Quiz: What Kind of College Town Is Right for You?

Should you go urban or rural? Far from home or nearby? There are lots of factors to consider. This advice and quiz might help you figure things out.

Should you go urban or rural? Far from home or nearby? There are lots of factors to consider—and only you can tell what's truly right for you. But the advice and quiz below might help you figure things out!

Breaking down college towns

Imagine you're in a shoe store. A hundred pairs are neatly laid out before you, but you can only choose one. You’re not going to pick the first pair that fits your feet and your budget, right? Of course not! You’re going to pick the pair that fits your feet, your budget, your style, your personality, and, perhaps most importantly, the pair that feels most comfortable. A pair you could see yourself wearing for, say, four to six years...

Okay, that time frame may be stretching it for a pair of shoes, but the same basic shopping principles also apply to choosing your college. Yes, it is important to know whether you can get in and whether you can afford a university, but there is another important factor to consider: the city or town in which it is located. Picking a school with just the right fit can have a tremendous influence over the quality of the college experience—for better or for worse.

It’s important for you to be totally honest with yourself when weighing the pros and cons of individual cities and towns. You may be eager to move to an environment that is far different from your high school situation, but if you have never visited a big city, are you ready to attend a college in the middle of the bustling Big Apple? Conversely, if you have lived your whole life riding city buses to school, can you comfortably live in a town where the trees are taller than the buildings?

Make the right choice, and you’ll be living the dream: college will be some of the best years of your life. Make the wrong choice, and you run the risk of struggling socially and academically as you lack the support you never realized you needed.

Thankfully, the solution is straightforward: visit the campuses of your favorite schools, and spend the night if you can. If one of your favorite schools is too far away to visit, do your research online and consider visiting a similar university closer to home that could offer some insights into what life would be like at your far-flung school of interest.

Then really get to know (through online research or in person) the surrounding areas. Check out the towns these universities inhabit. Are there ample opportunities for employment, both as a student intern or part-time worker and after you graduate? (Would you want to stick around the area after you graduate anyway?) Does the city have a decent arts and culture scene with stuff to do in your free time? What outdoor adventuring opportunities are there? How do students get around? What’s the relationship like between the town’s full-time residents and your potential college? Is there decent late-night pizza?

These are challenging questions to ask of yourself, but they could make all the difference in your college experience. And when you do make your choice, don’t forget to pack some comfortable shoes.

Take the college town quiz!

Where should you go to school? In making a decision, you should take more into account than the college itself. Think outside the campus. This quiz isn’t exactly scientific, but it should help you determine whether the cities and towns in which your favorite schools are located fit you. Let’s find out!

1. When I picture my classmates in college, I see...

A. Random people sitting at desks around me. There is too much to do outside of class to spend even more time with these people.
B. My go-to study mates and friends for life. These people are totally going to be invited to my wedding!
C. A couple of people I know, but most of my friends from the residence halls are in other classes.

2. I’m serious about school and earning my degree, but if I’m honest with myself, when it comes to distractions, I...

A. Can control my impulses. Beyoncé was sighted down the street? No biggie. I’ve got to study for a final in the morning.
B. May be easily led astray. Hey, did anyone else just hear an ice cream truck?!
C. Know when I can have fun and when I need to buckle down and be serious about my studies.

3. When I take a walk off campus, I want to...

A. Get lost in the crowd.
B. I don’t understand the question. Why would I ever leave campus?
C. See my university’s logo on flags hanging off every house on the block.

4. When I want to blow off some steam, I like to...

A. Hop on the subway to attend every street festival and art gallery opening that I can find.
B. Get out in the wilderness. Anyone got a bike I can borrow?
C. Watch football. In a stadium. With 100,000 of my closest friends. Go team!

5. When I’m trying to go to sleep, I want to hear...

A. Buses honking, nightclubs thumping, and streetlights buzzing. I want to know I’m surrounded by humanity and that it’s just on the other side of my door.
B. Absolutely nothing. Fine, maybe some crickets, but those crickets better keep it down after 11:00 p.m.
C. No buses and no sirens, but I’d like a bustling dorm. What’s life in college without hearing intellectuals argue at midnight about which of Franz Kafka’s books is his masterpiece?

Your results

If you chose mostly A’s: Hello, big city! You yearn for a college experience where there are four major museums within a 20-minute bus ride and you can study at diners that stay open—and are packed with customers from all over the world—until 4:00 a.m.

If you chose mostly B’s: It looks like you are interested in a rural college experience, far from the distractions of the big city and the traditional college town. By the time you graduate, you will know the middle names and birthdays of everyone in your graduating class.

If you chose mostly C’s: You appear to be cut out for the classic "college town" experience, where there is more to the city than your university—but just about everything revolves around your school. Are you going to Saturday’s big game? See you there!

Want more fun quizzes? Explore them all now!

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Join Now

Join our community of
over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Join CollegeXpress
Fabiola Rodriguez

Fabiola Rodriguez

High School Class of 2022

CollegeXpress helped me on my journey to get to the school of my first choice by showing me all the options I have. I didn’t know of the College of Southern Nevada until I went on this website, and it helped me look for other choices and compare what colleges would be right for me.

Leah Maciel

Leah Maciel

High School Class of 2021

CollegeXpress has helped me with all aspects of applying for college. The website is extremely easy to navigate and gives access to so many resources. I was able to research all of the colleges I was interested in, find out any information I wished to know about, and keep them organized in a list. I've also been able to research scholarships and save them as resources for later. I've used many websites in my college and scholarship search, and CollegeXpress has by far been my favorite one to use.

Keydi Banegas

Keydi Banegas

Scholarship for Students of Color Winner, Class of 2022

CollegeXpress is a great application that helped me search for many different scholarships, and it narrows the scholarships depending on how you set your profile. Not only that, but it helps you choose different colleges to apply to by finding matches through the description of your profile. It was the best experience for me.

Lexie Knutson

Lexie Knutson

High School Class of 2021

This whole website has helped me overcome the attitude I had before. I was scared to even approach the thought of college because it was so much. I knew it wasn’t just a few easy steps, and I panicked mostly, instead of actually trying. Without realizing it, CollegeXpress did exactly what I usually do when I panic, which is take it one step at a time. With college I forget that because it’s more than just a small to-do list, but this website was really helpful and overall amazing. So thank you!

Rana Slosberg

Rana Slosberg

Slosberg College Solutions LLC

My favorite part of CollegeXpress is the 800+ lists which have all kinds of hard-to-find information. These lists are helpful when I’m creating college lists, and I also use them to give students a feel for a particular college or university.

College Matches
X

Colleges You May Be Interested In

Colorado State University

Fort Collins, CO

Pace University - Westchester

Pleasantville, NY

Samford University

Birmingham, AL

New York University - Abu Dhabi Campus

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates