Crowd source- urban colleges/universities?

[orval]

My ds also wants an urban campus and is going to major in urban planning. His top choice is University of Cincinnati. They have a co-op program where he will have to do 3 semesters of work related to the major which he feels will be very beneficial. He also applied to Ohio State which is a large urban campus. West Chester just outside of Philly was another choice - nice campus urban/suburban area (program is not quite what he is looking for though).

ETA U of Cin also gives good $ to students from Texas unfortunately for us, not students from North Carolina.

[stemmie]

DS loved Philly. A lot of his friends ended up in Pittsburgh (Pitt and Carnegie Mellon) and never left.

[sunshineandpinot]

Jan 8, 2025 6:45:03 GMT -5 orval said:

My ds also wants an urban campus and is going to major in urban planning. His top choice is University of Cincinnati. They have a co-op program where he will have to do 3 semesters of work related to the major which he feels will be very beneficial. He also applied to Ohio State which is a large urban campus. West Chester just outside of Philly was another choice - nice campus urban/suburban area (program is not quite what he is looking for though).

ETA U of Cin also gives good $ to students from Texas unfortunately for us, not students from North Carolina.

This is very interesting. How can I find out more about this, and which colleges are maybe trying to attract (Texas) students? I'm sure it varies from year to year.... ? 

[Jalapeñomel]

Jan 8, 2025 2:12:05 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

Jan 7, 2025 19:41:00 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Lots of Jesuit schools are in big cities: Marquette in Milwaukee, Creighton in Omaha, St Louis, Fairfield, Fordham, etc

Omaha sucks for public transport; you definitely need a car. At the time I lived in Omaha it was the smallest city I'd lived in, and culture wise felt even smaller than numbers would indicate. When people recommend old spaghetti facotry as amazing authentic Italian you're definitely not in a diverse urban environment.

I lived and went to Creighton, and I never had a car! (Edit: not ture, I had a car my senior year)

[winnied]

George Washington University isn't worth its price tag, IMO. My husband got a graduate degree from there. Then again, maybe they have good undergrad scholarships that offset the insane tuition and room/board like Tulane does.

Some of the schools listed don't have the same BIG city feel that she might be looking for, but I agree that NYC, Chicago, Boston, and Philly provide that.

I'm most familiar with Chicago schools - DePaul, Loyola, Columbia College Chicago, University of Chicago (depending on her grades), and Northwestern though it's in Evanston and north of the city but it's of course an amazing school.

I also wanted to go to a school in a big city but the price tag for the education ROI didn't seem worth it to me. My mom went to DePaul and reminded me that she didn't do any of the cool *city* things in undergrad because neither she or any of her friends had any money. They watched TV and got cheap pizza and beer on the weekends just like you would on any college campus. What is cool about city schools is that they aren't big sports schools or greek life, so she'd probably find people who shares more of her interests or vibes.

[Jalapeñomel]

Jan 7, 2025 19:44:38 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I’m an NYU grad and live in NYC (outer boroughs, but raised in the suburbs). I loooooved my time there but there is no way my kids will go there since they won’t qualify for the same need-based aid I got. SUNY/CUNY all the way lol.

I’d strongly consider CUNY if I were her. Out of state costs are still relatively affordable compared to most private colleges, and I assume they like OOS students for the extra tuition dollars. Hunter and City College are some campuses in Manhattan.

Otherwise, yeah I’d recommend Philly for the city environment, affordability and easy access to all other NE cities.

CUNY is also a great recommendation, so much more affordable than NYU, and I'm biased, but would say a very similar education. 

[orval]

sunshineandpinot, Here is a link to Cincy's scholarship. You really have to look at each school's websites to see what they offer. You can also run the Net Price Calculator on each school's website to see what you might qualify for. It's all a big game of list price vs. what you actually pay for a lot of schools.

www.uc.edu/about/financial-aid/aid/scholarships/national-outreach.html

[keweenawlove]

Jan 7, 2025 21:39:13 GMT -5 atlas said:

Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a great campus. The city is a decent size but not huge.

Marquette was my initial though (biased because I work there!). Milwaukee is such an underrated city. You get the feel of "coastal" living without the price tag. 

