Home of the frozen margarita machine, five professional sports teams, 24 Fortune 500 companies, the largest urban arts district in the United States and an average minimum temperature of 55 degrees Fahrenheit, there is very little one cannot find in Dallas.
This said, it is not surprising that SMU, located in the heart of Dallas, was named one of the 10 best college towns according to the Princeton Review List’s rankings reported in August 2011. Other universities who are housed in the top 10 college towns include Columbia University, Georgetown University, Tulane University and New York University.
The Huffington Post college area ran these rankings on its site early this year on Jan. 13 in the Internet newspaper.
The fourth largest metropolitan area and the ninth-largest city in the nation, Dallas is a centrally located city that attracts 55 percent of SMU’s student population from outside the state of Texas.
Students flock from 50 states and approximately 90 foreign countries. While SMU’s students bring diverse ethnic, economic and religious backgrounds, these students are attracted to the variety of opportunities offered to them at SMU and the many advantages that come with being located in Dallas.
“SMU making No. 8 spot on the ‘Great College Town’ ranking is not a reflection of the Princeton Review’s opinion of Dallas but of the high regard SMU students (who were surveyed by The Princeton Review for this project) have for Dallas,” Jeanne Krier, publicist for Princeton Review Books and Rankings, said.
Krier said the survey simply asked, “What best describes the city or town where your school is located?” and the answer ranges on a five-point scale from “I can’t wait to leave” to “I could live here forever.”
“You have to reach out and experience the culture of Dallas, because then you experience you,” Jacob Stewart a SMU theater major from St. Petersburg, Fla said.
SMU brings the best of both worlds to its students who are offered a beautiful campus surrounded by a safe family friendly neighborhood just miles away from a metropolitan city with a sophisticated flare.
“The friendly environment gives SMU an overall essential campus vibe that everyone looks for in a college,” Meghan Garlich, SMU senior from St. Louis, said.
Not only is Dallas an up-and-coming city, but it also is one of the wealthiest cities in America.
With more places to eat per capita than New York City, Snider Plaza, Highland Park Village, Downtown, Uptown and Deep Ellum give students a different place to eat every night. Not to mention the substantial interest in fashion that stems from the many high profile shops and malls that can be found throughout Dallas.
To top it off, Dallas’s large corporations and businesses give SMU’s students an overwhelming amount of internship and job opportunities.
Karen Drennan, director of marketing and communications for SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, said, “Working in Dallas has made my job a lot easier.”
“Dallas is truly a city on the make, and it has so much going on with regard to innovative development and the investment and relocation of corporate headquarters, it creates the perfect storm,” Drennan said.
Drennan described her purpose as a strategist for the school’s messaging, by finding the connection for what is happening externally with the school.
She works with other schools at SMU including the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering and the Cox School of Business, because like many staff and faculty at SMU she believes the market is broad and students must be interdisciplinary rather than narrowly focused.
“SMU is in a can-do city that has not seen a goal it cannot meet,” Drennan said.
Moreover, it is the duality of the town that puts SMU in the top 10 according to Tommy Newton, director of undergraduate recruitment for Meadows School of the Arts.
Newton does not sell SMU but rather he shares with prospective students as much as he can about the campus and the town so they can figure out if SMU is the right fit for them.
While Newton said he does not put a lot of stock into rankings, he believe SMU has a town that should be ranked greater than the eighth best.
“In the SMU bubble we have a secure area and within walking distance we are a college town where you can get a spray tan, the best cookies from JD’s, the best barbeque from Peggy Sue’s and get your laundry done by Mustang Laundry,” Newton said.
If students stay in the bubble they choose to stay in the college town.
However, the second part of the duality is the major metropolitan area that offers students no disadvantages.
Students can chose to leave the bubble or stay in the bubble but either way the opportunities, variety and diversity are still there for students to pursue and take in.
“Dallas is Dallas; it is not built around SMU. It is not a place specifically geared towards college students. It is a city where you have to communicate with the world,” Alyssa Hanedi, an SMU sophomore theater major from Kansas, said.
Dallas is strong in an array of areas; however, it is not known too well for one specific area.
It is the eclectic mix that offers SMU’s students an opportunity to ultimately find what they want to become through their experiences.
