For many college students, it’s tough to imagine life after college when they’re cramming for exams and cranking out research papers. Yet the time does come when they’ll venture into the “real world” with their degrees.

Before graduation rolls around, college students often find themselves wondering where to start their after-school journeys. To help with this homework, real estate website Point2 has developed a list of the best places for life after college, and Fort Worth ropes the No. 5 ranking.

Poor Dallas is way down the list, barely registering at No. 21.

Austin — home of the University of Texas — comes in at No. 1.

The website looked at an array of factors to come up with its ranking, such as population growth, business growth, median age, household income growth, poverty rate, and housing availability and prices.

Point2 considered only the 86 places that host the country’s 100 most successful colleges and universities, as rated by U.S. News & World Report.

Fort Worth — of course, home to prestigious Texas Christian University, Texas Wesleyan, and Tarrant County College — was noted in Point2's study among America’s top 10 most dynamic college towns in terms of population growth (no secret everyone's moving here!), change in business establishments, and building permits.

Plus, anyone who's tailgated or sat in the stands at a TCU football game knows Fort Worth comes out in droves to cheer for its hometown Horned Frogs.

Other Texas communities on the list are:

• No. 17 College Station, home of Texas A&M University.
• No. 24 Waco, home of Baylor University.
• No. 33 Houston, home of Rice University.

“While education and innovation keep these educational institutions on the map, it’s the economic and social conditions in the city that convince students to pursue a career and build a life in their college town. That’s why household incomes, home prices, the number of businesses and startups, and even the city’s poverty rates weigh heavy,” Point2 says.