Urban college vs campus college

M_s_Mom
Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:48:05 +0000

The urban vs. campus-oriented schools have different advantages and disadvantages and what’s best depends a lot on what you value:

An urban campus enables you to easily get away from school, class-mates, and the entire ‘student life’-you can vanish into the city any time. If you have unusual interests, or want to combine internships with school, it’s easy to do in an urban environment (check out the public transportation option though). You can live off campus and share an apartment if you don’t like the housing options (and yes, it can be expensive, or more expensive than a dorm, depending on what city we’re talking about). Transportation home is likely to be easier/cheaper too-more bus/train/plane options. If you are sick of the food in the cafeteria, there are likely to be lots of other options. And the school’s culture, whatever it is, is less likely to be as all-pervasive, which is good or bad depending on your personal fit.

So urban schools are less ‘inwardly forcused’ than campus-based suburban or rural schools. Students can opt in or out of student life and some, especially seniors, will opt out. Urban schools don’t have to do as much to entertain their students-and in fact, student-based entertainment, competes with whatever else is being offered in the city. There is also probably more diversity in your day-to-day environment in terms of age, socio-economic status, race, etc…

The flip side of this (and we’re talking opposite extremes here - most schools fall somewhere on the continuum rather than at the extremes) would apply to a school with a campus, especially one that is more isolated. You get a strong, student-focused, student generated culture and almost everyone is vested in campus life to some degree. Students create a lot of their own entertainment - it’s likely to be people you know or who know someone you know out there doing the acting/sports/music, etc…which can be a lot of fun. Or the admin brings in the entertainment and lots of people you know are likely to be going to see it. The facilities are often nicer and newer because there’s more space to build and the costs of building are lower. And hopefully, the grounds are attractive and have some green and open space, which you may not get with an urban campus unless there’s a park nearby. Lots of people talk about the ‘bubble’ that their campus creates around them. Usually this is disparagingly meant, but I think for someone leaving home for the first time, it can be pretty comforting to be in a more controlled environment with a higher density of familiar faces crossing your path each day.

My final observation would be - and this reflects my bias - you will have the rest of your life to enjoy an urban environment if that’s what you want. If you haven’t had that traditional college campus experience, this is probably one of your few opportunities to do it. So unless you are escaping an existing bubble, or know for sure that urban is what you want, you may want to give ‘the bubble’ a try. It’s only four years minus any study abroad.