[ellipses84]

UW in Seattle is an option that’s in the city and very walkable. Texas actually gets more inches of rain but Seattle can be gray and overcast for months, so it’s the lack of sun that gets to people. Weather is pretty mild, compared to NYC or Chicago. It rarely snows so close to the water, maybe only a couple times a year and melts quickly, but it’s 45 minutes from the mountains for skiing / snowboarding.

[hermione]

I am going to throw in one you've never heard of before. Wayne State University in Detroit. The city has a great art, food, and music scene. There are huge companies associated with the university to do internships. The university is more affordable than many others.

[bartholomew]

I was your DD. I knew city life was for me by 16 years old and Boston University had been my dream school, but $$$ so I went to Pace University in New York (downtown campus, not Westchester) and majored in Finance.

It is a very urban campus - next to the Brooklyn Bridge and City Hall. I lived in Brooklyn and took the subway to school. They are also known for their business and accounting programs and while it was nothing elite or fancy, I got a solid undergrad business education that was the foundation for a career in corporate finance. At the time, tuition was $24K/year (20 years ago...sob) and it looks like it's $51K/year now. My friends and I all had internships/part time jobs in our fields during the school year because everything was right there. It set us all up really well and we all had full time jobs by the time we graduated.

Going to college in a major city was a very different experience from being on a traditional campus (no sports, no Greek life, and we didn't have house parties), but I wouldn't change a thing. We went to bars that wouldn't card us (or bribed bouncers to let us in), went to Broadway shows, had picnics in Central Park, and took the subway home at 4am.

Becoming an adult in Manhattan was just...special. It shaped so much of who I am today. I hope your DD finds the right environment for her, no matter where she ends up!

[Queen Dick of Adminlandia]

No shade to Cincinnati or Milwaukee but I was this girl and nothing holds a candle to NYC. I wish I had been able to follow that dream then but 40 years later and I still would never live anywhere but a city. SF isn't really even a city compared to NYC and I'm sorry but Berkeley ain't a city. Let her fly.

[rupertpenny]

NYU has had much better financial assistance in recent years than in the past, but it is now very selective and tough to get into with a declared business major.

I'd also recommend CUNY schools. I didn't know much about them before living in NYC, but there are so many options, and they are relatively affordable. If she decided to stay in New York after graduation, she would be in good shape as these schools have significant local alumni populations.

Like your daughter, I wanted to attend school in a city but didn't. I enjoyed my time at a state school in a college town, but the pull of the city never went away, and I have lived almost exclusively in large, walkable cities since, and I forsee staying in New York for the rest of my life.

[dexteroni]

Jan 8, 2025 10:33:20 GMT -5 Queen Dick of Adminlandia said:

No shade to Cincinnati or Milwaukee but I was this girl and nothing holds a candle to NYC. I wish I had been able to follow that dream then but 40 years later and I still would never live anywhere but a city. SF isn't really even a city compared to NYC and I'm sorry but Berkeley ain't a city. Let her fly.

This, 1000%. I wouldn’t send a kid who’s dreaming of NYC anywhere in Ohio *and I live in Ohio.* I’d get her to NYC or as close as possible. Omaha? Louisville? Come on. And I adore San Francisco, but the vibe is very different from NYC and most northeast cities. If you can’t make NYC happen, Philly would be my runner up rec. it’s got the proximity to NYC and is a large, diverse city.

That said, you’re doing the right thing by planning ahead to narrow it down and visit some cities and schools. I’d speak with an actual college counselor to see which schools meet her criteria, make a short list, and start visiting. The good thing is that these can be fun city vacations, not just visits to remote college towns and campuses.

ETA: I’d also look at the politics of any state she’s considering. NY, MA, and IL are all ok, but Ohio has unfortunately become a solid red state with overwhelming R majorities in its state house and senate. The citizen of Ohio did vote to protect reproductive freedom, but it will not surprise me in the least if they find a way to overturn it. I wouldn’t send a college aged girl to any red state right now.

ETA2: I forgot to stump for Chicago! It’s a great choice and it will be somewhat less astronomically expensive than NYC and Boston.

