<p>One of my kids graduated from Harvard; the other goes to NU. We live right outside of Cambridge. Cambridge and Boston DO have a club scene, but yes, the MBTA shuts down early. Providence, however, is a lot more provincial than Boston, so a lot of kids from Brown come up here for the weekend. Chicago is massive and it has a zillion fun things to do. It does take a while to get from Evanston into the Loop area, but the train is direct and runs late. The weather in Evanston is that much worse than it is in Providence, but neither of them is spectacular. Your question should really be this: where would you rather be in school? 4 years is a long time to spend in a place where you aren’t very happy.</p>