Why go to a small college in a rural area?

[Anonymous]

Some lovely schools are in distant locations, from Bates and Bowdoin to Grinnell and Oberlin.
Why go to a school like this if you could get into a comparable school with access to more resources? I'm not being snarky. I am genuinely curious about the appeal.

[Anonymous]

One of my kids likes a slower pace and prefers a lower key setting - less parking and housing crisis, less traffic and congestion, more easy going. He isn't at one of those schools but he does attend a SLAC in a more chill place. I don't think he will return to the northeast coast region.

[Anonymous]

Bates is in Lewiston, the second largest city in Maine.

Oberlin is a half hour from Cleveland.

Some kids prefer to be in a small town or at least, a town smaller than e.g. Montgomery County is, because it's a pleasant experience and they are getting an excellent education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bates is in Lewiston, the second largest city in Maine.

Oberlin is a half hour from Cleveland.

Some kids prefer to be in a small town or at least, a town smaller than e.g. Montgomery County is, because it's a pleasant experience and they are getting an excellent education.

Lewiston is a remote and depressed city.

Cleveland is...Cleveland.

[Anonymous]

Back to add, Brunswick is a half hour from Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my kids likes a slower pace and prefers a lower key setting - less parking and housing crisis, less traffic and congestion, more easy going. He isn't at one of those schools but he does attend a SLAC in a more chill place. I don't think he will return to the northeast coast region.

This. Plus my child likes a campus-based social scene, rather than a school where students disperse into a city on weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bates is in Lewiston, the second largest city in Maine.

Oberlin is a half hour from Cleveland.

Some kids prefer to be in a small town or at least, a town smaller than e.g. Montgomery County is, because it's a pleasant experience and they are getting an excellent education.

Lewiston is a remote and depressed city.

Cleveland is...Cleveland.

DP. I enjoyed Cleveland. They have a good art museum and science museum along with restaurants and coffee shops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my kids likes a slower pace and prefers a lower key setting - less parking and housing crisis, less traffic and congestion, more easy going. He isn't at one of those schools but he does attend a SLAC in a more chill place. I don't think he will return to the northeast coast region.

What school?

[Anonymous]

I went to a very remote, famously so, small school. I loved it. It’s a very unique experience and creates a real sense of community. People are basically stuck together so creates strong bonds. Kind of a “we’re all in this together” mentality. I grew up outside NYC so this was a very different experience and I appreciated it immensely.

[Anonymous]

My college had a river running through campus. You could walk to it or the small town square and bars/restaurants easily. You could get to nature and other cool small towns easily. And, you could find off campus housing as a junior or senior that was as close to campus as the dorms were. Coming from a huge driving only city, it was nice to experience the opposite for a few years.

[Anonymous]

Agree with the other posters. There is so much about a remote campus that appeals to me - and also to my kids. Neither had any desire to attend college in a city. They wanted the exact opposite experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some lovely schools are in distant locations, from Bates and Bowdoin to Grinnell and Oberlin.
Why go to a school like this if you could get into a comparable school with access to more resources? I'm not being snarky. I am genuinely curious about the appeal.

It’s like being at summer camp.

No outside distractions, for better and sometimes for worse.

Creates a uniquely intense and community-driven college experience.

[Anonymous]

The only reason I can think of is related to less air pollution and love for the countryside, and more accessible sports in the area, such as skiing or horse back riding.

However not all rural places have clean drinking water, actually. Some colleges are built near old mining sites or old chemical/war testing or industrial sites, etc, and the soil is contaminated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of my kids likes a slower pace and prefers a lower key setting - less parking and housing crisis, less traffic and congestion, more easy going. He isn't at one of those schools but he does attend a SLAC in a more chill place. I don't think he will return to the northeast coast region.

This. Plus my child likes a campus-based social scene, rather than a school where students disperse into a city on weekends.

Same with my kid, who's at a SLAC in a medium-size town. The town itself is nice and has some stores, but it's not really aimed at students. Getting to the nearest huge city is possible but a bit of a haul, not really an easy daytrip. So there's a lot of stuff happening on campus. Lots of clubs and activities, and touring musicians and comedians and lecturers sometimes stop by. The students learn how to make their own fun and become a closer-knit community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some lovely schools are in distant locations, from Bates and Bowdoin to Grinnell and Oberlin.
Why go to a school like this if you could get into a comparable school with access to more resources? I'm not being snarky. I am genuinely curious about the appeal.

It’s like being at summer camp.

No outside distractions, for better and sometimes for worse.

Creates a uniquely intense and community-driven college experience.

We heard the phrase Camp Kenyon on our visit there. It was beautiful.