[wildrice]

I'm another who wanted to go to school in the big city but didn't. If I have one regret or one thing I'd say my parents did wrong, it was telling me they would not support me going to college in Chicago like I had wanted. To this day I feel like I missed out on a big part of what I wanted my life to be like. I tried multiple times after graduation to move to the city, but without any connections I couldn't even get interviews for the jobs I was applying for. If your DD knows she wants to be in a city long term, I do think getting there as a student and making those connections could be really valuable for her.

I think Chicago is an excellent city for students - it's relatively affordable in comparison to NYC or Boston, too. My younger sister went to Roosevelt in Chicago and it was right downtown. I had looked at DePaul and that would have also fit the bill. Neither are cheap, but my sister got a lot of financial aid so I don't think her net cost was really all that much more than what I paid for a state school.

[rhian]

Jan 7, 2025 16:32:07 GMT -5 stuffandthings said:

Might I suggest University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI?

Madison is an AMAZING place. I'm a big city kind of girl who has lived in NYC and Chicago, and I find that Madison has everything I love about the city (public transit! museums! concerts! public spaces! good restaurants!) but it's not so large that it feels overwhelming or confusing for newcomers. Madison is demographically very young and growing FAST; it's widely considered the Silicon Valley of the Midwest so there are a ton of up-and-coming companies here (I work in tech and there are just...SO MANY JOBS open right now).

The university is smack dab in the middle of the city and very urban. Madison is also 1 hour away from Milwaukee and about 2.5 hours away from Chicago so there's access to even bigger cities if she needs that extra reassurance.

I'm a city person who went to grad school in Madison. There's lots I like about Madison, but if she's seeking a big city, Madison is 100 percent not it, and I wouldn't recommend it.

OP, I was going to suggest looking at the CUNYs. I also wouldn't necessarily let sticker price of places like NYU deter her from applying - one of the dirty little secrets of higher ed is that barely anyone actually pays sticker price.

[sugarbear1]

May I recommend Boston College? Total access to the city but not IN the city. I loved it.

[tiki]

Jan 8, 2025 9:35:35 GMT -5 stemmie said:

DS loved Philly. A lot of his friends ended up in Pittsburgh (Pitt and Carnegie Mellon) and never left.

I went to Pitt and can confirm it's a great town and a great place to go to college. H and I have considered moving back many times. Pitt's campus is urban but still feels campus-y, and CMU is right up the road, which boosts the local student population.

ETA: my dream school at the time was Columbia, so NYC was absolutely where I wanted to be. Life was so much easier being in Pittsburgh as a broke student, though, and I came out of school with relatively small loans. Had I ended up at Columbia or NYU I would have been in New York but not able to do/afford much of what was around me. 

[Jalapeñomel]

Jan 8, 2025 10:47:52 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

Jan 8, 2025 10:33:20 GMT -5 Queen Dick of Adminlandia said:

No shade to Cincinnati or Milwaukee but I was this girl and nothing holds a candle to NYC. I wish I had been able to follow that dream then but 40 years later and I still would never live anywhere but a city. SF isn't really even a city compared to NYC and I'm sorry but Berkeley ain't a city. Let her fly.

This, 1000%. I wouldn’t send a kid who’s dreaming of NYC anywhere in Ohio *and I live in Ohio.* I’d get her to NYC or as close as possible. Omaha? Louisville? Come on. And I adore San Francisco, but the vibe is very different from NYC and most northeast cities. If you can’t make NYC happen, Philly would be my runner up rec. it’s got the proximity to NYC and is a large, diverse city.

That said, you’re doing the right thing by planning ahead to narrow it down and visit some cities and schools. I’d speak with an actual college counselor to see which schools meet her criteria, make a short list, and start visiting. The good thing is that these can be fun city vacations, not just visits to remote college towns and campuses.

ETA: I’d also look at the politics of any state she’s considering. NY, MA, and IL are all ok, but Ohio has unfortunately become a solid red state with overwhelming R majorities in its state house and senate. The citizen of Ohio did vote to protect reproductive freedom, but it will not surprise me in the least if they find a way to overturn it. I wouldn’t send a college aged girl to any red state right now.

