Colleges in drab, dull, ugly, or boringly remote towns

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares about the town? Life revolves around school.

.. if you go to a school in the middle of nowhere.

People drink more when there is nothing to do, especially when you are young.

My spouse grew up in a rural town, but moved at 14. They were super thankful that they moved at that age because they knew how they would end up if they had stayed there. Lots of drinking and sex. That's all there was to do. Same for college. When there is not much to do, guess what 18-22 year olds will do. Yep, alcohol and sex.

Interesting anecdote. Here’s mine: I attended an urban college and we spent all of our time bar hopping. And having sex after that. We had plenty of bars to explore, so I guess you could say there was “a lot to do.” Face it - most college kids will be drinking and having sex, regardless of their school’s location.

That's a *you* issue.

You had options to do other things in the urban area, but chose to just drink and have sex.

Oh, you sweet summer child.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the drab schools were listed in a book, there would be a photo of Syracuse University on the cover.

Is the campus drab or just the surrounding town? Never been to Syracuse but it’s on the list and we’re planning a visit soon. I always hear such positive things from Syracuse alumni, who seem so loyal to their alma mater.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It doesn’t matter. Put a bunch of 18-22 yr olds together anywhere and they will have a great time

Exactly. If a 18-22 year old can't have fun with a few thousand other 18-22 year olds regardless of the town they need more creativity.

"fun" when there is nothing else to do = drinking and sex.

Urban fun = bars every night, tons of wasted money, and sex. Not sure why you refuse to admit this.

Very true. I think parents of kids at city schools like to believe their kids are spending their time at museums and cultural events. They are drinking, just like their peers at smaller, rural schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to an SLAC in a dead town and then studied at a large urban university my junior year. I didn’t like the larger school at all, and I made essentially no friends! At my tiny school in a crappy town, there was much more cohesiveness and community, and we had plenty to do on campus. It’s nice to be in a little focused academic cocoon for a few years at that age.

+1
My four years at a small rural school were idyllic. I’ll never experience anything like that again.

Sounds claustrophobic.

I know, I really wish I had been able to waste time and money at smoky, dirty bars instead of going hiking and mountain climbing in the fresh air. What a missed opportunity.

[Anonymous]

It is college. There are many options and people can choose the option that fits them. Hopefully, they choose academic programming first and then other aspects. I have lived in 8 different states and various settings urban to rural. If they can’t find something to do in almost any area of the US, you have not raised them to be independent, creative adults.

[Anonymous]

Notre Dame. South Bend is so drab, dull, ugly and boringly remote. Crossed it off the list, even though the campus itself is picture perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the drab schools were listed in a book, there would be a photo of Syracuse University on the cover.

Is the campus drab or just the surrounding town? Never been to Syracuse but it’s on the list and we’re planning a visit soon. I always hear such positive things from Syracuse alumni, who seem so loyal to their alma mater.

Middle of nowhere school filled with rabid B students. There is nothing interesting or beautiful about the school. Go to Clemson or UF instead

[Anonymous]

Who cares? Go where you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It doesn’t matter. Put a bunch of 18-22 yr olds together anywhere and they will have a great time

Exactly. If a 18-22 year old can't have fun with a few thousand other 18-22 year olds regardless of the town they need more creativity.

"fun" when there is nothing else to do = drinking and sex.

Urban fun = bars every night, tons of wasted money, and sex. Not sure why you refuse to admit this.

Very true. I think parents of kids at city schools like to believe their kids are spending their time at museums and cultural events. They are drinking, just like their peers at smaller, rural schools.

Mine literally does but she’s an art history major . I’m not sure why the insinuation that there’s nothing to do in urban areas- DD does volunteer work with the city, loves going to different restaurants and free cultural events around NY, and just loves her college experience because of how much she gets to experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who cares about the town? Life revolves around school.

.. if you go to a school in the middle of nowhere.

People drink more when there is nothing to do, especially when you are young.

