Why go to a small college in a rural area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Hahaha I was about to comment that my niece attended Kenyon because she fell in love with the campus and campus life. Nowhere cool to go, so you really depend on building friendships.

[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.

What resources do you think kids are missing out on? One of our kids purposely went to a rural SLAC because they wanted a totally different experience than they had growing up here. They loved that it wasn’t in a big town and there were so many campus focused activities. They returned to this area after graduation but said their undergrad experience was exactly what they wanted.

[Anonymous]

I went from NYC metro to one of these schools, and I adored the experience beyond measure. The isolation kept student life focused on campus -- this made campus feel vibrant and full and varied. Being in a small community felt safe and almost cozy, like the whole place was just for us. I had the rest of my life to navigate big cities. Would do it all again.

[Anonymous]

My DS is at Bates. He loves it. He has spent a lot of time getting out around Maine, which is a big plus, but generally he's good with a small school and a social life that is primarily campus-focused. He has much more engagement with his professors than I did when I was an undergraduate at an Ivy a million years ago.

I'm not sure why this is so hard for the OP to comprehend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

What school?

[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.

+1 I think this is a lot more fun and better for school community and the "college experience."

Like personally I'd never have wanted to go to college in NYC (I went to Dartmouth) but loved living there as a 20-something adult.

[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 only 4 years - and time goes by quickly.

America is a big place. Lots of options on where to work/settle down post graduation.

[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.

Yeah this

[Anonymous]

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

Umm, Portland has 68,000 people…

[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 only 4 years - and time goes by quickly.

America is a big place. Lots of options on where to work/settle down post graduation.

Not any more.

Sending a female to a red state where they are putting up ads about how women need to be breathless while talking. Yes republicans have this expectation ask Josh Hawley the creaper and Katie Britt . Hawley new ad where women are barefoot pregnant and waiting for their man sure that’s what college education women should aspire to.

Oh and Hawley’s crap wife is fighting in court for women to lose all rights but hey am you idiots send your daughters to red states to meet their man

[Anonymous]

So many reasons- access the the outdoors and related rec/sports opportunities, beautiful setting close to nature, sense of community/college town feel, etc. not everyone is a city person OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 only 4 years - and time goes by quickly.

America is a big place. Lots of options on where to work/settle down post graduation.

Not any more.

Sending a female to a red state where they are putting up ads about how women need to be breathless while talking. Yes republicans have this expectation ask Josh Hawley the creaper and Katie Britt . Hawley new ad where women are barefoot pregnant and waiting for their man sure that’s what college education women should aspire to.

Oh and Hawley’s crap wife is fighting in court for women to lose all rights but hey am you idiots send your daughters to red states to meet their man

There are rural colleges in blue states too.

[Anonymous]

At the better colleges and universities, the school is the focus of the students' lives. I went to a bigger school in a bigger city than the rural LACs but 95% of my time during the four years was still on campus and I rarely left the immediate "college town" around the campus. I don't think it makes *that much* of a difference whether it's a rural college or a suburban college or an urban campus. The size of the school makes more difference than the location of the school as bigger schools will have more resources and a greater variety of students.

People who graduated from small LACs in more rural areas tend to have extremely strong memories of their times. And it's only four years, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

What school?

St. Lawrence

[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.

Have you been to CleveLand in the last decade? It’s a nice place. Good art museum. Decent symphony, great little Italy.