Which schools outpace their location and vice versa?

[Anonymous]

Lehigh and Lafayette are fantastic schools adjacent to dumpy towns (in PA, they are considered cities.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Probably not Penn, but Philadelphia drags down Drexel and Temple due to their location. Baltimore certainly drags down Johns Hopkins.

Conversely, Boston props up Boston University and Northeastern, while New York props up NYU and Fordham, but not necessarily Columbia.

There are a lot of mid-sized schools in depressing towns in New York and Pennsylvania that would have higher profiles if they were in nicer areas either in New England or the South. Hobart/William Smith, Bucknell, and Washington & Jefferson come to mind.

If temple and Drexel were in central pa an not in philly they would be less desireable.

Temple and Drexel are aided by Philly location

And Drexel is literally right next to Penn. Practically across the street. True the campus is not as nice as Penn's, but that is about architecture and set up. the location is just the same.

And it's also a very short walk to Center City / Rittenhouse Square. The campus itself may not be much to talk about but the location isn't bad at all.

Drexel has a number of very good programs. Great for the right kid. I would never claim the college is dragged down by the city or vice versa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet, some of these more remote areas help the campuses have a distinct feel (compared to urban campuses) and the lower cost-of-living helps their finances.

Yet Notre Dame likes to pretend it is on the same financial level as Georgetown or Boston College (MUCH more expensive cities) and charge equally exorbitant tuition when, yes, of course, cost of living in South Bend is MUCH, much less. Blegh. Get over yourself, ND. (And I'm from a big, multigenerational, ND family.)

Why would the cost of education at a private school be lower in a low COL area aside from housing? You still have the same costs for attracting high caliber faculty (sometimes the only way to draw faculty to live in South Bend is being paid on par or better as faculty in higher COL areas plus other perks), pay for the same services and infrastructure, pay for the same administrative costs, etc.

Oh, please, do you really think admin help or entry level workers or grounds people are paid the same as in DC? No.

2018 Endowment Levels
Boston College: $2.6B
Georgetown: $1.66B
ND: $13.1B

I would say ND on much higher "financial level."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet, some of these more remote areas help the campuses have a distinct feel (compared to urban campuses) and the lower cost-of-living helps their finances.

2018 Endowment Levels
Boston College: $2.6B
Georgetown: $1.66B
ND: $13.1B

I would say ND on much higher "financial level."
[/quote

More legal/victim settlement fees than the other two catholic schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet, some of these more remote areas help the campuses have a distinct feel (compared to urban campuses) and the lower cost-of-living helps their finances.

Yet Notre Dame likes to pretend it is on the same financial level as Georgetown or Boston College (MUCH more expensive cities) and charge equally exorbitant tuition when, yes, of course, cost of living in South Bend is MUCH, much less. Blegh. Get over yourself, ND. (And I'm from a big, multigenerational, ND family.)

Why would the cost of education at a private school be lower in a low COL area aside from housing? You still have the same costs for attracting high caliber faculty (sometimes the only way to draw faculty to live in South Bend is being paid on par or better as faculty in higher COL areas plus other perks), pay for the same services and infrastructure, pay for the same administrative costs, etc.

Oh, please, do you really think admin help or entry level workers or grounds people are paid the same as in DC? No.

why would they be?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boston pulls up Tufts and Williamsburg drags down W&M

What's bad about Williamsburg? Too touristy?

I think so. My impression that it's too much of a touristy/quiet/older population area for some students. Not a college town in any sense, not a ton of off-campus housing options, and not a lot of nightlife for interested students.

However, I think the immediate area around the campus is beautiful and I'm sure the colonial aspect appeals to plenty of kids!

NP. Agree, PP-- the quieter town and historic area actually were a draw for some of DC's classmates who applied to W&M.

More generally, sometimes a college that is not in a "college town" or city setting tends to ensure that there's varied, interesting on-campus social and extracurricular life. And that can be a plus too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^This is a good list. It is a good summary of all the schools I've seen. I was especially struck by what an amazing campus and location UT has.

The reference to Stevens reminded me of this funny comment I read a while back on College Confidential:

I've never been to Hoboken but had a great conversation with a policeman in the Newark train station, while on a business trip years ago.

