<p>is going to any school in a large city the full college experience? Or any at all.</p>
<p>If you're talking about the typical college experience, then no. Is it better? Is it worse? Depends on the person.</p>
<p>where do you go?</p>
<p>It depends on your definition of the full college experience. I had both experiences...Syracuse and NYU. I much preferred NYU, but that may not be how everyone would feel. Lots of people like the campus school environment, it just wasn't for me. I much preferred city life and all it has to offer. I guess it was good that I got to experience both and so now don't feel like I missed out on anything.</p>
<p>I've pretty much have had the whole experience of city life since I was younger. I was born and raised in Queens, but now I'm comptemplating leaving for college. I just heard back from all my top schools, but I still have a while 'till I have to decide.</p>
<p>Look at Fordham Rose Hill. Its the classic college campus and campus life, being in the Bronx and easy access to Manhattan by the Metro North Train which stops literally at its gates. Its an awesome experience.</p>
<p>I looked there and it was alright. It's not the safest area. I'm having the same problem with LIU. I loved it, but it's in FlatBush which is a roughhhh area.</p>
<p>Thought on that as well, and came to the conclusion it may not be the usual college experience. Although graduates may prefer the city more, due to other opportunities.</p>
<p>Fordham is EXTREMELY safe. The area around Fordham is fine and has lots of fabulous restaurants on Arthur Ave. Little Italy. Of course, you dont wander around at night. </p>
<p>But its a fabulous school, fully gated. You might want to take a second look. 60% of Fordham students are female. I dont think they would be there if it wasnt safe.</p>
<p>The campus is quintessentially a typical college, including football field, Vince Lombardi Center, gorgeous gothic buildings, lots of variety in dorms, a massive and award winning Library, lush green lawns, huge trees on 90 acres. Its across the street from the Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Gardens. </p>
<p>My D is there and its just wonderful. We are NOT New Yorkers.</p>
<p>I know people who go there. They said it wasn't that safe of an area. Maybe cause they're from Jersey, and didn't know how to handle themselves. The Bronx is the worst Boro in my opinion. I have no real desire to go there. Did you go there or something?</p>
<p>"Fully Gated" ... if it's so safe around there, why does it need to be fully gated? I was there a few years ago, and that neighborhood gave me the creeps. Nice school, though.</p>
<p>I think you've got the rest of your life to wallow in the urban experience when you're old enough to go in bars and have enough money to fully enjoy it. Find a nice college town for your undergrad years...green playing fields, beautiful sunsets, and you'll be busy enough without worrying about your personal safety.</p>
<p>It is a shaddy campus. Everyone says that St. johns is shaddy too though, and by no means is it. I loved LIU, but it's not a good school, and is again shaddy.</p>
<p>Well I am sorry, but I am not going to converse with you on this further. Other than to say that the Bronx is certainly not Manhattan, but its not as bad as you represent. No its not Summit New Jersey or Connecticut suburbs. </p>
<p>Having gates around colleges is an excellent idea. Vanderbilt is also gated and for good reason. Duke is in a nasty part of Durham. USC is in the Watts district of LA. UChicago is on Southside Chicago. Rutgers is in Newark. NYU is not exactly a safe area. Columbia is in Harlem. Yale is in a filthy and dangerous part of New Haven. Holy Cross is in very rough Worcester. Parts of Boston are not a "tea party." Emory is in Atlanta and has had some "issues." Pick a city and its the same.</p>
<p>I just offered Fordham as a great school with a beautiful campus with a tremendous reputation. If you dont like it, that is your problem and nobody is going to make you apply there or like it. Going to college is about choice and fit. I wish you the best. </p>
<p>My D goes there and loves it. We are southerners. She feels extremely safe there and is thriving.</p>
<p>the "safety" of areas is difficult to judge.
i live in notting hill which is an incredibly nice area.....i feel 100% safe there during the day and night......but then a friend got attacked walking down a normally busy street at 9pm on a friday, was beaten up by four girls just for kicks who didn't try to steal her handbag/valuables. fairly terrifying.
some areas look safe (ie expensive and well maintained) but aren't necessarily safe all the time, while streets w/ more decrepit houses look scarier during the day than they might be at night.....