ETA2: I forgot to stump for Chicago! It’s a great choice and it will be somewhat less astronomically expensive than NYC and Boston.

Yeah, but she asked what other cities and cheaper schools, so we responded with that.  Even if she gets financial aid to go to a school in NYC, she's still likely to take out ridiculous SL to live here, and many aren't willing to let kids go into serious financial debt because they have dreams of living in NYC. 

[rupertpenny]

I want to preface this by saying that I know that it is very expensive to live in New York, and of course it is. But I wonder if it is still that much more expensive than traditionally MCOL or LCOL areas. When I went to college in a Florida college town 20 years ago the COL was dirt cheap. My brother graduated from the same school last year and I couldn't believe how much had changed; the rent for his room in a shared apartment was about the same as one would pay for a room in a shared apartment here. In the end he was paying 300% of what I paid for rent. Of course prices go up over the course of 15 years, but not that much.

[wanderingback]

Jan 8, 2025 12:27:39 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Jan 8, 2025 10:47:52 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

This, 1000%. I wouldn’t send a kid who’s dreaming of NYC anywhere in Ohio *and I live in Ohio.* I’d get her to NYC or as close as possible. Omaha? Louisville? Come on. And I adore San Francisco, but the vibe is very different from NYC and most northeast cities. If you can’t make NYC happen, Philly would be my runner up rec. it’s got the proximity to NYC and is a large, diverse city.

That said, you’re doing the right thing by planning ahead to narrow it down and visit some cities and schools. I’d speak with an actual college counselor to see which schools meet her criteria, make a short list, and start visiting. The good thing is that these can be fun city vacations, not just visits to remote college towns and campuses.

ETA: I’d also look at the politics of any state she’s considering. NY, MA, and IL are all ok, but Ohio has unfortunately become a solid red state with overwhelming R majorities in its state house and senate. The citizen of Ohio did vote to protect reproductive freedom, but it will not surprise me in the least if they find a way to overturn it. I wouldn’t send a college aged girl to any red state right now.

ETA2: I forgot to stump for Chicago! It’s a great choice and it will be somewhat less astronomically expensive than NYC and Boston.

Yeah, but she asked what other cities and cheaper schools, so we responded with that.  Even if she gets financial aid to go to a school in NYC, she's still likely to take out ridiculous SL to live here, and many aren't willing to let kids go into serious financial debt because they have dreams of living in NYC. 

I just looked up CUNY estimates for living expenses vs univ of Madison and a few other Midwest schools and it actually isn’t that much difference! I’m way removed from being an expert on college fees and living expenses but I do think they can also be very expensive at some bigger name schools even if the general cost of living of that area is less.

I think being in college can insulate a bit a way from true col since students can live on university sponsored housing and can have university sponsored meals. Also being in large cities allows you to take advantage of all of the free things.

Overall the cost of tuition is ridiculous many places but I do think there are reasonable options for university living even in cities with higher cost of living.

[pinkdutchtulips]

I can only speak for CA

SF/Bay Area - USF, SF State, CAL
I would avoid San Jose/Silicon Valley bc if she wants that 'big city' vibe, you won't get it at SJ State, Santa Clara U, or Stanford

So Cal - UCLA, LMU, Occidental, USC, SD State, USD
Disclaimer about USC - fantastic school as long as you stay on campus
UCLA and Occidental are more on the west side of LA but still very much LA
SD State and USD are in the heart of San Diego

eta - SF is the finance hub for the west coast w CAL's Haas School of Business being a highly ranked competitive program and SF has a Wharton (Penn) outpost. If LA is her calling - UCLA's Anderson School of Business is highly regarded as well. My cousin is a grad of that program who is now heading up Marketing and Strategic Planning for Ballys Sports in Atlanta. 

[pinkdutchtulips]

Jan 7, 2025 21:25:42 GMT -5 charteroakstate said:

Another city university I haven’t seen mentioned is St Joseph University in Philadelphia.

Unless the campus moved since I lived there 30+ years ago, it's on the border of Philly and the Main Line suburbs.  I wouldn't call it a city university. 

