<p>Haha. Are you kidding? “the books is at?” How scary is that.</p>
<p>^ ^ ^ Hey, at least he or she KNEW that “this is where the books is at”! :D</p>
<p>UIC - My H’s alma mater. Not surprised by the tour guide’s comments.</p>
<p>U. Illinois Chicago used to be named U. Illinois Chicago Circle. It was known as the only major university to be named after an adjacent highway interchange.</p>
<p>Ah, the Daley Library, that brings back memories. There are other libraries on campus. The saddest one is the Science Library. The other large one is the Library of Health Sciences. It has some interesting displays. In my experience, the level of attendance varied greatly by class. A lot of students would occasionally skip a class.</p>
<p>“UIC tour guide, on visiting the library, ‘this is where the books is at.’”</p>
<p>Oh, dear. UIC is doing a good job serving the less privileged population, mostly of color, in the Chicago area, but dialect doesn’t belong on college tours.</p>
<p>"‘Most students don’t go to all their classes but you should really try to.’"</p>
<p>A statement that’s equally true of Harvard, but hopefully the tour guides don’t say that.</p>
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<p>Cool beans! Congrats. Hope he has a great time at AU.</p>
<p>Trinity - son didn’t like the area around the college and didn’t really like Hartford at all.</p>
<p>@Hanna,</p>
<p>Was this a student of color or is an assumption being made??</p>
<p>@momof3boys,</p>
<p>We are from New Haven and know that Trinity is an amazing school… but Hartford wil NOT be on dd14’s list. Hartford is a totally different animal. Its such a shame b/c the school has such a wonderful reputation.</p>
<p>Ironically, there was a savage beating back in the winter of a male student walking late at night… it was assumed that the perpetrators were inner city thugs…If memory serves me, I read in the paper that this was not the case at all… they were actually fellow students or from the burbs…</p>
<p>UIC guide was a third-year international student, regardless not a good representation of the college. Just a few of many things said that didn’t exactly sell the school.</p>
<p>Claremont McKenna - Ouch. Son thought he would give Claremont a try as a possible safety school in the Claremont system. After sitting through an excruciating student interview with some really rude senior, he crossed that place off the list. The good part about the interview was that it demonstrated the profile of student that they were looking for; primarily appears to be a place for future rotarians and good-government mid-level city officials. Quite the opposite of Pomona, where he had a great interview and eventually offered admission.</p>
<p>Ursinus - Whoa - Not Ready For Prime-Time. We attended a CTCL fair and heard about Ursinus. It was clear across the country in PA, and not as selective as some other schools on son’s list but we had heard good things about the education they offer. We did not visit until after he received an acceptance and a very generous merit scholarship. We flew to PA and attended accepted students day. The new president and administration seem to be trying hard to raise the school’s profile and improve its programs. But the place has the feel of a junior college. Son expressed interest in Classics. We attended a breakout session with the head of the Classics department and one other faculty member. The professor spent about 20 minutes going back and forth between slyly and subtly insulting the parents’ educational background or lack thereof, and berating a young man who had the temerity to show up about three minutes late. The junior professor appeared to be bothered by this little show, but did nothing to intervene or stop it. We stood up, walked out and flew back home to LA never to look back.</p>
<p>Give this place a pass if you are interested in Classics. Let them build their programs up generally.</p>
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<p>Can either of you give any specifics?</p>
<p>And, I hate to say this, but New Haven (Yale) has a terrible reputation too:</p>
<p>[Prospective</a> Yalies unfazed by crime | Yale Daily News](<a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2012/apr/02/prospective-yalies-unfazed-crime/]Prospective”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2012/apr/02/prospective-yalies-unfazed-crime/)</p>
<p>Imo, the “terrible reputation” of New Haven is overblown and inaccurate, and probably perpetuated by sour grapes. New Haven has good shops and great restaurants, and nice homes in some parts.</p>
<p>Trinity, on the other hand, felt like an island in a danger zone to us. Unless we missed it, there didn’t appear to be a decent town area within walking distance of the college. We liked the campus though.</p>
<p>According to American School Search, (which claims to obtain its’ stats from a 2010 US Dept. of Ed. report), Trinity is ranked the 8th most dangerous US college, with reports of forcible sex offenses, burglaries, aggravated assault, robbery and auto theft. The local newspaper, The Hartford Courant, reported in January that the campus was looking at increasing security with staff, lighting etc. There was a recent spike in non violent crimes last year.</p>
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<p>American School Search site is a joke . . . it appears to be no more than vehicle for selling school advertising. Among the 20 “most dangerous” campuses in the country are Dartmouth, Princeton, and Swarthmore. Yeah, right. The so-called reviews don’t actually call any of the listed schools “dangerous”; they are, instead, all described as “presumably dangerous.” The reviews also appear to have been written by someone who does not actually have the necessary language skills to have attended college. For example: “Princeton University is a very dangerous place to be enrolled at.” </p>
<p>I’d look elsewhere for guidance . . .</p>
<p>There did not feel to be any “safe” areas around the Trinity campus. The area around the campus is very poor, very ethnic and very inner city. The hospital is close so much traffic, ambulance noise etc. Nowhere for students to live or hang out near the campus. I suspect it will appeal to a student who wants a pretty good LAC with an attractive insular campus and is comfortable with their social life centered around the campus and wants to live in an inner city urban area. As far as Hartford in general, while it has some “nicer” residential areas it is a very gritty, industrial feeling city. None of my kids are fond of urban or suburban areas so it was a surprise to me that my son even was willing to sit through the info session and take the tour. I think he found it all interesting as an exercise but not for him on any level. The current Trinity president was the president of my alma mater a very similar college and he is a very affable person who is a very good fundraiser…hopefully he can navigate the issues that Trinity currently faces in terms of marketing the location and “Trinity experience” because for many the location could be a hurdle.</p>
<p>^^^^ Thanks for the info. That’s really too bad because I, as others, have heard good things about the school itself.</p>
<p>^^As a parent, even of a 6’4" 210 lb football playing/lacrosse playing son, thinks a visit is needed before committing to this college. It’s not a bucolic college in a bucolic location. It’s a bucolic college in a marginal location.</p>
<p>"he area around the campus is very poor, very ethnic and very inner city. " </p>
<p>Is that your attempt at being polite about saying “non-white”? </p>
<p>Crime is one thing and certainly could be a factor in deciding on a college, but I’m not sure “very ethnic” would be a downside for, say, those of that ethnic background, inner city or no. Might even be a reason TO chose a college if, say, a person of that ethnicity planned to actually work in said, "very poor, very ethnic and very inner city. "</p>
<p>Check local newspapers for crime stats and stories on any area you are looking at for college. You can also contact local police depts. and see if there are any community resource officers and speak with them.</p>