<p>Hey CC!
I'm from a city of about 1 million, and always thought I wanted to go to college in a much more populous city, but have recently been weighing the merits of suburban or rural schools. </p>
<p>So, how would you describe student life in these various locations? Things such as weekend activities, things to do off campus, safety, campus environment, etc. Thank you!</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>More drinking at rural locations.</p>
<p>There usually it’s anything to do off campus at rural schools. That’s why kids usually resort to partying and drinking more because there is nothing else to do. Suburban schools have a balance between the two and at city schools, since there is no campus really, there isn’t that much partying. Students resort to nightclubs rather that frat houses for parties</p>
<p>urban campuses are liukely to have more crime in their area simply beacuse theyre in a city. But the difference between that and a rural location is probably too small to be a deciding factor.</p>
<p>When I was looking at schools, my final determination came down to University of Arkansas (Fayetteville), University of South Carolina (Columbia), and Clemson University. It’s quite ironic because these three schools couldn’t be located in three more different settings.</p>
<p>Columbia is a city, albeit, not a big one, but a city nevertheless. It definitely feels urban on campus, but the campus for the most part feels like a place of it’s own. You don’t feel like you’re in Columbia on campus and you don’t feel like you’re on campus in Columbia. It’s not really a college town feel, but they do their best to seclude the campus environment (that’s hard considering it’s in the heart of the city). </p>
<p>Pros: Lots to do, more coffee shops/restaurants, you don’t have to travel far to go places.
Cons: It’s a city, so generally more crime, more violence, and more traffic. </p>
<p>Fayetteville (Arkansas) was a college town if I ever saw one. The city itself is one of the fastest growing regions on the country and I believe the population is about 80,000.(but the surrounding areas are heavily populated so it feels bigger).</p>
<p>Pros of College Towns: Everyone is cheering for the sports to teams, very high ‘community’ feel because of the sports, most of the places downtown are centered around the students, and everything revolves around the University.</p>
<p>Cons Of College Towns: If you don’t like sports, you might feel out of place. When I was in Fayetteville everything downtown literally shut down for game day. It’s like a religion for college towns and they all expect you to wear your colors proudly and loudly. </p>
<p>Clemson was really small. The school was about 20,000, but the city of Clemson is more like 12,000. There isn’t a lot to do off campus and you’ll have to get creative or do things outdoors rather than going downtown and enjoying ‘nightlife’. Yes, places like Clemson have bars and parties to attend, but they are not nearly as plentiful. </p>
<p>Pros: Very safe, quiet, not noisy/little traffic.
Cons: Limited nightlife options, travel long distances to go places.</p>
<p>I believe that for very many students the college’s surroundings, unless extremely rural or extremely urban may be overrated. My own experience, albeit from >20 years ago:</p>
<p>Summer following freshman year of high school, my family moved from the New Jersey suburbs of NYC to a small town (<10,000 pop) in rural Minnesota near the Canadian border. I was determined to get back to what I thought was a more cosmopolitan area for college. A recruited athlete, I had five school-funded recruiting trips: Duke, UVa, Arizona State, UCLA and Stanford. Immediately upon my visits, I eliminated Duke and UVa, because of Durham and Charlottesville, respectively, and despite the beautiful campuses. It didn’t take long into my college career to realize that it was an over-reaction to eliminate those schools for such a superficial reason, as campus life was a much bigger factor than the surrounding town, especially if it is a medium-sized or larger school. I don’t regret eliminating those two schools, as I ultimately made (for me) the right choice, but I do regret my reasoning.</p>
<p>I went to college in a rural area, located in the high desert/mountain region of central Arizona. I threw that last part in because I believe if the school is located in the right area, the rural aspect can actually work to your advantage (particuarly if you love the outdoors, like I do)! My school was close enough to a medium size city (50k people - 10 min drive) for shopping and eating, but also far enough away to give you a sense of space, which I liked. We had mountain biking trails, lakes, tons of open space and mountains nearby which provided endless outdoor opportunities. Weekend activities included hiking, boating (in a tiny blow-up boat, lol), flying R/C aircraft, mountain biking, flying real aircraft, exploring nearby caves/ghost towns, off-roading remote trails in my friend’s Jeep, geocaching, etc, etc… we did a lot of stuff!</p>
<p>@badgerstate listed, quite accurately, the pros and cons of going to a rural school, but I would also add that rural schools offer a sense of peace and solitude that you can’t get at an urban/suburban school. Whether or not this type of environment is right for you really depends on your particular interests and lifestyle, which are largely influenced by how you grew up… some people really need the hustle and bustle, and cut-throat/competitive atmosphere usually associated with life in the big city, while others are looking for a more laid back environment where they can focus more on school have more time to find out what their true passions/hobbies are.</p>
