Middletown and Williamstown are definitely the worst in the Nescac. Middletown is run down and unsafe, Williamstown just gives off a creepy small town vibe

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Williamstown - god awful

Gambier Ohio, which didn't really seem to exist

Gambier is Kenyon, and Kenyon is Gambier. It's a great little college town for the right person, but Mount Vernon is the "big city".

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.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Troy, NY

Definately! We visited (STEM kid) and as we pulled off the highway kid was like "we really don't need to stay for the tour, no way in hell am I spending even a semester in this place." I tended to agree, but we did tour and quickly removed RPI from our list.

I grew up 30 miles away, was a Stem kid, and had that same experience. 40 years ago.

I immediately got back on Highway and drove to Albany to show my kid there was "somewhat better stuff nearby" but in reality, yeah, it's not an exciting area. Troy is a bit scary and for my non-geeky stem daughter, the town plus the tour made it definately no (everyone on the tour was geeky, and we had 2 accepted kids attending in the fall and they were some of the "geekiest") But it's definately hard to overcome the rundown town and campus. The previous president did not manage the finances well, and it's apparent that dorms and other campus buildings are run down, just form the outside. Only campus I've ever been on where the outside maintenance was in disarray---like wood rotting that needed to be painted/fixed 5+ years ago, not just Oh we need to do it this summer. Figured not a good financial sign either

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clinton, NY

Might not be exciting, but Hamilton campus is great and you won’t get attacked on or off campus!

I think Clinton is kind of cute. And safe.

Not a busting town, but has the basics.

Would chose that any day over fear of being jumped when going off campus.

Clinton is very cute and has all the basics. Hamilton very consciously fills the events calendar so that students do not have to go off campus. Whatever Clinton lacks is easily found in New Hartford (which Hamilton provides a bus to for free) or Syracuse.

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Anonymous wrote:

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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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Clinton, NY

Might not be exciting, but Hamilton campus is great and you won’t get attacked on or off campus!

I think Clinton is kind of cute. And safe.

Not a busting town, but has the basics.

Would chose that any day over fear of being jumped when going off campus.

The level of paranoia on this forum is off the charts.

Are these all troll posts by someone trying to convince people that every single metro area in the US is unsafe? It’s deeply silly.

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Will you guys spare any city.

Agree with PP, this forum is full of idiots.

Right! Sounds liked a bored/afraid suburban hausfrau.

Anonymous wrote:New Haven

Damn now I’m craving some Sally’s pizza

Big cities are not college towns.

NYC, Baltimore, DC, Chicago, Philadelphia see the pattern.

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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!

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.

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Anonymous wrote:Iowa City

What’s not to like?

Yeah, Iowa City is great. Doesn’t belong on this list.

+1
We just visited and stayed in a B&B. The inkeeper described it as a “left of center town in a red state.” We loved it.

Anonymous wrote:Syracuse. NYC. Philly. Hartford. Storrs. Ypsilanti. Toledo. Berkeley. Atlanta.

UConn alum here. Gotta agree with this.