campus community vs. commuter schools?

Rhyme is 100% right with the commuter school thing. I think that from visiting schools and talking with students everyone forms great bonds so even the "commuter" schools arent going to really make a huge difference. There are a few advantages for what would be considered campus schools over commuter schools and none have anything to do with making bonds. You will spend lots of time at the school no matter where you head but schools where people live in a small section of a city/town and walk to the campus do have a few advantages.

From what I learned the campus schools do have the advantage for people with families or significant others. Its much easier to come and go from the campus, you dont have to take public transportation or drive...a 10 minute walk vs 40 minute car ride is much easier to run back and forth. It also seems that many of the campus schools are the ones that are popular with married or involved students...every school is going to have married people and people bringing significant others but there is something to be said about bringing someone along when you will be living near a lot of other folks who go to school...it gives them an instant network just like it gives you. Obviously this isnt an issue for people who arent moving or for significant others who already know people in the location but if you are moving across the country or around the world for school it can definitely be an advantage for some people.

On your list I would say at the commuter schools would be like Columbia and Chicago a lot of people tend not to live next to the campus because of the neighborhood, some do but a lot live in other areas and will commute to school. At NYU people live away from campus because of cost concerns, its located in one of the most expensive areas of the city.

HBS and MIT are a cross, a lot will live near the campuses but people will live in different neighborhoods but usually it seems that everyone lives reasonably close to campus since Boston is a pretty compact city. So they are pretty much campus schools though people will take the T to get to school.

Duke, Kellogg, Ross, and Tuck I would say are for the most part true campus schools. Most students live within walking distance to the schools and a lot of them live in the same apartment and condo complexes, not in various parts of the city. There are certain buildings that will be known as the places to live if you are students at these schools (well not Tuck really since there arent big complexes in Hanover really but its a tiny town).

I think if you are concerned about not making bonds because you ride a train for 25 minutes each way to get to a school dont worry about that. If you want to live within walking distance of campus, have fellow students as your neighbors, and/or have a significant other who really wants to be involved in the life on campus then you may aim more for "campus" schools. I think what people look for varies and in the end you no matter where you end up you are going to make great friends. You may feel like you fit better at a school that you are going to commute to or you may decide you want to live someplace like Tuck where a lot of students live in a Dorm attached to the building.

River,

How is the community at Kellogg? I have visited Chicago and, from talking to many students, most live in the downtown area with very few in Hyde Park. Just wondered if most K students live in Evanston, or in downtown Chicago. Can you provide some insight here?

Thanks!


~Sam

A majority of Kellogg students live in Evanston. I'm not sure what the exact break down is, maybe river does. Evanston is a gorgeous, affluent community that is situated right on Lake Michigan. It has a college town feeling and politically it is probably the most liberal city in the state of Illinois after Chicago.

During DAK they showed a stat of where people live and it was like 95% in evanston. Unfortunately evanston is a very nice suburb so its pretty expensive, along the lines of the nice sections of Chicago. However, its a very nice suburb so its just that very nice...everyone seems to love it. Its a reasonable train ride into the city so if you are bringing a significant other its a pretty easy commute downtown. Until DAK my wife and I were thinking of living closer to downtown but once we figured out almost everyone lives in evanston and talked to people who didnt, it became clear that you want to live in evanston.

Not only do most people live in Evanston but most live in downtown evanston in a small section. I would say its probably a three or four block by three or four block square. There are half a dozen large buildings that are very popular with students a several smaller buildings that also have a lot of Kellogg students in them. I think that people living so close does add to the community feel at Kellogg. Everyone talks about if you are bored at night and decide to go out you dont need to make plans, just walk to one of the bars or other hang outs and you know you are going to see people you know.

Thanks River! I appreciate the insights! I have been thinking of applying to both K and GSB, but not sure if I will end up applying to both.

Thanks again.

~Sam

Thanks everyone for the insights! From reading your posts and from quite a bit of research on my part, I think I'm looking for a school with a more geographically knit campus - so something like Kellogg where folks live nearby or MIT/Tuck which have dorms...OR! If at schools like GSB, living around other students would be the preference.

Thanks for your help!
AC.

