Like if someone figured college would be more engaging than high school but not really. Or if college would be a safe environment compared to high school but turns out there’s people robbing and mugging other students reported every week.
Get the real facts. College can be more engaging than high school, but that depends on the student more than the school. The college offers an education, it’s up to you to engage. And you can engage very deeply at most schools if you want to, but not if you passively expect it to happen to you.
There are literally thousands of colleges and many not anywhere near unsafe crime filled locations. You have choices. There’s also personal responsibility involved in keeping yourself safe. If you are drunk at 2AM in an unsafe part of a city (any city) you are vulnerable to crime. Most colleges in cities with reputations for heavy crime have a lot of things in place to try to keep their students as safe as possible. But you have to be careful.
The points you are worried about are not black and white.
College is a big step into the real world, and a big part of that is taking responsibility for your own motivation. The college has no interest in making you more motivated than you already are yourself; they don’t need you to go to class since you/your family/the government/the school and its donors have already paid your tuition. The college’s responsibility is to make education as available as they can. I don’t know what your situation is currently, but one way I have constantly found motivation is doing things outside of class where I can spend some time explaining what I am doing to others; a more abstract view of my field helps me realize how interesting it actually is. If you have the opportunity, do some research or an internship in your area! Get to know what life after college might look like if you stay on your path. Alternatively, get a job that doesn’t require a college education and see if you enjoy it.
Also, do activities that aren’t school related! I majored in BME but ended up with a music minor by being in a bunch of ensembles. Step away from your desk a bit and you might find more motivation to study. It’s up to you to stay engaged and for me, disengaging a bit helped me jump back in when I needed to hunker down.
As for safety, that comes down to choice of school and how careful the school is, to some degree, but it’s also your responsibility. I lived in Worcester, MA during undergrad and knew where it was safe to be and where to stay away from. Now I live in Baltimore and while I love my neighborhood, I would never risk walking or biking to campus because the areas in between my apartment and my school are places where students have been mugged. I take the shuttle and don’t begrudge wearing my school ID at all times.
At some point, I guess the rat-race mentality of admissions falls away and you’re left with “so why did I do all of this?”. Try to find ways to stay motivated, especially by getting outside your academic bubble and comfort zone. And keep yourself safe by being aware and taking advantage of your school’s and community’s resources.