Columbia College Chicago??? (Champaign: apartment, job, home)

[Jenn260]

I am really interested in attending Columbia College Chicago, but I want to know if it is a safe area.
My mom also wants to know if there are gangs, or anything else hostile down there.
Does anyone know if it is a good school? Maybe a student going there? Is it safe to be walking around a lot from building to building? Is it easy to get lost?
I live in Hawaii and am used to kind of a warm and welcoming feeling, but Chicago very different? Especially Columbia?
Are the people kind? or nice? or even decent?
Any advice would be tremendously helpful!!
I also got accepted to Seattle University and if I get into Columbia, have to decide which one I would want to go to...but right now I have NO IDEAAAAA so any help is appreciated!!!
Thank you soooo much
<3 Jenn

[Jenn260]

oh and if theres already a thread of someone else asking this
then i apologize
and would greatly appreciate someone directing me to it please :]

[jdiddy]

Check this thread out.

In highschool. Interested in Chicago. Need help!

Columbia college has a number of buildings in the Loop/South Loop. Safety won't be much of an issue, you'll deal with some homeless beggars on the street occassionally, but not much more than that. Once you understand the street grid and how the addressing in the city works, it's really, really hard to get lost. If you know a building's address, you'll be able to find the building.

Finally, since Columbia is located in the heart of the city, its easily accessible from just about every neighborhood in Chicago.

[Manigault]

Actually, since they moved Pacific Gardens Mission, the number of mendicants around Columbia is far less. From what I've seen.

[soon to be traveler]

I recently graduated from Columbia. The area has changed ALOT..but for the better. Though its in a big city setting, with plain common sense you can avoid any such problems that may occur otherwise. And depending on what you want to study, Columbia is #1 when it comes to many fields. JUST BE READY TO BE LIBA-FIED!! LOL..Here I'll teach you pretty quick ok? Republicans BAD..Dummycrats Good!!! Other than that (politics) you will have the finest education (seriously) money can buy!

[cobolt]

The OP would be liba-fied in Seattle as well....even moreso. Take it from a born and bred Chicagoan currently misplaced in Seattle....you'd be hard-pressed to find more granola crunching, leaf lickers who protest anything without the slightest idea as to why...other than it's their job to protest....

[guaterico]

I graduated from there in 2003, and the area has completely changed. It's very safe.

[Jenn260]

wow thank you so much for all this information!
I just have to make a decision about Columbia, I'm debating that it might be too expensive for me.
But all of the Chicago-safety info has been great!
Also, about Columbia's dorms.....should i dorm my first year?
and pay the 12k or so
or get an apartment?
Has anyone had experience in the dorms?
Thank you sooo much again!
<3 Jennnnnnnn

[j33]

The area is fine now and has been for awhile. I attended Columbia College for a year back in 1991 (back then we would joke that LOOP, as it related to the south LOOP stood for "Left Over Old Parts", and it was a very different place), but now the area is very built up (so much so that I continue to be amazed whenever I find myself in the south-loop). I also believe that Columbia College is part of that "superdorm" they have in the south-loop and is shared with Roosevelt. The dorm was recently built and a very nice, modern building.

If you are new to Chicago, I would suggest staying in the dorm for the first year, the south loop is now crawling with students, so it would be nice way to meet people and get a feel for the city before getting your own place.

[Frank the Tank]

From everything that I've seen, the "superdorm" rooms are palatial by college standards with lots of space and common areas. The old dorms where I lived in Champaign were little more than oversized closets with bunk beds (of course, they didn't cost anywhere close to $2000 a month either). The superdorm is in a great location in Loop and you'll get to mix with students from Columbia, DePaul and Roosevelt, so as j33 said, that's a wonderful opportunity to meet people and immerse yourself in the city.