its best to not go on subjective opinions. look at the STATS, how much crime, what kind, when.....were they drunk girls who got mugged stumbling home at 4 am or tough football players who got mugged at gunpoint at 10pm on a wednesday.
that's the best way to judge how safe a campus is.</p>
<p>True enough Skye. Wake Forest has had some high profile robberies on campus...ON campus this past year. In a sleepy southern town. It happens. </p>
<p>But Fordham is a fine school that is white hot right now and has had record applications again for 8 straight years. </p>
<p>I dont do "School bashing." Its unprofessional and sophomoric. (I have commented on individuals who attend certain colleges I dont care much for in a stereotype situation, but I dont bash the schools.) I am a proud Fordham parent. I know several students at Fordham who have the stats to get in anywhere...as in Ivy League, Georgetown, Notre Dame...anywhere..and they chose Fordham and choose to STAY at Fordham. That speaks volumes to me.</p>
<p>I felt that Fordham was perfectly safe. Also, Columbia is in Morningside Heights--not Harlem. And it's a gorgeous, safe area that is constantly patrolled by cops. I spent my summer there and always felt safe. And when I ventured into Harlem, I felt safe there as well.</p>
<p>But that's besides the point. From the schools I've looked at, I prefer a city experience. However, you really need to look and decide for yourself. It really is a personal preference. I'm looking at schools in cities, whereas both of my older sisters preferred a typical college town.</p>
<p>"Emory is in Atlanta and has had some "issues." Minor correction, Emory is not in Atlanta. It is in a suburb outside Atlanta, far enough outside to be a totally different world. It's close enough to take advantage of all the great things the city has to offer, but far enough away to be outside the city boundaries. I went to school there. It is very suburban.</p>
<p>Thanks for that correction. No intent to "flame" Emory. I was just trying to express that many colleges are in (or around) major metropolitan areas and such areas always have "issues" of one kind or another. Emory is a fine school and has become uber selective in recent years.</p>
<p>Rutgers is in New Brunswick, not Newark. They also have a campus in Freehold, Alantic City and Camden. There's another area I wouldn't find myself stumbling around. New Brunswick isn't not safe, but they have enough going on there. I know where the rough areas are. Like you said you're from the south, so I don't know how you're going to tell me the Bronx is like a walk along the coast of Montauk. It's a bad area, period. Maybe the person you know who goes there doesn't participate in activities where they go out at night. I don't mean to sound like I'm coming off as pertentious, but like I said I grew up in the city. If everyone who thinks the boro's are so safe only knew what goes on behind closed doors. Clearly, they don't broadcast things.</p>
<p>Actually, no, Emory is technically in Atlanta. Look at the address -- Emory is in a more suburban, nearly outskirts party of Atlanta, but it is still Atlanta. It is very close to Decatur, though. I went to school in inner-city Atlanta -- very different world.</p>
<p>I live in New York (Columbia) and have been up around Fordham a few times. It's completely safe, and Fordham's campus is beautiful. NYU is also in a safe area, if not a little weird/colorful. People have this myth that large cities are less safe than suburban areas, but it's not true. I've lived in or near large cities my entire life and I've never had anything happen to me -- not denying that things COULD happen in large cities, but things also happen in small towns and rural areas as well. Some people will just enjoy the urban college experience more.</p>
<p>Beyond that, some schools in metropolitan New York are very traditional. Stepping onto Columbia's campus is like stepping onto an oasis -- it's every bit the perfect, traditional, almost-fake college image that most people stereotypically get when they think of colleges. Complete with a big ol' statue on the Low Library stairs and trickling fountains. Kids running around on the fields playing Frisbee and laying around reading in the summer sun. It's almost sickening. But you hop on a train and in 15 minutes you're downtown and you can do whatever you want -- best of both worlds!</p>
<p>If want access to a large city while still on a sprawling campus, look for suburban campuses that are very near a large city -- like Emory (which technically is inside of Atlanta's city limits, but as was pointed out earlier, feels more like it's in the suburbs), or Sarah Lawrence, or Northwestern or something similar.</p>