What are some unique/interesting colleges?

Where do I begin to look for colleges and where to go? Can anyone tell me about the colleges in Nashville?

• Well, I know I still have an entire summer to spend on it, I've decided to try to look into colleges a bit more now. Only problem is that I don't know where to begin. I know I want to go to a college in state. Well, not really. I've decided that I (kinda) want to go to college in Nashville. I've always imagined that when I would be on my own, I would be living in a big city filled with things to do and people to meet and things to see. With Nashville, TN being about a little more than a 2 hour drive from my home (I live in West Tennessee) and being, more or less, the biggest city in the state, the music capital of the country and the capital city of Tennessee, I figured that Nashville would be the best choice. However, there are other great places in the country, and I'm not fond of driving for a long time anyways (I don't even have a license yet at the age of 16), and I've read (on MSN, so I don't know how legit the info is) that Nashville is the 2nd least safe city in the country, so now I'm re-thinking it. There's Memphis, but I'm pretty sure that at least in the past, Memphis was an even MORE dangerous city that actually set a record for it's crime rates. From what I've seen, Nashville has some great colleges, but a friend of mine told me that there actually was some shootings at some of the colleges nearly a month ago, and I don't know a whole lot about what the colleges themselves are like. I don't even know what to expect when I go to college, which makes it a bit harder to decide. I could look on the websites of the colleges, but I don't even know which to start with and whether if it's enough information, so I keep getting lazy about it and keep putting it off. I've read that if I plan on moving out of state to go to college and especially out of the country, it will be much more expensive and that because of the college expenses and travel expenses, the travel time and the fact that airports are a nightmare (so I hear), I wouldn't have a lot of money left over and I would only get to see my family on holidays or only on a selected few days of the year. With the way Tennessee and the rest of the country is (I'm. Not exactly proud of being an American), If I was more okay with being far away from my family, had a better perception of financing, travelling costs and what travelling, going to a different country and becoming a citizen of said country would be like, I would move to a different state for college or even a different country. Maybe Canada. Canada seems like a nice country to live in, but I feel like I should read up on it before saying that. Also, my original plan was to go to one college in state for a few years, and after getting used to being on my own and completing the 4-year college thing (or was it 2-year?), if I still am not satisfied with where I am now, I would then move to a different state or country and finish college there. On the other hand, I remember someone telling me that wherever I plan on living for most of my adult life if not all of it, I should go to college there, and I don't think I want to live in the US for the rest of my life, assuming it doesn't collapse during my lifetime. So, my questions are these: Where do I begin to look for colleges? Is it really that much more trouble to move to a different state or country for colleges? Can anyone tell me what colleges in Nashville are like? Can anyone tell me what Toronto or some other city in Canada and it's colleges are like? Should I try and stay in one place for the most part? I'm pretty sure there are some other questions I should ask but can't think of right now, so if there's anything that you feel you should tell me whether I asked for info on it or not, please tell me.

• Answer:

  Man, that is one long question. Nashville is not dangerous if you don't go into bad areas, and it is certainly better than Memphis. Yes, there was a shooting on a college campus, but it was between two people who knew each other. It isn't like a deranged gunman is loose. You will find crime on every college campus, but it is usually minor stuff like thefts. Many college campuses are right in the heart of cities -- they are not in isolated locations surrounded by high fences -- so they have people coming and going who might not belong there. If you are looking to save money, go to a college in-state. Out-of-state tuition is much higher, and tuition for international students even more than that. Do yourself and your parents a big favor, and stick to in-state schools. Don't go into huge debt for college. You can choose where you want to live after you graduate. You should talk with your guidance counselor about which colleges to look at based on your plans and possible major. The only state university in Nashville is Tennessee State University. The others are private universities like Vanderbilt, Lipscomb, and Belmont.