“I heard that.” Mom’s head popped in from the kitchen.
Lake Seneca, N.Y.
A minute before, I had been trying to convince her how much she would like Colby, in Waterville, Maine. “Could you go any farther away from home?” Mom quipped.
When considering all the factors and variables that go into selecting a list of colleges that will be a good match for the student, geography is always important, to both parents and child. The ideal school profile I get most often from kids is “at least as big as New Trier, but not too big; near a city.” Sounds kind of like home, doesn’t it?
But every college and university, like every city and town, has its own flavor and style, right down to the neighborhood surrounding the campus. That’s why I always encourage families to build in enough time on a visit to take a look at the surrounding area.
Having visited close to 175 schools in the past five years in all corners of the country, I reflected on this thought during a visit to Marquette last week. When asked my impression of the school by a parent, my first response was: “Campus is three by eleven blocks, a mile-and-a-half from downtown Milwaukee and the lakefront, reminds me of DePaul without the charm of Lincoln Park.” Is it safe (students need to be vigilant but campus safety is good)? Is there enough to do (absolutely)? Is there enough housing for everyone (there is)?
It’s in the same mold as St. Louis U., Providence College, Xavier, Loyola Chicago, Loyola New Orleans, and so on. Issues of walkability, safety, and housing are always of primary concern at urban schools. The aforementioned Catholic colleges have defined campuses, some green space, and usually robust intramural programs and at least one competitive sports team (cue basketball)—in other words, a typical college experience.
South Loop, Chicago, by Columbia College
What does your student want from a school’s location?
A small school in the middle of nowhere is just right for some, while another needs the ski slopes or camping nearby, and another couldn’t survive without music dives, poetry slams, and a kimchi taco joint.
Some musings from my travels:
Great schools on the water: Wisconsin-Madison and Lake Mendota. Hobart-William Smith and its views of Seneca Lake. Eckerd College, with its own fleet of boats, on Tampa Bay. Roger Williams University’s pristine setting on Mt. Hope Bay, R.I.
Urban schools near fun neighborhoods: Macalester, in St. Paul, (Grand Avenue). Tufts, Somerville, Mass., (once dingy Davis Square in Somerville has become a hotspot in the Boston metro area). U-Cal Berkeley, College of Charleston.
Great schools that you wish had more of a metro area to walk to: Miami University, Coral Gables. Santa Clara University. Emory.
Picture-perfect, classic college towns: Charlottesville, Va., Chapel Hill, N.C., Ann Arbor.
Schools where the neighborhood could be better: U-Penn, Drake (Des Moines), Trinity College (Hartford), USC (but getting better).
Schools in the middle of a suburban bubble: Butler, the Claremont Colleges, Swarthmore, Haverford and Bryn Mawr, Sarah Lawrence.
Schools literally in the middle of nowhere: U-Conn (Storrs, Conn.), Elon (Elon, N.C.), Hamilton (Clinton, N.Y.), Williams (Williamstown, Mass.).
Schools in quaint, historical towns: Gettysburg (Gettysburg, Pa.), Skidmore (Saratoga Springs, NY), Ole Miss (Oxford, Miss.), Denison (Granville, Ohio), William & Mary (Williamsburg, Va.).
Granville, Ohio, by Denison University
Schools in towns that have seen way, way better days: Bates (Lewiston, Maine), Union (Schenectady, N.Y.), Earlham (Richmond, Ind.), Syracuse; Vassar and Marist, (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.).
Schools that have hit the jackpot in terms of location: U-Texas (Austin), Georgetown (D.C.), Vanderbilt (Nashville). Northwestern.
All opinions subjective! Thoughts?