I’ve been trying to fully understand the allure of urban campuses as well. Other than food and shopping… shouldn’t students try to squeeze out the experiences on campus before looking elsewhere?
Some students do no want to live in the cocoon of the Ivory Tower that rural and college town 24/7 campuses offer.
And do what outside of the cocoon? This is 70K a year paying for services/events that are on campus… never mind working so hard trying to get into an environment where you’d be surrounded by your interesting and exciting peers.
More on topic, my S’s school has the usual suspects for a bay area HS: UCs, Stanford, Santa Clara. A smattering of OOS privates which is to be expected. But for some reason there are more than average applicants to Baylor and Purdue. Good schools yes. Particular strong draw for California kids…?
@chippedtoof , I can’t understand the appeal of Purdue for California kids who have Berkeley and UCLA as in-state options. Baylor is attractive to National Merit kids because of their automatic full tuition scholarship for NMFs. Oddly, though, I think this actually makes Baylor more competitive for NMFs than for regular full-pay applicants.
@studious99 maybe the California kids at Purdue were denied any Berkeley and UCLA.
Most people grow up in suburban or rural areas and love all the options that urban schools offer. Do I need to list them? Concerts, shopping, museums, airports, restaurants, interesting people from a variety of colleges, handy companies down the street for great internships, etc… what does a college in the middle of nowhere offer? Bad transportation options, beautiful campuses, and excellent frat party possibilities.
Kids have their entire lives to live in the suburbs, lol.
@homerdog W&M is a great college academically. Reputation is that the kids are quirky. Based on kids I know who go there, the reviews are mixed. Some people like it, some don’t at all. I don’t hear many who love it. The main negative comment I hear is that it is a real grind and very hard to get A’s.
However, there are plenty of other UCs and CSUs that should be less expensive than Purdue for California residents, particularly those who would get financial aid.
Regarding Baylor, perhaps this year’s class at @chippedtoof 's high school has more than the usual number of Southern Baptists?
^^ Re: Baylor, perhaps, as I’m going by what the GC told me; I don’t know the families themselves. I had made an off the cuff assumption that their somewhat recent success in football and W basketball raised their profile and popularity, but I don’t know. Also, OOS, so perhaps has a small sense of adventure is there. Re: Purdue might be the right balance of high enough relative admit rate (vs UC/CSUs) and quality of STEM programs? There are several options here though.
@suzyQ7 Lol, yes, those are good things. But how often are students in rigorous colleges finding enough time to make those worth the additional COA and lower admission rates. I think internships over breaks have certain advantages, undergrads don’t go to museums enough, and shopping… is not a point I’d want my kids to prioritize. Restaurants are hard to argue against, but unless they are frugal options, how often can they go given a meal plan may be going unused? Kids probably can have a better time living in cities when they are grads… more time, more money, more ways to enjoy what cities have to offer.
I’ve seen kids stress over a 45min-1hr drive to the airport… I’ve had commutes that length. If 45min-1hr separated the school from the adventure/amenities mentioned, I’d give it a thumbs up. Anyway, while the advantages are real, the popularity of urban schools has to me a bit too much of the “cachet hunting” aspect and appears a bit optimistic given how often these advantages come into play.
I always thought the appeal of Hogwarts, and Hogwarts like colleges, was that one was surrounded by smart people your own age in a special place for a very short, special time, before one is cast out to become yet another numbered cog laboring away in the city. But that’s why it is good there are different strokes for different folks.
“undergrads don’t go to museums enough, and shopping… is not a point I’d want my kids to prioritize. Restaurants are hard to argue against, but unless they are frugal options, how often can they go given a meal plan may be going unused?”
Sure they do. Many undergrads go to museums and such. To mine, cultural pursuits were very important when looking at colleges. Sports teams, greek life - zero interest. Music venues, a diversity of cuisines within fairly easy access (Thai, Indian, sushi, dim sum, ramen, Ethiopian, etc. - all affordable) - a huge plus. Both my kids frequently get off campus - for meals, for concerts, outdoors pursuits, all kinds of stuff. As far as meal plans go, you can sign up for the smaller meal plan so $ doesn’t go to waste. Or splurge occasionally using $ earned. Eating from the same dining hall gets boring no matter how good it is and if you are a foodie, you want some variety.
