Anonymous
03/01/2024 15:54
Subject: Re:s/o Worst college towns?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Threads like these are so interesting to me bc I didn't put much stock in towns when applying to colleges beyond the safety around campus factor. I can't imagine writing off a school like Purdue due to the town, especially if I wanted to pursue engineering. Purdue is its own town!
But anyway, different strokes.
The fact it's an hour from the airport is a turnoff for us. That gets costly to arrange travel at every break. Not to mention, I'd rather my DD not be in an Uber/Lyft alone for an hour (I'd want the same for a DS). very different than a 10-15 min ride for many schools.
Not anymore! West Lafayette's airport is going to start having regional airline flights starting in May. That airport's technically located on campus (hence it being called the Purdue University Airport), and is only a ~5 minute drive from the center of campus.
Well that will be awesome for Purdue students. Assuming they can get to ORD or DTW from there makes kids life so much simpler
For sure! The flights from West Lafayette (LAF) are to ORD and done in partnership with American and United Airlines, so plenty of connections. I believe the airport plans to expand to further routes (hopefully DTW, which it used to have flights to years ago), but is in the process of building a bigger airport terminal to handle those flights.
As a previous post mentioned, having such flights avoids the risk of getting stuck somewhere without a shuttle, so it'll be great
This is great, but be aware that those small flights out of O’Hare tend to get cancelled at the drop of a hat, especially in December and January, when it’s snowy. I say this as someone who’s wasted entirely too much time hanging out in that airport trying to get home for the holidays.
That's very true- and as the other post mentioned, getting a hotel as an under 21 can be impossible. I'd say that Purdue, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and UW Madison are lucky in that they have airline service to their local airport connecting to big hubs, but also have regular, fairly reasonable shuttles to/from several airports. For example, if your flight from ORD to CMI or LAF was cancelled, you could just pay ~$50 to hop on a shuttle for a few hours, direct from the airport to the university. Definitely not as convenient or quick as the flight, but a crucial back-up option to have (in my opinion).
On the other hand, some cities like Ithaca or State College also have a small airport, but are located many hours away from any other large airport. If you're flying to ITH or SCE and the small flight gets cancelled, you're probably just stuck wherever you're connecting without a whole lot of options to get to town.
I've learned which hotels at my kid's transfer city will allow under 21 to check in. Found one last spring break when DTW got slammed with a mini blizzard. I planned ahead and did it 8 hours ahead---had to book under adult Hotel account and send a written approval to the manger, then they approved it. Was so glad a did, when 4 hours after the storm hit, my kid was finally let off the plane (sat on runway for over 3 hours). At that point there were not many rooms left, and certainly not at a hotel that would allow checkin. So now I know the hotel to use and the amazing manager who will assist if at all possible. But yes, it's a royal pain in the ass. I think it has something to do with if there is a minibar in the room, which is ridiculous---take the damn mini bar out or let me sign a waiver for my kid. But there's 8" of snow and airport is closed I'd prefer my 18 yo female not spend the night alone in the airport
Anonymous
03/01/2024 15:03
Subject: Re:s/o Worst college towns?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Threads like these are so interesting to me bc I didn't put much stock in towns when applying to colleges beyond the safety around campus factor. I can't imagine writing off a school like Purdue due to the town, especially if I wanted to pursue engineering. Purdue is its own town!
But anyway, different strokes.
The fact it's an hour from the airport is a turnoff for us. That gets costly to arrange travel at every break. Not to mention, I'd rather my DD not be in an Uber/Lyft alone for an hour (I'd want the same for a DS). very different than a 10-15 min ride for many schools.
Not anymore! West Lafayette's airport is going to start having regional airline flights starting in May. That airport's technically located on campus (hence it being called the Purdue University Airport), and is only a ~5 minute drive from the center of campus.
Well that will be awesome for Purdue students. Assuming they can get to ORD or DTW from there makes kids life so much simpler
For sure! The flights from West Lafayette (LAF) are to ORD and done in partnership with American and United Airlines, so plenty of connections. I believe the airport plans to expand to further routes (hopefully DTW, which it used to have flights to years ago), but is in the process of building a bigger airport terminal to handle those flights.
As a previous post mentioned, having such flights avoids the risk of getting stuck somewhere without a shuttle, so it'll be great
This is great, but be aware that those small flights out of O’Hare tend to get cancelled at the drop of a hat, especially in December and January, when it’s snowy. I say this as someone who’s wasted entirely too much time hanging out in that airport trying to get home for the holidays.