<p>So my version of pros/cons would go something like this:</p>
<p>Pros: Safer, quieter, little to no traffic, all around more laid back environment, potentially more outdoor opportunities, forces you to become more creative with how to spend your free time.</p>
<p>Cons: You could become spoiled by the better quality of life!, depending on location fewer shopping/eating options nearby, a car is usually required (or atleast highly recommended)</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great feedback!</p>
<p>For those of you at “rural” schools, how large was the city/surrounding area?</p>
<p>Most of the schools my younger daughter looked at were rural and the colleges were well aware of that so they have so much going on every weekend, including bringing entertainment and other activities in from the “cities” that there’s hardly a concern about their remoteness. I think shopping is probably the biggest difference; you can’t walk to any shopping areas and even when driving you wind up in big box store type shopping. We’re from NY so that’s not something we’re used to or welcome.</p>
<p>@rrobb, the thing I’m curious about would be what sport? With the mix of schools you stated, the only thing I could think that each is competitive in would be tennis, though ASU, in today’s terms at least, isn’t really. That’s my guess, tennis, maybe golf. Right or wrong?</p>
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<p>It helps to have an adventurous and/or self-sufficient personality when going to a rural school. </p>
<p>You shouldn’t choose any school based on the school’s promises to bring in entertainment and other activities. You can’t always rely on that; what if the entertainment isn’t entertaining to you? In my experience, the great thing about rural schools is that they teach you to become creative with your free time. You find that you appreciate time with friends a lot more, enjoy the outdoors more, and find ways to entertain yourself. You become a stronger, more independent person IMO.</p>
<p>That said, some people just can’t cope with the rural aspect, and that’s fine!</p>
<p>My son attends a school of about 33,000 students in a rural state. The town has about 60,000 residents and feels small. I work at a university of the same size and in the same state but in a more urban area of about 120,000 people but it feels bigger than that. Neither are commuter schools.</p>
<p>There are big differences in the towns and schools.</p>
<p>At the more rural school, the students are much more involved in campus life, They have more student clubs/orgs and the students participate in them at a higher level. The nightlife tends to center around apartment/house parties. The better restaurants are away from campus but the campus town area is filled with cheap student eats. Lots of students that live off campus eat on campus and hang around campus all day. Shopping is pretty crappy. Students make their own fun…lots of movie nights, visits to area parks, ice skating, sporting events, student clubs do things, etc. Lots of charity 5k runs. Students are laid back and friendly. Draws more students from rural areas. Really good university operated bus system takes you all over town. Little crime and very safe. University has a music venue in the student union that hosts weekly concerts and events. </p>
<p>At the more urban school, the students tend to not hang out on campus as much. The nightlife centers around the bars and it is considered a big party school. Lots of bars and a fair amount of live music.Lots of really nice restaurants right next to campus as well as cheap student eats. Many of the students that live off campus do not hang around campus all day. Shopping is great for a city of this size. Really good public transportation. Students are bit snooty as is the faculty/staff…they tend to think that they are ‘better’ than the more rural school with their lowly ag and engineering majors. Campus sponsors fewer on campus events/activities but the local city provides a lot of activities and events.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that there will be more opportunities for interning in a city.</p>
<p>@drax12 Actually, a little off there. I played football and baseball (football funded the scholarship). At the time, ASU and UCLA were strong in both, Stanford strong in baseball but less so in football, and the two eastern schools far from powerhouses, but sufficiently “big-time” to enable my dreams of going pro, while still getting a high-quality education. In the end, it came down to UCLA and Stanford, and UCLA won out for two important reasons. One was that my older sister was the first in our extended family to attend college, and she went to … Stanford. Of all of the hundreds and hundreds of colleges in the US, I did not want to go to the exact same one. The other, in retrospect more rationale, reason: Stanford had already signed another incoming freshman QB (who also played baseball, BTW). Some guy named Elway. UCLA definitely the better option!</p>
<p>* at city schools, since there is no campus really, there isn’t that much partying. Students resort to nightclubs rather that frat houses for parties *</p>
<p>That depends on the urban school; many urban colleges and universities have campuses - some of them beautifully landscaped traditional college campuses. I’m currently at Columbia, which has a small but well-defined campus. There was definitely partying on campus, including in fraternity houses. I also went to an urban college for undergrad and we had a campus. Most of the urban institutions in my hometown/college city, Atlanta, had campuses - some were actually more suburban in feel even though they were in the city proper (like Emory, for example).</p>