One of the best ways is to avoid high-crime areas whenever possible.

Avoiding a crime-ridden school gives you a tremendous "leg up" in personal safety. After, all you're going to spend most of your time there.

The link below shows you the level of criminal activity at numerous U.S. universities and university communities.

Check out your prospective schools or get the bad news about where you currently study.

Note that forcible sex offences are very underreported in the United States. If you note some activity at a school, there is probably more.

In fairness, expect universities in cosmopolitan metropolitan areas to have more crime.

If you seek an urban learning experience in Canada or the U.S., you must decide the level of personal safety risk that you wish to tolerate

You must also take extra safety measures each day.

The U.S. Department of Education
Post Secondary Education Security Statistics Website
(http://www.ope.ed.gov/Security/)

This shows extensive crime information for U.S. universities broken down by criminal offences, hate crimes, and arrests.

Be sure to focus on violent activity. That is what puts you in the hospital—or in a grave.

The data contains some surprises.

For example, the campus of the University of Southern California, located in a poor area of South Central Los Angeles, offers a safer environment than the campus of the University of California at Los Angeles across town.

Yet, UCLA adjoins Bel-Air, one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in the world.

Be sure to check Knowing how to be safe, Dr. Voyageur's guide to personal safety in Canada and the U.S.

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