That's very true- and as the other post mentioned, getting a hotel as an under 21 can be impossible. I'd say that Purdue, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and UW Madison are lucky in that they have airline service to their local airport connecting to big hubs, but also have regular, fairly reasonable shuttles to/from several airports. For example, if your flight from ORD to CMI or LAF was cancelled, you could just pay ~$50 to hop on a shuttle for a few hours, direct from the airport to the university. Definitely not as convenient or quick as the flight, but a crucial back-up option to have (in my opinion).
On the other hand, some cities like Ithaca or State College also have a small airport, but are located many hours away from any other large airport. If you're flying to ITH or SCE and the small flight gets cancelled, you're probably just stuck wherever you're connecting without a whole lot of options to get to town.
Anonymous
03/01/2024 10:26
Subject: Re:s/o Worst college towns?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Threads like these are so interesting to me bc I didn't put much stock in towns when applying to colleges beyond the safety around campus factor. I can't imagine writing off a school like Purdue due to the town, especially if I wanted to pursue engineering. Purdue is its own town!
But anyway, different strokes.
The fact it's an hour from the airport is a turnoff for us. That gets costly to arrange travel at every break. Not to mention, I'd rather my DD not be in an Uber/Lyft alone for an hour (I'd want the same for a DS). very different than a 10-15 min ride for many schools.
Not anymore! West Lafayette's airport is going to start having regional airline flights starting in May. That airport's technically located on campus (hence it being called the Purdue University Airport), and is only a ~5 minute drive from the center of campus.
Well that will be awesome for Purdue students. Assuming they can get to ORD or DTW from there makes kids life so much simpler
For sure! The flights from West Lafayette (LAF) are to ORD and done in partnership with American and United Airlines, so plenty of connections. I believe the airport plans to expand to further routes (hopefully DTW, which it used to have flights to years ago), but is in the process of building a bigger airport terminal to handle those flights.
As a previous post mentioned, having such flights avoids the risk of getting stuck somewhere without a shuttle, so it'll be great
This is great, but be aware that those small flights out of O’Hare tend to get cancelled at the drop of a hat, especially in December and January, when it’s snowy. I say this as someone who’s wasted entirely too much time hanging out in that airport trying to get home for the holidays.
Oh, I get it. My kid connects thru DTW on a "small plane". Have had random issues when weather doesn't even seem to really be the issue. Had "the small plane cannot keep itself cool and it's 98+ degrees out and 120+ inside the plane (I know because was with kid in Aug and they actually boarded then got us off) So what is a 45 min flight got us there 4 hours late. Put that with the waittime between flights and we could have done the 6 hour drive from Detroit and gotten there faster (yes it was 8 hours from when we landed in DTW until we got to a destination 6 hours away).
Also had in winter---oh your 2pm connection today is cancelled (no apparent weather issues). And all of the other flights today (3 more) and 4 more tomorrow morning are "full", so here's your seat tomorrow night at 9:45pm (30+hours later). Good luck finding a hotel room for an under 21yo and no we won't help.
Anonymous
03/01/2024 10:06
Subject: s/o Worst college towns?
Anyone putting college park down hasn’t visited in years. The areas adjacent to the campus where the kids hang out is not bad at all. Further up is drab but kids wouldn’t be going that far anyway.
Anonymous
03/01/2024 09:48
Subject: s/o Worst college towns?
Where is Lehigh? That’s the worst college town I’ve seen with the shut down factories and the poverty, contrasted with the wealthy college kids. Yuck.
Poughkeepsie doesn’t belong on this list. Cute area (other than some parts of the city of Poughkeepsie) and the Hudson River is beautiful. If you need more than that, hop on the train and go into the city. Someone must have been rejected by Vassar.
Poughkeepsie doesn’t belong on this list. Cute area (other than some parts of the city of Poughkeepsie) and the Hudson River is beautiful. If you need more than that, hop on the train and go into the city. Someone must have been rejected by Vassar.
Anonymous
03/01/2024 08:57
Subject: Re:s/o Worst college towns?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Threads like these are so interesting to me bc I didn't put much stock in towns when applying to colleges beyond the safety around campus factor. I can't imagine writing off a school like Purdue due to the town, especially if I wanted to pursue engineering. Purdue is its own town!
But anyway, different strokes.
The fact it's an hour from the airport is a turnoff for us. That gets costly to arrange travel at every break. Not to mention, I'd rather my DD not be in an Uber/Lyft alone for an hour (I'd want the same for a DS). very different than a 10-15 min ride for many schools.
Not anymore! West Lafayette's airport is going to start having regional airline flights starting in May. That airport's technically located on campus (hence it being called the Purdue University Airport), and is only a ~5 minute drive from the center of campus.
