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If you're considering schools that are isolated, then you need to take into account how exactly you're going to get around town, let alone from one town to another. Public transportation is a joke most places in the United States, and the majority of the country is car dependent.
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a great school, but it's something like 130 miles away from the city of Chicago. There is a train, but the trip will take you around 3 hours, so randomly popping into Chicago isn't going to be the easiest thing to do all the time.
Finally, in regards to the Midwestern stereotypes, keep in mind this is a region that encompasses 12 states and 65 million people. Rural North Dakota is not going to be the same as rural Missouri, and both will be different from the suburban and urban parts of Illinois. The state schools will also be melting pots of sorts as they'll be pulling people from all over their respective states, in addition to plenty of out of state students from across the country depending on how well the school is ranked.
Never considered the transportation side of things! Surely most college towns are walkable?
Never considered the transportation side of things! Surely most college towns are walkable?
Yes and no. Many are walkable in the area immediately surrounding campus, but then the other parts where the normal residents live many times are not.
My best friend's little brother is currently at Illinois State in Bloomington-Normal, and he ended up needing to bring his car up from home so that it would be easier to get groceries and get around town.
Something to keep in mind with transportation is that many of the mid-sized/other big cities in the Midwest will have a mix of public and private universities located within them, and many of them will have some sort of public transit system. It won't be on Chicago's level of car freeness, but they might be worth considering instead of other more isolated college towns. Although I will say that I went to college in Chicago, and I'm still living here car free.
I'd also recommend checking out information on the universities and towns that you're interested in if you're dead set on a college town, as you'll be able to figure out how close the nearest grocery store, Target, etc, is to the university, and then you can figure out if you think it'll be walkable enough for you.
Is UW Madison on your list? If so, I'd definitely recommend it. Madison is a very nice town on an isthmus between two lakes, it is pretty liberal and very walkable. It's also not too small/rural to get bored after a couple of days. If you do get bored there are busses going to Milwaukee, it's not too far from Chicago for an occasional trip and they also have a small airport there with daily connections to several major hubs all over the States.
Yes and no. Many are walkable in the area immediately surrounding campus, but then the other parts where the normal residents live many times are not.
My best friend's little brother is currently at Illinois State in Bloomington-Normal, and he ended up needing to bring his car up from home so that it would be easier to get groceries and get around town.
I'm sure it depends on the city and what you consider to be reasonable public transportation. I went to college at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI and I was carless the entire time I was there. It's totally possible to get where ever you want to go in Kalamazoo and the nearby town of Portage using the bus system, but it could take awhile including bus transfers. A 16 minute drive from campus to the mall in Portage for example turns into a 45 minute bus ride with one bus transfer. From what I've heard the bus system in Ann Arbor, MI (University of Michigan) is similar or slightly better. The University of Michigan campus blends into downtown Ann Arbor, though, so U of M students tend to just walk a lot.
Remember that there are also taxis or you could make friends and bribe them for rides if you don't want to wait around for the bus.
Stay on the East Coast if you're interested in history, this is where it all started. Come down to North Carolina!
Yes, interesting that one would choose Chicago for history - not that it doesn't have any, but the East Coast is richest in American history seeing as it's where it all started.
My college in NYC (an outer borough) had a ton of foreign transplants and exchange students. As transportation was mentioned, I think one reason for this was that it was not just NYC, but a city - more mass transit options, links to other major metros. OP, message me for more info on my school if you're interested.
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Madison is a very nice town on an isthmus between two lakes, it is pretty liberal and very walkable. It's also not too small/rural to get bored after a couple of days. If you do get bored there are busses going to Milwaukee, it's not too far from Chicago for an occasional trip and they also have a small airport there with daily connections to several major hubs all over the States.