I don't know about MIT, but at HBS more than 50% live on campus (either dorms or on campus apartments) and I'd say that about 90% live within 3 miles of campus. Most of the others typically either had a place in Boston before school and wouldn't move or worked out a commuting compromise with their partners.

L.

I didnt realize it was 50%, I knew there were a lot but not that many. I have know several alums and they said students live in different neighborhoods like back bay, beacon hill, cambridge, the south end...all are very close to the campus though. If you arent from or havent spent time in boston you it might sound like people live all over but those neighborhoods are pretty small and a lot of them are within walking distance of both MIT and HBS.

I didnt mean to give the impression people were far away from the campus. Boston is small, and even if you are a neighborhood or two away from the school its probably only a few T-stops and a short walk away.

There's a relatively new building on campus (dating from the late 90s, early 00s if I'm right) that increased on campus capacity substantially. They also keep renovating dorms, making more efficient use of spaces in them, etc., so on campus capacity keeps growing. Based on the people I know, living outside of Cambridge / Allston is very unusual.

L.

Ah definitely outdated info on my part, I think the most recent grad I know and talked to in depth was early 90s. Having dorms is definitely an advantage in Boston due to the housing costs and competition for nice places near the schools.

I'm thinking of applying to Columbia this fall.
How commuter is Columbia? Do people hang out at campus or do they just leave after classes? Where do students live? Close to each other in certain parts of NY?

From what I hear NYU is totally commuter. Chicago GSB, not so much?

What do you guys say?

Can someone please define for me what commuter school is meant to mean? Depending on how you interpret it really makes a huge difference on how this concept is applied (not that I agree with it, or maybe don't understand why it is meant to be important).

My definition would be:

A school in a city where the students need to commute to school from their homes, where the homes are spread over the city and not concentrated in a few areas. A school where the students do not linger around the campus after classes and hang out in the campus or areas surrounding the campus. A school where the local students mostly hang out with their old network.

Well, in that case I would say that isn't the case at NYU, or likely any school at all. Sure schools in big cities cannot accommodate themselves all in the same place. But even at NYU 25% of the class live in the same building (the Palladium dorms) and concentrate themselves in areas, are always easy to find in a number of bars near school unless they choose not to be (which is easy also!). The building is still busy at 1am at numerous times.

With the old network thing, it happens in part, but people integrate them. I know a lot of people from various parts on NYC life now through friends of friends coming along to drinks. You have to bear in mind how small a percentage of FT students are actually originally from the city in which they study (probably a lot lower than you might expect).

Anyway, I am certain this is the same for all schools - the difference is really between campus schools (where the school dominates the town or city) and the major city schools. There will be a lifestyle difference there, but otherwise you won't experience the kind of atmosphere "commuter" schools are labeled with in any full-time program.

That could totally be true

This factor may be influenced by class size (another thought, a day later). Stern is relatively small (400 per class, compared to 700? at Columbia, 800+ at Wharton) so it feels a lot less a factor. Given you know a larger percentage of the people, you get more coverage of the people in your year.

Anyway, I don't think it is as big a factor as people play into it. With Stern, a majority of people live within easy reach of the school, with others in Brooklyn (though grouped in one or two areas, strangely) and a few where their life decides. With Chicago, a lot of people live away from the Hyde Park area, but I am almost certain that they hang out at school till quite late, and have some clear bars downtown where they meet up.

The number of emails you get for drinks, text messages and whatnot mean that it works out, and the community element exists in the school, relatively strongly as well. Campus communities you may have to pay a little less attention to know where everything is going on. In reality everyone on an MBA program FT wants the social element as well as the schooling, so it is arranged through method.

After giving some though to the subject, my definition on the classification is a little different:

What are the odds of ramdonly running into a person from school you've met only once before? For eg: you meet a person at someone's place at a social gathering. He/she is a 2nd year (therefore no classes in common). You have different interests and backgrounds (therefore no clubs/conferences/sports in common).

a) Do you run into this person several times after your first meeting, giving you the chance to engage in small-talk?
b) Or is it likely that unless you plan specifically to meet you won't see this people outside of rush-hour at the cafeteria?

If the answer is mostly a), then the school is a campus community.
If the answer is mostly b), then the school is a commuter school.

L.