Well that will be awesome for Purdue students. Assuming they can get to ORD or DTW from there makes kids life so much simpler
For sure! The flights from West Lafayette (LAF) are to ORD and done in partnership with American and United Airlines, so plenty of connections. I believe the airport plans to expand to further routes (hopefully DTW, which it used to have flights to years ago), but is in the process of building a bigger airport terminal to handle those flights.
As a previous post mentioned, having such flights avoids the risk of getting stuck somewhere without a shuttle, so it'll be great
This is great, but be aware that those small flights out of O’Hare tend to get cancelled at the drop of a hat, especially in December and January, when it’s snowy. I say this as someone who’s wasted entirely too much time hanging out in that airport trying to get home for the holidays.
Anonymous
03/01/2024 08:46
Subject: Re:s/o Worst college towns?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Threads like these are so interesting to me bc I didn't put much stock in towns when applying to colleges beyond the safety around campus factor. I can't imagine writing off a school like Purdue due to the town, especially if I wanted to pursue engineering. Purdue is its own town!
But anyway, different strokes.
The fact it's an hour from the airport is a turnoff for us. That gets costly to arrange travel at every break. Not to mention, I'd rather my DD not be in an Uber/Lyft alone for an hour (I'd want the same for a DS). very different than a 10-15 min ride for many schools.
Not anymore! West Lafayette's airport is going to start having regional airline flights starting in May. That airport's technically located on campus (hence it being called the Purdue University Airport), and is only a ~5 minute drive from the center of campus.
Well that will be awesome for Purdue students. Assuming they can get to ORD or DTW from there makes kids life so much simpler
For sure! The flights from West Lafayette (LAF) are to ORD and done in partnership with American and United Airlines, so plenty of connections. I believe the airport plans to expand to further routes (hopefully DTW, which it used to have flights to years ago), but is in the process of building a bigger airport terminal to handle those flights.
As a previous post mentioned, having such flights avoids the risk of getting stuck somewhere without a shuttle, so it'll be great
Anonymous
03/01/2024 03:32
Subject: Re:s/o Worst college towns?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:American University Park. Safe and clean, sure, but I can't think of a less collegiate place to go to school than a residential community of $2 and $3 million dollar homes and Ambassadors' residences. Hey, lets walk over to Tenleytown for fun! No thanks...
Went to college at AU in the 80s and we partied on campus, off campus and in Georgetown. Fantastic location
+1
I went in the 90’s. Walked to Quigley’s on New Mexico or Maggie’s in Wisconsin. Or just drank in the dorms. Sometimes. Georgetown. So many options!
Yes, used to be one of the top locations in country to go to college.
Anonymous
03/01/2024 00:27
Subject: s/o Worst college towns?
Baton Rouge, LA
Tucson, AZ
Baltimore, MD
South Central, LA (USC)
Tucson, AZ
Baltimore, MD
South Central, LA (USC)
Anonymous
03/01/2024 00:18
Subject: s/o Worst college towns?
Anonymous wrote:Palo Alto
For a down to earth student who isn't striving for a job on Sand Hill Road, it's completely insufferable.
I'm sorry, where would be preferable? Palo Alto is a pretty nice place.
Anonymous
03/01/2024 00:00
Subject: s/o Worst college towns?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:New York City
Philadelphia
Baltimore
Los Ángeles
San Francisco
Chicago
Detroit
Houston
Memphis
Dallas
LOL, so every major metro in the USA. Ithaca it is!
I really disliked Ithaca when we visited. The region is decent, but the town? Blech
Really? What's "blech"? I mean, if you are a big city person, or hate cold weather...I can see where it wouldn't be a fit. But if you know what you are getting into on that end...love it. Just idyllic.
Someone above already expressed what isn’t to like. The town is depressed and not “charming” like one might expect. Yes, the natural surroundings are pretty. And the finger lakes and wineries are nice. I specified that I did not like the town of Ithaca.
Exactly! Plus Wineries are not really accessible until Senior year (or end of Junior year) for many students. Plus, who has the time to really do that when you are in school? Not to mention, Finger lakes are only useful for playing around in summer and early fall---majority of time students are not on campus.
The town itself is okay, not that exciting. The fact that the area is so remote, airports are not accessible easily, and it's dreary 5 months of the year is not appealing. My kid ultimately picked a place only a few hours away, so weather quite similar, but airport is 5-7 min Uber from campus, and the town is one of the top 2 largest towns outside of NYC metro area. Not a Boston experience, but much better (in my kids and my opinions) than tiny remote town that is basically just 2 colleges.
My Cornell kids enjoyed....
