@awesomepolyglot S19 LOVED Rice but he’s completely done w/ the hot/steamy climate. He wants snow!!
Haverford was really beautiful. I believe it’s an actual arboretum.
My S17 commented that there were more squirrels than students. Took it off his list.
Silly boy.
Of the ones I’ve visited: Berkeley, Stanford, UCSB, UCSD, CU-Boulder, Univ. of Denver, Colorado College, Boston University, Boston College, MIT, Northeastern, Wellesley, Harvard, Tufts, NEC, UPenn, Princeton,
Wellesley and Princeton were the most impressionable…
UCSD, what a waste of the beautiful surroundings…
@SwimmingDad. Oh boy, someone finally admitted Princeton NJ is boring.
I’m just going to add a thought. Nine years ago we visited a suburban Boston college that had good bones but was poorly maintained. Rough landscaping, peeling paint and worse. Just recently visited for another reason and it was lovely +++. They had put in the effort to both upgrade and add outside art, made common areas attractive and comfortable, etc. Shows old impressions can change.
I cannot believe University of Soutnern California did not break the top 50.
I went to grad school at WUSTL. Perhaps they have less parking lots now. I never perceived it as beautiful.
We saw science labs straight out of the 60’s on our tour of Wellesley. Are these ratings only on the exterior of the buildings?
Lewis and Clark, Point Loma, Pepperdine and University of Washington get my vote albeit I have not really seen any east coast campuses that are probably stunning as well.
Agree with Lewis & Clark! Others I have visited, no special order after Sewanee and Bryn Mawr, my 2 favorites…
Sewanee
Bryn Mawr
Swarthmore
Haverford
University of San Diego (wow-like a resort).
Davidson
Wake Forest
Emory
Vanderbilt
Southwestern University (TX) (hidden LAC gem)
We visited a lot of schools on both coasts. We visited Lehigh but it doesn’t stand out in my mind. I think Pepperdine has great views but the school itself isn’t attractive. Same with UC Santa Barbara.
A school. It visited by a lot of CCers is University of the Pacific. I think it’s one of the prettiest campuses we visited. The town of Stockton not so pretty.
I really was impressed by the University of Richmond.
My older daughter who attended Vanderbilt, also lovely, told her sister she was attending a “fairy tale college”.
The mist on the lake in the morning is breathtaking.
I loved the architecture at Stanford and the white buildings at BC are also great, but Cornell was by far the most beautiful campus I have been to, especially the lawn. Possibly because it was a picture perfect summer day when I went and there were few students to mess up the lawn.
@dragonmom3 I agree the University of Richmond should get more notice on rankings like Architectural Digest. I rarely see it listed and it is better than many listed, particularly if the entire campus is taken into account rather than just the postcard shot locations.
I haven’t visited, but a bunch of people RAVE about how beautiful Iowa State’s campus is.
I have visited Iowa State & was not impressed. The University of Iowa has a much more attractive & interesting (a river runs through it) campus, in my opinion.
@ps1kd, a million years ago, when I was choosing between Bryn Mawr and Cornell, I arrived for my visit in a total blizzard and could not even see the campus! That was enough for me lol. I wish I had seen it in the summer!
Visit at Cornell, I mean ^^^.
I liked William and Mary’s campus, though I thought its buildings simply wonderfully traditional and clean, with a nice strollable sprawl. Not necessarily beautiful.
I did love Princeton’s campus. Of course, the rows of blooming yellow bushes in spring at the long entrance set the scene.
St. Lawrence University - really pretty IMO. University of New Hampshire - Durham is beautiful as is the surrounding area. Campus has the pretty red brick buildings. Marist College in downstate NY is all very attractive if you like the stone buildings. Their dining hall and library are also gorgeous inside.
Lesser known colleges - Hartwick College in Oneonta NY is very pretty especially during fall foliage. New England College in Henniker, NH has a beautiful covered bridge on campus as well as a stone bridge over a river. Pretty.
^^ The architecture of Princeton and William & Mary is quite different, and Princeton has much more elaborate buildings, but I find similarities between them in that you start your visit on one part and then you notice something there that leads you to a new space with some different characteristics, and from there you find another. It makes for a nice stroll.
Of course, all US campuses pale in comparison to the Oxford scenes I see on British detective series.
@websensation LOL. If Doc Martin was filmed on a college campus, that would be my favorite.