Anonymous wrote:Cornell / Michigan / MIT

Cornell isn’t really urban in my opinion.

Ann Arbor is a college town and really nice but I wouldn’t say it is urban. Detroit sucks.

Anonymous wrote:No one has mentioned the obvious local choice.. Maryland

I got the college town feel but could also metro into DC for internships

Do you really think that OP would have started the thread if she thought College Park was even remotely on point?

My DC wants something similar and here is what we toured or have learned about.

Pitt - might be a little too urban like NYU but it is the Oakland neighborhood and lots of nice stores and restaurants nearby. They have a lot of park area nearby too and the campus is pretty compact and not spread out like GW. A little bit of a hill going up to some buildings but overall we reall liked it. They have a lot of covered bridges and walkways. I have never seen so many happy kids or more school gear being worn. The cathedral of learning in gorgeous. Free transportation on the bus system in all of Allegheny County, downtown subway and the cable car with your student ID.

Carnegie Mellon - beautiful campus right next to Pitt. More of a liberal arts campus feel but not as close to some restaurants and stores as Pitt. We loved how it looked, but we did not like the vibe. You could feel the stress.

The Ohio State - the campus is massive but it is very pretty. Columbus is a much nicer city than we thought. I can’t really say it is walkable because of the campus size. Not sure if they have free transportation. It wasn’t mentioned.

Case Western - By far our favorite. It is in the Arts district on the east side of Cleveland. Similar to Pitt as it is in a neighborhood close to the main city (think of Georgetown or downtown Bethesda to DC.) There are museums, botanical gardens surrounding the campus. All free to students. A Main Street with great restarants and stores. The main street seems to break up the learning campus to the living campus. The freshman dorms and common areas were nice. Grassy areas the kids were playing whiffle ball and frisbee. It didn’t feel urban there. The upper class an apartments were gorgeous, had a Starbucks at the bottom, and most had views of the football field which was really cool. The learning campus had a very college feel to it. Lots of walkways, grassy areas, no main streets cutting thru. Because the living and learning areas are not exactly side by side, expect a 10min walk to classes. Lots of kids bike too and say they hang out in the learning areas longer in the libraries and grassy areas. Go to the gym too. More sociable. Street of Greek row but this is Case and not a big party school. Free bus transportation in the whole city for kids.

BU - our absolute least favorite. Dry similar to NYU. A mile thin stretch of buildings on a very loud 6 lane road. Freshman dorms on on one side of road and other freshman dorms are 1/2 mile away. They do have free bus service but only on campus. Not city wide

Northeastern - probably our second favorite. A very liberal arts campus feel with grassy areas, no main streets to cross except to go to the sports areas and workout building. Very compact. There are kids hanging out and andirondack chairs everywhere. But it is right in the middle of Boston. Many new buildings the past few years. Freshman buildings were nice. Happy kids. They have a tunnel system to get to and from classes in cold snowy weather. There co-op program sounds amazing.

Tufts - Yes, it is pretty close to Boston by train, but has a very small old-school campus feel. It is a nice mix if you a small campus vibe near a big city. It does not feel urban in the slightest though. Old houses surround the entire school area. We forgot to check out their small town.

U of Penn and Drexel - both right on the outskirts of Philly. Temple is more urban than both and surrounding by a not so great neighborhood that has improved the past few years. Kids are very happy there though.

WashU - beautiful campus. Love that school so much. St Louis is just okay though.

Vanderbilt - another gorgeous campus with a surban feel right in Nashville.

Haven’t been to these:

U of Chicago

Georgetown University

Brown

Harvard and MIT

University of Arizona

Lots of stem opportunities in DC, moco and Nova

No one has mentioned the obvious local choice.. Maryland

I got the college town feel but could also metro into DC for internships

Anonymous wrote:Nc state, school of engineering

NC State campus is terrible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cornell / Michigan / MIT

I'm down with Michigan and MIT, but have you been to upstate NY in the winter? Holy crap is it depressing. And you can't escape because you're basically snowed in the entire time. I'm not usually one to consider weather as a factor for where to live, but a kid has to seriously think about whether they want to deal with that.

- Someone who lived in Buffalo for most of my childhood

My DC has the same reaction, but to heat and humidity, for which reason he will not consider Rice. I have the same aversion to heat & humidity and the same love of snow and cold.

Different strokes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Carnegie Mellon or University of Pittsburgh

+1 to both

+2 for sure.

Nc state, school of engineering

OP here: thanks for the great suggestions!

Anonymous wrote:Cornell / Michigan / MIT

MIT is a great school but it didn't strike me as having a campus feel. Boston is great though!

Anonymous wrote:Carnegie Mellon or University of Pittsburgh

+1 to both

Might want to look at Tufts. Very close to downtown Boston and Cambridge.

Take a look at NC schools. State, Duke, Carolina, etc.

Carnegie Mellon or University of Pittsburgh