Skiing within 30 minutes
Access to one of the nicest lakes in the Northeast
Hiking at several of the best parks on the East Coast
RT Jones golf course on campus
One of the top Farmers Markets in NY State every weekend.
Buses running every da to/from NYC
Several buses per day to/from the DMV during breaks.
Dozens of wineries and distilleries
Great restaurants and bars off campus
Perennial top 10 hockey team
Wow, busses & hiking. Not many schools with that kind of excitement.
Anonymous
02/29/2024 23:47
Subject: s/o Worst college towns?
The people putting down New Haven probably haven't visited in decades. Lots of great pizza and restaurants, live music, etc.
Anonymous
02/29/2024 23:39
Subject: s/o Worst college towns?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:New York City
Philadelphia
Baltimore
Los Ángeles
San Francisco
Chicago
Detroit
Houston
Memphis
Dallas
LOL, so every major metro in the USA. Ithaca it is!
I really disliked Ithaca when we visited. The region is decent, but the town? Blech
Really? What's "blech"? I mean, if you are a big city person, or hate cold weather...I can see where it wouldn't be a fit. But if you know what you are getting into on that end...love it. Just idyllic.
Someone above already expressed what isn’t to like. The town is depressed and not “charming” like one might expect. Yes, the natural surroundings are pretty. And the finger lakes and wineries are nice. I specified that I did not like the town of Ithaca.
Exactly! Plus Wineries are not really accessible until Senior year (or end of Junior year) for many students. Plus, who has the time to really do that when you are in school? Not to mention, Finger lakes are only useful for playing around in summer and early fall---majority of time students are not on campus.
The town itself is okay, not that exciting. The fact that the area is so remote, airports are not accessible easily, and it's dreary 5 months of the year is not appealing. My kid ultimately picked a place only a few hours away, so weather quite similar, but airport is 5-7 min Uber from campus, and the town is one of the top 2 largest towns outside of NYC metro area. Not a Boston experience, but much better (in my kids and my opinions) than tiny remote town that is basically just 2 colleges.
My Cornell kids enjoyed....
Skiing within 30 minutes
Access to one of the nicest lakes in the Northeast
Hiking at several of the best parks on the East Coast
RT Jones golf course on campus
One of the top Farmers Markets in NY State every weekend.
Buses running every da to/from NYC
Several buses per day to/from the DMV during breaks.
Dozens of wineries and distilleries
Great restaurants and bars off campus
Perennial top 10 hockey team
Anonymous
02/29/2024 23:21
Subject: Re:s/o Worst college towns?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Threads like these are so interesting to me bc I didn't put much stock in towns when applying to colleges beyond the safety around campus factor. I can't imagine writing off a school like Purdue due to the town, especially if I wanted to pursue engineering. Purdue is its own town!
But anyway, different strokes.
The fact it's an hour from the airport is a turnoff for us. That gets costly to arrange travel at every break. Not to mention, I'd rather my DD not be in an Uber/Lyft alone for an hour (I'd want the same for a DS). very different than a 10-15 min ride for many schools.
Not anymore! West Lafayette's airport is going to start having regional airline flights starting in May. That airport's technically located on campus (hence it being called the Purdue University Airport), and is only a ~5 minute drive from the center of campus.
Well that will be awesome for Purdue students. Assuming they can get to ORD or DTW from there makes kids life so much simpler
Anonymous
02/29/2024 23:20
Subject: Re:s/o Worst college towns?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Threads like these are so interesting to me bc I didn't put much stock in towns when applying to colleges beyond the safety around campus factor. I can't imagine writing off a school like Purdue due to the town, especially if I wanted to pursue engineering. Purdue is its own town!
But anyway, different strokes.
The fact it's an hour from the airport is a turnoff for us. That gets costly to arrange travel at every break. Not to mention, I'd rather my DD not be in an Uber/Lyft alone for an hour (I'd want the same for a DS). very different than a 10-15 min ride for many schools.
FWIW, IU has a shuttle from Bloomington to the airport and vice versa. Purdue might have something similar.
Shuttles are great until your kid's flight is delayed and doesn't land until midnight or 2 am and the shuttles have stopped running. Then you are out $150+ in whatever cab/uber/lyft you can get at that hour. As it is my kid would have 2 plane rides for any school like that, then to add a 1-2 hour car ride, made it no for us. As it is the have a 4 hour flight and then a 1 hour flight, but they are only 5-10 mins from the airport. Sometimes the layover is 4+ hours so you leave home at 3:45am (6:45 am time at school) and it's 6/6:30pm when they get to the dorm. So us personally were not willing to do places that would then add 2 hours of waiting for shuttle/car/uber and then the ride.