c lower in my parents’ town than mine. If you have animals, it’s obviously much easier to find space; a yard is practically unheard of here for a price a college student can afford, and dogs cooped up the apartment = ugh.</p>
<p>The biggest difference is that everything in a small town is farther away. If you like and are used to public transportation, it would be a shock. Generally speaking, a car is required and you have to drive everywhere. I grew up 35-40mins from my school and 20mins from the nearest grocery store, vs. spending most of my undergrad career 3mins from the nearest grocery store and 7-8mins from school. (Personally, I hate public transportation with a passion and would rather drive 30mins than ride the bus for 10, but I suppose gas can add up). I think the comment about more drinking/binge drinking may be true, but if there is a difference it must be minute in some areas since binge drinking was the norm at my university since there were like 3 clubs on the street in front of the school and several bars on top of that for the 21+s. Drunk sorority girls keeping the nerds awake was just normal dorm life. </p>
<p>There are things to do near(ish) most rural areas… you just have to be able to drive to get to them. :P</p>
<p>It mostly depends on the town (so you’d have to look at those colleges specifically) but there’s a smaller college in my town (rural area) and there’s really not too much to do around here. Some other rural towns are more “college towns” even if they’re rural. </p>
<p>Drawbacks of urban is that for <em>most</em> urban colleges, there’s not really much of the typical college campus (which some people are fine with). </p>
<p>I’d suggest also looking at suburban colleges, sorta a happy medium.</p>
<p>I am definitely looking at suburban colleges as well. I am used to relying on public transportation/walking and biking, and in college I would really like to not need a car. So maybe rural isn’t the best for me… Are there any suburban colleges where you don’t need a car, and there are lots of things to do (at least on campus) besides drinking?
Also, as I said, I love cities, but I really would like to have a central college campus and community… any urban colleges like this?</p>
<p>Any of this information would be especially helpful for the colleges that I mentioned and also U of Chicago, Northwestern, Northeastern, U of Puget Sound, Seattle U… </p>
<p>I don’t think you need a car to go to college at a college in a small town. When you are a college student there is usually some means of transportation available. When you need it is when you graduate and you have to commute to work, or travel frequently to neighboring towns. </p>
<pre><code> When you are in college, if you attend a college where most students live in dorms for 4 years, your life will be focussed on the campus. There are good and bad aspects of this. Sometimes you will really want to get away, but you really can’t because everything seems to link back to the campus. I would think Grinnell, and Deep Springs would be at the severe end of this. Go for a visit to schools away from things and see what you think. Do the students seem bored? Are they drinking to dull their senses, or are they busy doing something?
I lived in cities my whole life, and then moved to an area where it was quiet and dark at night. For the first time in my life I slept without waking, and, rather than going out, I sat outside just looking at the night (not just the stars, I studied how things look when it’s dark). For me it only lasted a year. I needed people more than I needed sleep, but I am glad I got to live away from cities for a while. Once you are finished with college it can be hard to find a way to live in a rural area, jobs tend to be in cities.
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<p>Fralah, is it possible for you to do some visiting so that you could get a better idea of what a rural college is really like? My son only ever lived in big cities and assumed that he would prefer big city schools, or at least suburban schools with easy access to big cities. </p>
<p>As it turned out though after visiting, the rural campuses really spoke to him. He liked the insular quality of the campus community, the surrounding natural beauty and the emphasis on outdoorsy activities. He had a great four years at Williams (and more at Cornell) and now that he’s contemplating an urban career he’s glad he had the time in the mountains.</p>
<p>He didn’t have – or need – a car at Williams, but at some other rural colleges the situation may be different.</p>
<p>The only one of your list schools that I’ve visited is Wesleyan. Wesleyan is more suburban than rural. The town itself is not much to write home about, but the access to both New York and Boston is noteworthy. Don’t get me wrong, Wesleyan is a wonderful school: I just wouldn’t choose it because of location.</p>
<p>In other words you are looking for urban colleges where the majority of students live on campus or in housing close to campus – in contrast to the opposite of a “commuter” college.</p>
<p>In California the prime examples of such colleges are Stanford and USC. An example of a predominantly commuter college not far from Oakland is San Francisco State. Most of the UCs are somewhere in between, some with a much higher percentage of commuters than others.</p>
