Would you downvote a school over being in an unsafe area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If campus itself was otherwise very safe?

No
Both of my kids attended colleges that were in urban areas next to "not so safe areas". It is fine, your kid just needs to be aware of this. In fact in some ways they are more aware of issues than kids on a suburban/rural campus, who "think it's safer" but isn't really.

Ditto

[Anonymous]

It's definitely a negative. Johns Hopkins, Yale, and Chicago are obviously great schools. But you need to keep your head on a swivel whenever you leave campus. It's unfortunate. It's stressful. I wouldn't nix those schools however, unless the kid had a particularly anxious disposition or was unusually oblivious to their surroundings. A great education is a great education. For lesser ranked schools - say Temple or Fordham - forget about it. There are more than 3000 colleges in the US. Why put up with the crime when there are so many alternatives?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's definitely a negative. Johns Hopkins, Yale, and Chicago are obviously great schools. But you need to keep your head on a swivel whenever you leave campus. It's unfortunate. It's stressful. I wouldn't nix those schools however, unless the kid had a particularly anxious disposition or was unusually oblivious to their surroundings. A great education is a great education. For lesser ranked schools - say Temple or Fordham - forget about it. There are more than 3000 colleges in the US. Why put up with the crime when there are so many alternatives?

There are few alternatives to this particular school, which isn't remotely on the same level as an Ivy, but yes - we're trying to figure out where that line is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would.

Many schools cheat on their Cleary reporting of on-campus crime as required by the federal government.

Would probably help if you named the schools ? (Drexel ? Temple ? U Penn ?)

Hmmm, no cheating here. I guess I'd forgotten when I said campus was safe: they've had an issue with sexual assaults involving students. Just nothing spilling over from town is what is what meant.

Well that can (and does unfortunately) happen on most college campuses. Much better to educate your kid about ways to protect themselves (never walk alone at night, go to parties in groups and the groups leave together, take your own cup with lid to parties, etc) That stuff happens on small rural campuses and large urban campuses and everything in between

[Anonymous]

We turned down John's Hopkins for this reason

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We turned down John's Hopkins for this reason

Good to know. Was starting to wonder if anyone did this. Was your kid ok with it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would.

Many schools cheat on their Cleary reporting of on-campus crime as required by the federal government.

Would probably help if you named the schools ? (Drexel ? Temple ? U Penn ?)

Hmmm, no cheating here. I guess I'd forgotten when I said campus was safe: they've had an issue with sexual assaults involving students. Just nothing spilling over from town is what is what meant.

Sounds like Bates College in Lewiston, Maine:

https://thebatesstudent.com/22327/forum/anonymous-app-exposes-sexual-assault-on-campus/

https://wcyy.com/the-10-most-dangerous-places-to-live-in-maine-right-now/

Not Bates. But really, do specifics matter?

They do to parents & students considering that school.

This just proves the point that this can (and often does ) happen on all college campuses. Better to educate your kid

[Anonymous]

There are lots of colleges in great neighborhoods. Why pick one in a crappy neighborhood? College students have enough to worry about already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of colleges in great neighborhoods. Why pick one in a crappy neighborhood? College students have enough to worry about already.

In this case, it's a niche school.

[Anonymous]

Well raise them with common sense, teach them safety measures, give them safety gadgets and wish for the best. You CAN send them to local community college in suburb and still not keep safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well raise them with common sense, teach them safety measures, give them safety gadgets and wish for the best. You CAN send them to local community college in suburb and still not keep safe.

Or you can send them to Columbia and they get stabbed in the park by a 14 yr old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If campus itself was otherwise very safe?

No
Both of my kids attended colleges that were in urban areas next to "not so safe areas". It is fine, your kid just needs to be aware of this. In fact in some ways they are more aware of issues than kids on a suburban/rural campus, who "think it's safer" but isn't really.

+ 1 , same here

Many of the crimes are crimes of opportunity where my kids are/went. Current kid's campus had a student robbed at gun point a month ago, on a Fri or Sat night at 2am, as the kid walked back to campus from a party ALONE. Kid was a freshman football player. As my DD says, yeah he walked back alone at 2am, everyone knows you simply don't do that. The area off campus, where the parties are and many students live "off campus" is not the best area. The crime is higher, because it's crimes of opporuntity---they know they can rob naive unaware college students who do stupid stuff (and yes, I define walking home alone at 2am as stupid, especially after being at a party where they obviously had been drinking). All the incidents I and my kid hear about are of someone who was Solo

All of my kids have also been taught that if you are attacked/robbed, give up your possessions, we will replace them, they are replaceable but you are not. Because my older kid went to a campus that makes the campus/area described above seem very safe. So think very urban area, in the heart of a city, right next to one of the highest crime areas in the city. Fortunately my kid never had anything happen in their 4 years, but a lot of that has to do with being street smart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well raise them with common sense, teach them safety measures, give them safety gadgets and wish for the best. You CAN send them to local community college in suburb and still not keep safe.

Or you can send them to Columbia and they get stabbed in the park by a 14 yr old.

Hate to say this (and I'm not victim blaming) but if you attend school in a city (or anywhere really, but especially in a city/area known for crime), you must know that if you are attacked/robbed you give them your shit! It's replaceable and not worth being injured/killed over.
Morningside Park has been a terrible area riddled with crime for decades (well over 30 years that I've known about it). You simply do not go in that area alone after dark either. You must learn to be street smart if you are living in a city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well raise them with common sense, teach them safety measures, give them safety gadgets and wish for the best. You CAN send them to local community college in suburb and still not keep safe.

Fair point.

[Anonymous]

I went to Wellesley college which is located in a very upscale suburb of Boston. The campus is beautiful and the he town is idyllic. There was a rape on campus (1980’s). Awful things can happen anywhere.