Me: Can you please give me directions to the Hilton (knowing it was 2 blocks from the station).
Policeman: Are you running or taking a cab?

I took a cab the two blocks.

Hoboken is like a slightly frowzier Hoboken. It’s nicer as a town than Stevens is as a college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet, some of these more remote areas help the campuses have a distinct feel (compared to urban campuses) and the lower cost-of-living helps their finances.

2018 Endowment Levels
Boston College: $2.6B
Georgetown: $1.66B
ND: $13.1B

I would say ND on much higher "financial level."

More legal/victim settlement fees than the other two catholic schools?

No, better football teams than the other two Catholic schools. Duh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet, some of these more remote areas help the campuses have a distinct feel (compared to urban campuses) and the lower cost-of-living helps their finances.

2018 Endowment Levels
Boston College: $2.6B
Georgetown: $1.66B
ND: $13.1B

I would say ND on much higher "financial level."

More legal/victim settlement fees than the other two catholic schools?

No, better football teams than the other two Catholic schools. Duh.

Duh? Idiot

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet, some of these more remote areas help the campuses have a distinct feel (compared to urban campuses) and the lower cost-of-living helps their finances.

Yet Notre Dame likes to pretend it is on the same financial level as Georgetown or Boston College (MUCH more expensive cities) and charge equally exorbitant tuition when, yes, of course, cost of living in South Bend is MUCH, much less. Blegh. Get over yourself, ND. (And I'm from a big, multigenerational, ND family.)

Why would the cost of education at a private school be lower in a low COL area aside from housing? You still have the same costs for attracting high caliber faculty (sometimes the only way to draw faculty to live in South Bend is being paid on par or better as faculty in higher COL areas plus other perks), pay for the same services and infrastructure, pay for the same administrative costs, etc.

Oh, please, do you really think admin help or entry level workers or grounds people are paid the same as in DC? No.

Not the PP, but yes I do. Illegal aliens work for minimum wage here no problemo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a stupid thread.

Agreed, the location is part of what makes the school what it is.
To try and separate them is a pointless task.
This thread is just full of sour grapes.

I think location can be really important if your kids want to do internships during the year. THat's the appeal of Georgetown, GW, etc.
Emory is very popular among sciency kids who want to work at the CDC. Probably makes it a more appealing school than it might otherwise be.

I had a child who really wanted to work and do internships during college and that was clearly why she chose a school in a city rather than in the country.
And in retrospect, I think that if your child needs to be doing internships in order to get a job and they can't do them during the year, you can end up spending a lot of money
on things like housing for unpaid internships if you don't live in DC or NY, LA, etc. (This is from a poster who doesn't live in DC.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What a stupid thread.

Agreed, the location is part of what makes the school what it is.
To try and separate them is a pointless task.
This thread is just full of sour grapes.

I think location can be really important if your kids want to do internships during the year. THat's the appeal of Georgetown, GW, etc.
Emory is very popular among sciency kids who want to work at the CDC. Probably makes it a more appealing school than it might otherwise be.

I had a child who really wanted to work and do internships during college and that was clearly why she chose a school in a city rather than in the country.
And in retrospect, I think that if your child needs to be doing internships in order to get a job and they can't do them during the year, you can end up spending a lot of money
on things like housing for unpaid internships if you don't live in DC or NY, LA, etc. (This is from a poster who doesn't live in DC.)

Notre Dame being in the midwest and in not such a great town does not hamper its placements into internships and jobs. Plenty of recruitment going on in Chicago, DC and other cities. That's where the strong alumni base comes into play. Go Irish.

[Anonymous]

But its location is certainly not a plus in terms on an affirmative leg up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I'm ignorant about Nashville. But Northfield? Middle of nowhere and COLD! The original question was, which schools are held back by their location. I'd argue that if any of those four schools were on the east or west coast, they'd be even harder to get into. Your opinion may differ.

Carleton College is ranked #5 in liberal arts colleges.

So what if you are miserable? DW went there and regretted every minute. COLD, snow, dark, nothing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:South Bend drags Notre Dame down.

Signed,
An ND Grad

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