[emilyj]

I am a Fairfield U alum, and based on her criteria, don't even put this school on the list. Not a city, she'd need a car...the only thing that it has going for that is the business school is great, but everything else she wants? Nope.

[magma]

You and/or your daughter should check out the College Confidential boards, they are a wealth of info about everything college related. You can search about urban colleges until your heart’s content, lots of great info about admissions. The message boards will keep you busy for a while but tons of solid info. Happy searching!

[Jalapeñomel]

Jan 8, 2025 12:50:37 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Jan 8, 2025 12:27:39 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Yeah, but she asked what other cities and cheaper schools, so we responded with that.  Even if she gets financial aid to go to a school in NYC, she's still likely to take out ridiculous SL to live here, and many aren't willing to let kids go into serious financial debt because they have dreams of living in NYC. 

I just looked up CUNY estimates for living expenses vs univ of Madison and a few other Midwest schools and it actually isn’t that much difference! I’m way removed from being an expert on college fees and living expenses but I do think they can also be very expensive at some bigger name schools even if the general cost of living of that area is less.

I think being in college can insulate a bit a way from true col since students can live on university sponsored housing and can have university sponsored meals. Also being in large cities allows you to take advantage of all of the free things.

Overall the cost of tuition is ridiculous many places but I do think there are reasonable options for university living even in cities with higher cost of living.

Something to keep in mind though is not all CUNY students are able to secure campus housing, and it's not guaranteed year to year. 

[glitzy07]

Jan 7, 2025 16:00:01 GMT -5 rosiebear said:

University of Minnesota? It’s right in the city but there will be a big weather readiness adjustment.

University of MN Twin Cities has a really great business school (Carlson School of Management), and the metro area is home to a ton of big top companies for post-grad opportunities. Agree that the weather will be a huge adjustment from Texas, obviously, but there are a ton of tunnels and skyway systems on campus to make it manageable. I was born and raised in MN and went there and still definitely took advantage of the tunnels!

[sdlaura]

I went to American for college. It's not nearly as urban as George Washington. Then when DH went to grad school at Dartmouth we lived in Hanover, NH, and it was so fun to live in a college town. I think I'll encourage my kids to go for the small college town experience. I think that's a third option vs. either super urban or huge state school.

[formerlyak]

Jan 8, 2025 13:13:57 GMT -5 pinkdutchtulips said:

I can only speak for CA

SF/Bay Area - USF, SF State, CAL
I would avoid San Jose/Silicon Valley bc if she wants that 'big city' vibe, you won't get it at SJ State, Santa Clara U, or Stanford

So Cal - UCLA, LMU, Occidental, USC, SD State, USD
Disclaimer about USC - fantastic school as long as you stay on campus
UCLA and Occidental are more on the west side of LA but still very much LA
SD State and USD are in the heart of San Diego

eta - SF is the finance hub for the west coast w CAL's Haas School of Business being a highly ranked competitive program and SF has a Wharton (Penn) outpost. If LA is her calling - UCLA's Anderson School of Business is highly regarded as well. My cousin is a grad of that program who is now heading up Marketing and Strategic Planning for Ballys Sports in Atlanta. 

I’m guessing you haven’t been to San Jose State’s campus recently. That area has been built up a lot over the past decade. I used to work across the street from campus and went to grad school there. I was surprised when we drove through last year. It’s definitely more urban with lots of walkable things to do.

Occidental isn’t on the Westside. It’s in Eagle Rock.

LMU has a good business school and good connections with LA business, but getting from campus to downtown or Century City where finance jobs would be likely requires a car.

Only pointing those out because I think the OP is from the northeast.

[formerlyak]

Jan 8, 2025 13:34:34 GMT -5 magma said:

You and/or your daughter should check out the College Confidential boards, they are a wealth of info about everything college related. You can search about urban colleges until your heart’s content, lots of great info about admissions. The message boards will keep you busy for a while but tons of solid info. Happy searching!

Though “buyer beware” on College Confidential. The rabbit hole that is their message boards will make you think you need a 9.0 GPA and published research to qualify for a competitive college. It can cause major parental anxiety.