College Towns Not So Great: Princeton Review List

Sometimes college towns are just not so awesome.

The Princeton Review recently named the 10 schools in the least awesome college towns. Tuskegee University in Tuskegee Alabama took the top spot, with Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana coming in second.

Check out our slide show of schools in not so great college towns. Then tell us, what was your college town like? Weigh in below!

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Comments

[Snakefeather]

07:38 PM on 02/09/2012

I live in New London, CT, and I used to live in Storrs, CT, home of UConn. Let me tell you, New London is way better for college aged people. Hands down. Who came up with this list and what are the criteria for "least awesome"?

[intranautt]

01:20 AM on 02/08/2012

Since there may be some inclination that it's all the baby boomers fault, I would not be surprise if many students feel a bit awkward with higher tuition and some classes eliminated. I'd feel awkward,too. Newt, thanks for paying your fair share; if others follow, maybe this awkwardness will diminish.

[LCND]

10:03 AM on 02/04/2012

They left off New Haven. Guess they were afraid to upset the Yalies.

[casaverde100]

01:06 AM on 01/30/2012

Hofstra is not in a great area as the campus is next to an area with high crime rates and poverty. However, the campus itself it beautiful, and it is close access to NYC, beaches, movies, restaurants, parks, and malls. The reason it doesn't have a college town is because it located in a suburban area. However, it's a big enough campus that I'm sure students at the school find plenty of activities to keep them busy. Also, I read a few comments about how college is about getting an education and studying. However, the social aspect is just as important to complete your whole experience. I managed to graduate college with honors, made dean's list, and was a member of an honor society. However, I also went out on the weekends to bars, volunteered in my spare time, and worked. College is all about knowing how to do TIME MANAGEMENT. If a student has that down pact any college they attends they will learn how to make the best experience from it despite it location.

[hwnorton12]

01:23 PM on 01/29/2012

Why doesn't the Princeton Review ever add to the reviews and tell us WHY these colleges are on a particular list? Those of us in the midst of the college selection process with our kids would really appreciate more details.

[casaverde100]

01:17 AM on 01/30/2012

Your best bet is visiting the colleges your child is interested in and taking tours of the campus. Also, research the colleges online or in college review books. Also, speak to your child guidance counselor to help you in the process. Also, in order to choose the right school for your child you need to determine a few factors. The following factors are important; size of school-(small, med, or large), location-(urban, suburban, rural), majors that might interest them, cost-how much and do they offer financial aid, campus life-(is it a party school, a commuter college, check out campus center, do they offer a lot of activities, library, dorms)..It important to attend college fairs and visit campus when students are at the school. http://www.collegeboard.com/student/csearch/ use this site to help narrow down colleges and they start the college selection process. Hope this information has helped you out..I helped out over 400 students with the college selection process while doing an internship in a guidance office.

[hwnorton12]

07:20 AM on 01/30/2012

Thanks for the comment. We have, of course,done all of the above as all families should. To reiterate our point, Princeton Review puts out this information and gives no facts to back them up. They need to provide the reasons that they have chosen these colleges for that particular list. Without facts, the list is useless.

[The Cupcake Kid]

10:49 AM on 01/29/2012

Hofstra University truly does not exist in a 'college town' so to even include it on this list is foolish. Hofstra University is part of the suburban sprawl and mall environment on Long Island, NY. I grew up there and my sister attended Hofstra.

[bynddrvn5]

02:40 PM on 01/28/2012

How did University of Southern California escape this list? The campus is located near South Los Angeles and it is NOT a place you want to be after dark.

Not sure how they came up with this list; although, it appears that they are looking at economic circumstance and not crime statistics. For example, Bates is located in an a poor area but the area is well below the US average for almost every crime statistic: http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Lewiston-Maine.html

[lowlypawn]

12:26 PM on 01/27/2012

When I was applying for colleges I took a trip to Maine to visit Bates and Bowdoin. After seeing the endless strip of gun shops and pawn shops in downtown Lewistown I scratched Bates off the list of schools to apply to.

[Conman24]

11:57 AM on 01/27/2012

After going to school in both Notre Dame, Indiana and Meadville, Pennsylvania I can honestly say that Meadville is by far a million times worse. I transferred from Allegheny because Meadville was by far the most depressing place I have ever been to. The town is absolutely impoverished economically, and the town offers nothing for its students. On top of that, it is 3 hours away from any big city. Notre Dame and the greater South Bend area offers way more things to do for its students along with the fact it is a short hour and a half drive to Chicago.

[jME]

06:09 PM on 01/25/2012

All you need to do is spend 5 minutes in Lewiston, Maine, and you'll know why Bates is on the list!!
It is an oasis in the armpit of Maine!

[AdvocateBetterJournalism]

11:01 AM on 01/25/2012

This article is an insult to every educated person, and future student, in America. This is nothing more than tabloid-supermarket journalism. There is no supporting premises for the argument regarding the "10 worst" colleges in America. I read the Princeton Review 2012 edition which distinguishes the 376 "best" colleges in America. What the Princeton Review does NOT do is slant its piece toward the "10 worst." This Huff piece (or put in a more accurate light - a puff piece) is ranked with some of the "worst" journalism in America. Hey, Huff - where is the source material for this article? What is it EXACTLY that constitutes the "worst" colleges? All I see is top-ranked schools being disparaged due to sports programs and local eateries. Get your act together, Huff. No one wants to read this kind of vile crap. If you're going rank yourself in the realm of genuine print journalism, you're simply going to have to do better.

[Teri Reed Davis]

09:38 AM on 02/08/2012

Am I missing something? The title I see says "Worst College TOWNS". That has nothing to do with the quality of the school.

[kellyvanrijn]

09:44 PM on 01/24/2012

They forgot Ann Arbor. Packed with nothing but ugly libs.

[lowlypawn]

12:29 PM on 01/27/2012

Wonder why some of the best educated people in the country happen to be liberals? hmm...
You have to be able to have a certain type of tunnel vision to be a good conservative, liberals tend to see things as more of a spectrum of greys than black and white.

[kellyvanrijn]

09:44 PM on 01/27/2012

And therein lies the rub. For there are issues that are black and white- things like morality, integrity, honor. For libs, it has always been a slippery slope into the gutter, and they justify their slide by espousing the same logic you just did.

[pjlim]

08:14 PM on 01/24/2012

Cannot believe that Colgate failed to make the list.........a terrific school with nothing but cornfields as far as one can see.....in every direction. And that's it. Now this was several years ago. There was a coffee shoppe that closed at 6PM. Other than that....nothing.

[Frank Distefano]

05:38 PM on 01/24/2012

a better article would have explained why the locations are not nice. i live near newark, nj, but know little about the other locations.

[vikkiB]

10:50 PM on 01/24/2012

Absolutely! I'd also like to know the reasoning behind why the locations are not nice.

[lowlypawn]

12:28 PM on 01/27/2012

Newark is NOT the worst big city in the Northeast, not even in NJ (that would go to Camden probably with Trenton a close second...), there's good brazillian food, a nice central library, and if nothing else you're REALLY close to NYC.

[baron1980]

05:27 PM on 01/24/2012

Pure crap. These are good or great schools, why subjectively grade the geography and simultaneously impugn the schools?