<p>Elsewhere there are many universities that satisfy your criteria of lively and social campus in close proximity to an urban area. I’ll pick a few as examples: University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Boston College, and Georgetown. In general the more selective urban colleges are the most likely to satisfy your criteria because they draw students from areas far from campus.</p>
<p>just need to correct post #6 as a parent of a Grinnellian and someone who has visited the campus several times. Grinnell is two blocks away from a small, charming town, with coffee shops, restaurants and stores, and my S has never had trouble getting somewhere else if he needs to go, eg. (a big box store that is not in walking distance), whether it is borrowing a car or getting a ride or riding his bike (and I believe the school has zipcars). </p>
<p>Grinnell has great town-gown relations, and my son loves that when he walks down a street in town, people smile and say hello. I know that the school partners with community organizations to offers internships during the school year and subsidizes summer work as well. </p>
<p>Like most colleges, Grinnell brings so so much on campus that it is difficult not to find something to do – speakers, movies, concerts, etc., – along with all the student-organized events. Students come from all over the country and the world to attend, so it is an eclectic group. Many students come from major metropolitan areas, and still love the community feeling and lively campus life. </p>
<p>Yes, partying is a big part of the weekend for many students. No denying that. But, come on: that’s going on everywhere!</p>
<p>LACs located in cities
Barnard (NYC, women only)
Colorado College (Colorado Springs)
Eugene Lang (NYC)
Macalester (St. Paul MN)
Occidental (LA)
Reed
Rhodes (Memphis)
Trinity (Hartford)</p>
<p>LACs located more or less at the edge of major cities
Bryn Mawr (Philadelphia)
Haverford (Philadelphia)
Swarthmore (Philadelphia)
Goucher (Baltimore)
Sarah Lawrence (NYC)
Wellesley (Boston)</p>
<p>LACs located within an hour or so of major cities
Holy Cross
Carleton
St. Olaf
Pomona
Harvey Mudd
Claremont McKenna</p>
<p>LACs located more than an hour from major cities, but in relatively large towns or college communities
Amherst (in a 5 college consortium with Smith, Mt. Holyoke & UMass)
Smith (women only)
Mt. Holyoke (women only)
Skidmore
Wesleyan</p>
<p>LACs located pretty far out in the boonies in small ~rural towns
Middlebury
Grinnell
Hamilton
Kenyon
Williams</p>
<p>We could quibble of course over what’s a “major” city or a “relatively large town”. I’d probably put Whitman in category #4, characterizing its setting as a “relatively large town”. However, to many people living in urban areas, Walla Walla WA probably seems like the edge of the earth. You really need to visit a school to clearly understand its setting.</p>
<p>To be clear, I wasn’t saying you’d need a car to go to a given rural college (plenty of kids live on campus and walk everywhere all 4 years at every college, I’m sure), just that to leave campus (to get to the more elusive non-drinking entertainment such as, say, the nearest shopping mall), you would probably need one (or a friend with one) vs. a suburban or urban area where there is likely to be public transportation. I grew up in the rural “Deep South” and never once saw a city bus, vs. being stuck behind them constantly in traffic now ;)</p>
<p>The one other thing I’m unsure about in rural/suburban colleges, is the lack of opportunities for work and internships. I will most likely be doing premed- which colleges will still have these opportunities, like hospitals really close by? (When I say rural/suburban, I mean, in the list tk21769 wrote, the colleges over an hour away from a big city but still in a large town- specifically Wesleyan, Carleton, Amherst. Also I don’t know a lot about the location of these but: Bucknell U, Dickinson College, Lafayette College, Lehigh U, Colgate, Skidmore…</p>
<p>I would add Oberlin to the list of colleges within an hour of a large city (Cleveland). Oberlin also has a January term and many students do internships during that.</p>
<p>I went to a rural LAC about 8 minutes from a town of 10,000 and 1 hr from Atlanta. Many of the premeds organized carpools to the regional hospital about 7 minutes away where they shadowed doctors. Some also assisted professors with research during the summer (they were given a stipend which more than covered room, board, and various activities), so a rural campus does not in any way prevent you from getting the necessary med school ECs.</p>
<p>Internships are mostly done during summers, January terms and longer breaks. The factor to look at is not necessarily proximity, but connectivity and accessibility. Look at medical school acceptance rates and admissions counseling. Overall strength of academics and especially sciences.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to talk you into a rural school, but I would eliminate them as a category because you’re worried about being prepared for medical school. Many have excellent track records for getting their students into top medical programs.</p>
<p>For example, I don’t think you’d have any more or less success in getting into medical school from Williams, Hamilton, Grinnell than you would from Wesleyan, Carleton, Amherst.</p>
<p>The key is to do some visiting and see for yourself which environment attracts you the most.</p>