<p>yes indeed (like University Circle in Cleveland, which is close enough to East Cleveland) but I can’t think of a college in St Paul where that’d apply: St Thomas and Macalester are in the best urban neighborhood in town, Hamline and St Catherine’s are both fine, UMN too (although large), so I may have forgotten some, those at least are in perfectly safe urban areas (of course, it’s not Grinnell 
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<p>Would you mean rules like the following?</p>
<ul>
<li>Don’t get drunk.</li>
<li>Avoid situations where many other people are drunk.</li>
</ul>
<p>It’s really something one has to check out and make the decision personally. I know parents who were very, very concerned about neighborhoods, but gave it a pass when their kids got into schools like Penn, Columbia, JHU, but had they gotten in to other schools where the reputaion, recognitions and ratings were not way up there, they would take it heavier into consideration. In other words, it’s a factor, all things considered, but not enough for many to decide against a college that has enough attributes to override the issue. </p>
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<p>So true. Yale is another example. Son visited at least once a year all thru HS for debate events and always commented on the neighborhood, and definately not positively. Yet folks seem very willing to overlook that tidbit in the race to the ivies. For most I guess the balance swings widely toward the prestige and educational prowess of a Yale.</p>
<p>I’ve been to Yale for my daughters track meets and the surrounding neighborhood is gritty to say the least. I have never been to Johns Hopkins but hear the same goes for the surrounding neighborhood too. Good common sense seems to be the best defense. I took a look at the crime log for the school my daughter is interested in attending and 95% of the logged crimes were petty thefts and underage drinking citations. There were 2 robberies at gun point on the outskirt of campus in the wee hours of the morning where the the sketchy neighborhood starts. All in all not so bad.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the Clery report is about crime on campus and in the immediate vicinity of campus (“unobstructed public areas immediately adjacent to campus”). In some cities and places that’s not going to be an accurate reflection of where your child will be all the time - for example, anyone going to school in NYC has access to the entire city through the subways. So yes, immediate campus area is a concern.</p>
<p>I’ve also heard estimations of the safety of certain areas that seem a bit out of wack to me. For example, I’ve heard people say that Columbia is located “in Harlem” and is an unsafe neighborhood. Columbia is not located in Harlem (close, but no) and I’ve lived in the immediate campus area for 6 years and I’ve never felt unsafe, not even outside at night (and I worked a job that required me to be outside, often alone, at the wee hours of the morning). Most of the crime around here has been iPhone snatchings and occasionally student leaves front door unlocked -> student gets laptop stolen. I’ve also heard people say that the immediate area around Georgia Tech is unsafe and that always baffled me - it’s grittier than other areas of Atlanta but that’s mostly in appearances and not safety at least in my experience.</p>
<p>My point is, try your best to separate outsider estimations of crime (especially from people who are largely from quiet suburban areas) from the actual crime rate/safety around the area. I know a lot of people who assume that any large city is dangerous. The way I see it, when I’m walking around late at night in my brightly-lit neighborhood in NYC, if I start to feel uneasy I can take my pick of any number of 24-hour stores (many of whom are in a safety partnership with my university), dash inside and stay there until the moment passes or call the escort service. And I’ve been outside at literally every hour of the night here and I’ve NEVER been the only one on the street. I’d feel much more frightened on a dark, lonely suburban street with few to no street lights.</p>
<p>Also, it’s good advice not to walk around drunk after dark alone anywhere, be it urban university or rural ranch college.</p>
<p>@juillet I too am from NYC my whole life and always scratched my head when people who weren’t from NYC would tell me how they felt uneasy about NYC because of crime. Of course I had more experience with NYC and knew where to avoid going and what was O.K. so I wasn’t as intimidated as someone who lived in the South and never visited. So with that said I am keeping a very open mind. </p>