Better than Burlington?
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Anonymous
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Hi, we are a CA family trying to figure out the Midwest/East Coast. My kid is looking for colleges that have walkable towns/ethnic food plus the ability to find some anonymity. We happened to spend 4 days in Burlington last summer. I thought it might be a fit (loved the houses w/porch hammocks) but my kid felt it was too small - they saw the whole town in 2 days plus there wasn’t anywhere else you could easily escape to. (Love public transportation/definitely no car freshman year)
Not looking for info on colleges in cities (Macalaster), big college towns (U mich) or ones with easy metro access (UMCP) Trying to get a sense of places like: Williamsburg- William &Mary Mass 5 college consortium Appleton WI - Lawrence Kalamazoo MI Worcester MA - Holy Cross, Clark I think they could be a fit for a small/medium school but they are used to city living and are introverted so occasionally want a break from people they know. Want to be able to take a 2 hour walk and listen to headphones or go to lunch/cafe/bookstore without running into all people they know. Welcome suggestions or if you had a similar kid, how did they deal/where did they go? Thanks |
Anonymous
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William & Mary is right next to the historical park and has some commerce next to it, but there isn’t much town to Williamsburg.
Why Worcester? It’s not a great town. Maybe Madison is a better option? Bigger than Burlington but not a major city. |
Anonymous
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Burlington, MA?
Burlington, VT? Burlington College is closed. |
Anonymous
| Not sure about your kid’s stats, but Ithaca is a nice town with interesting restaurants and public buses. I was an introverted kid wanting anonymity and Cornell definitely delivered with its large population. You don’t need a huge town when you have a large campus and so much nature/hiking nearby — but then again, your kid might want more city and less school. And Ithaca is pretty isolated from big cities. But yeah - Williamsburg is pretty tiny. |
Anonymous
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Williamsburg- William &Mary: as others have said, if you want vibrant town life this is not the way to go.
Mass 5 college consortium: closest to what you're looking for but walking distances and proximity to town will differ depending on what college of the five you pick and get into. Appleton WI - Lawrence: don't know Kalamazoo MI: don't know. Worcester MA - Holy Cross, Clark: gritty small city that is not generally safe to walk around. Excellent food though. |
Anonymous
| Skip the Midwest, CA person |
Anonymous
| The Amherst campus is walking distance to town. Smith is also walking distance to the main part of Northampton. |
Anonymous
| Pitt - students get to bus anywhere for free (plus discount tickets to Pirates/Steelers/Penguines), is an awesome city with much to do and see and explore. Lots of different neighborhoods with every type of food you could imagine. Also has living learning communities to make a large college feel a little smaller. But it's not a super large state school, I think around 20k undergrad |
Anonymous
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As others have said definitely not Williamsburg if Burlington (I’m assuming VT) was too small. Kalamazoo will also definitely be too small.
College of Charleston is south but you can definitely do a ton of walking and have anonymity in Charleston. Public transportation to the beach and places. Great city to go to college in (I did) but it’s the south and that part wasn’t my favorite admittedly (but the city is amazing). Madison WI is probably too small if Burlington was too small but great college town as well. Chicago schools? What about schools near Philly? |
Anonymous
Burlington is only 45k population while Madison is near 250k. |
Anonymous
| You’re probably looking for the 5 college consortium. It’s a collection of towns with a lot to explore, but it isn’t a very busy place, and things are college-centric |
Anonymous
I can speak to Williamsburg and the 5 college area in Mass. I don't think Williamsburg is what your kid is looking for. It's a lovely place with a small charming area next to campus and then Colonial Williamsburg next to that. But that area isn't very big and doesn't feel very urban. The 5 college area is fantastic. But it depends which college she goes to. Amherst and U Mass are both in Amherst. Amherst is fine but it's not urban. More of a town. Mt Holyoke only has a few things next to it. Hampshire College is out in the middle of nowhere. Smith, on the other hand, is worth a look. It's right in Northampton. Northampton is a really fantastic small city. Very walkable and there is so much there to explore - boutique shops, great restaurants and yes there is def ethnic food, so many awesome coffee shops. There are so many unique fun and funky places. There's one chain store that I can think of (Urban) and the rest are local. Fantastic place. Check it out. I will say it's probably smaller than Burlington but there is so much there that it doesn't feel boring. My kid originally wanted to be in a larger city but loves NoHo. |
Anonymous
| Madison is what you want. Burlington is like Madison, but Madison is larger so you won't be able to explore it all in 2 days. Walking around the lakes with headphones is the perfect way to escape. But it isn't a major city, just a really nice sized city. There is a reason it is consistently ranked as one of the top college towns. |
Anonymous
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I have a ton of family in Amherst area and find the consortium thing overrated and it’s a car culture. You can walk the historic downtown area but people don’t live right there, unless At Amherst and only first year or maybe two
Maybe Bowdoin. Great town on its own but Portland is within striking distance which is nice |
Anonymous
| Think about Providence. |