My spouse grew up in a rural town, but moved at 14. They were super thankful that they moved at that age because they knew how they would end up if they had stayed there. Lots of drinking and sex. That's all there was to do. Same for college. When there is not much to do, guess what 18-22 year olds will do. Yep, alcohol and sex.

Interesting anecdote. Here’s mine: I attended an urban college and we spent all of our time bar hopping. And having sex after that. We had plenty of bars to explore, so I guess you could say there was “a lot to do.” Face it - most college kids will be drinking and having sex, regardless of their school’s location.

That's a *you* issue.

You had options to do other things in the urban area, but chose to just drink and have sex.

Oh, you sweet summer child.
DP

I know college kids drink, no matter where they live. But, let's be real.. when there is nothing else to do, college kids will turn to alcohol and sex a lot more for entertainment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to an SLAC in a dead town and then studied at a large urban university my junior year. I didn’t like the larger school at all, and I made essentially no friends! At my tiny school in a crappy town, there was much more cohesiveness and community, and we had plenty to do on campus. It’s nice to be in a little focused academic cocoon for a few years at that age.

+1
My four years at a small rural school were idyllic. I’ll never experience anything like that again.

Sounds claustrophobic.

I know, I really wish I had been able to waste time and money at smoky, dirty bars instead of going hiking and mountain climbing in the fresh air. What a missed opportunity.

lol.. as if urban areas only have smoky, dirty bars. Plenty have nice trails. I'm sure mountain climbing was super fun in the winter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It doesn’t matter. Put a bunch of 18-22 yr olds together anywhere and they will have a great time

Exactly. If a 18-22 year old can't have fun with a few thousand other 18-22 year olds regardless of the town they need more creativity.

"fun" when there is nothing else to do = drinking and sex.

Urban fun = bars every night, tons of wasted money, and sex. Not sure why you refuse to admit this.

Very true. I think parents of kids at city schools like to believe their kids are spending their time at museums and cultural events. They are drinking, just like their peers at smaller, rural schools.

Mine literally does but she’s an art history major . I’m not sure why the insinuation that there’s nothing to do in urban areas- DD does volunteer work with the city, loves going to different restaurants and free cultural events around NY, and just loves her college experience because of how much she gets to experience.

DC loves the fact that there are so many different types of restaurants to go to in the urban college they are at. That was one of the things they wanted - good wide variety of different types of food. Harder to get that in rural areas. You'll get like a handful of quasi ethnic restaurants. We've always lived in a really diverse area with lots of different good ethnic food. I think it would be kind of a shocker if they couldn't get food variety like we do here.

It's one thing to be visiting a country for a couple of weeks and not get variety, which they are used to. It's another to live there for months at a time and not have that variety. This is also one of my requirements for where we retire.

My DC in college also cooks a lot, and they need ethnic grocery stores to cook what they want. Harder to get that in rural towns.

[Anonymous]

Not going to engage on this thread other than to say some DCUM threads truly make me hate "humanity" and this is one of them. The rabid insistence on denying what made or makes other people happy is far more depressing than any college location will ever be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not going to engage on this thread other than to say some DCUM threads truly make me hate "humanity" and this is one of them. The rabid insistence on denying what made or makes other people happy is far more depressing than any college location will ever be.

It’s just a small number of persistent posters. People who can’t put themselves in anyone else’s shoes or imagine something outside of their personal wants.

For most of us, do what works for you and enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It doesn’t matter. Put a bunch of 18-22 yr olds together anywhere and they will have a great time

Exactly. If a 18-22 year old can't have fun with a few thousand other 18-22 year olds regardless of the town they need more creativity.

"fun" when there is nothing else to do = drinking and sex.

Urban fun = bars every night, tons of wasted money, and sex. Not sure why you refuse to admit this.

Very true. I think parents of kids at city schools like to believe their kids are spending their time at museums and cultural events. They are drinking, just like their peers at smaller, rural schools.

+1

Just at a wider variety of bars/locations