It’s possible to combine Hogwarts with being in or near a decent sized city.
You will always be welcome in the city. Not so at Hogwarts, sadly. One of those things, like long summer holidays and free time in college, perhaps not fully appreciated at the time by youth.
So are you indicating that kids going to museums often are, say, within a sigma off the mean? I doubt it, and hence the large bump in popularity for urban campuses doesn’t seem to align with that appeal. And I don’t get the equating of campus activities with just sports or greek life… I did not find campuses devoid of cultural activities either; I was an active participant in them in my day.
And how many concerts do students go to in a year? Perhaps I’m a stick in the mud, but I rarely went to more than one. (symphonic ones I attended on campus and more often at that). I’d wager 2-3 is common? So, say 4-6 hrs of additional road trip time a year? (And cafe sessions don’t count as concerts to me as those can be done in a lot of venues, and not just in cities, albeit are more plentiful there).
As stated, I understand the food aspect, but… and please let me know of ethiopian or sushi restaurants that are good enough to live in a city for but are affordable for students, cuz I’m there 
I pay $12 for a “fancy” (not big) hamburger around here for lunch.
Lots seem to be loving Tufts this year. Didn’t resonate with my D, but lots of kids she knows loved it. So I was surprised that their app #'s weren’t up so much this tear. Maybe next year, as these are '19’s touring
@doschicos I agree… A very healthy debate we have around here is the Miami University vs Ohio State. Both are fines schools and both have very reputable Business schools. However, completely different schools in every way other than being in state Ohio Public Universities. Miami sits in a very small town with very little eating, shopping, and cultural options. The town is basically the University. Downtown Cincinnati is about an hour away and so is the airport. How convenient is that?
On the other hand OSU is in the city of Columbus. Obviously OSU is a city by itself, but being in such an urban area, choices will abound. As a parent I can see the benefit of flying to see my kid if for example one of my favorite band is playing in town or going to see a play or even going to the mall/excellent restaurant. Not to mention, the benefits she is going have including the local internships and all the benefits that a city provides. The airport is about 15 minutes from the school.
I just the think that once you get over the honey moon of your freshmen year, many of these kids will itch to venture farther away from the school bubble. Urban schools can provide that extra benefit factor.
To address the original poster, in the city of Atlanta, both of these schools are hot schools as OOS Public options. However, Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, and of course UGA have always been the perennial hot public schools For Privates, Tulane runs away with the prize followed by Wash U, Vanderbilt, GW, and Elon
I think it’s less museums, more clubs and bars.
Ethiopian food is cheap. $12 would get you plenty but let’s not digress on a particular cuisine’s affordability…nor does everyone need to watch their pennies. Plenty of students have carte blanche from their parents when it comes to credit cards and expenses. Not mine, but it’s not unusual. For those that don’t, like mine, working 10-15 hours per week provides $$ for weekly meals off campus to that ramen spot, a concert, whatever.
Music venues - all the time. Not talking cafe sessions here. This is a generation that has grown up on live music more than any other time period. Given the current state of the music industry, it’s all about tours and music festivals for many bands and singers.
Let’s not assume all college kids are the same nor like we were 30+ years ago. Many teens are much more worldly then we were back in the day - exposed to much more through travel, dining out more, etc. They’ve likely had much different childhoods than 30 years ago. You can try and argue that college students should be content remaining on an isolated campus for 4 years but the reality is, many are not content with that and find less isolated alternatives appealing. The good thing - there are options for everybody and most colleges do not seem to be lacking in applicants regardless of location as evidenced by rising applications and declining admit rates. Some of that stems from an increase in international applicants who are also drawn to more urban settings for a variety of reasons.
Hamiltons ED1 applications shot up a whopping 70%, so I guess its pretty hot!
@4junior Any chance you have a link to the Hamilton data? I cannot find early stats for class of 2022.