@WilliamNYC Yes! We hated Villanova! It either felt like a monastery, or like a military post (rundown, 70’s buildings). Crossed it right off the list.
San Jose State was a disappointment. The campus is absolutely square (1/2 mile X 1/2 mile I’d estimate). Many of the high tech courses are offered in buildings nearly 100 years old. Worst of all are the bums surrounding the camps. Like beached seals they are laying around everywhere, a few are yelling hysterically at anyone and no one.
@STEMteacher , I find it offensive that you are calling homeless people bums, and comparing them to beached seals. While I understand you may not want your college kid exposed to “them,” a little compassion goes a long way. As does in the way you describe “them.”
Lexington gets busy when students and tourists are around. Nice little town to visit. We drive an hour up to shop and eat at the Southern.
@cleoforshort could you describe what you mean by Princeton feeling “soulless”?
Reminded me of the story my grandmother told me years ago. As a child, in the 20’s my father refused to eat unless his favorite song was played on the record player.
“Why don’t you work like other folks do?
How the hell can I work when there’s no work to do?
Refrain
Hallelujah, I’m a bum,
Hallelujah, bum again,
Hallelujah, give us a handout
To revive us again.
Oh, why don’t you save all the money you earn?
If I didn’t eat, I’d have money to burn.
Whenever I get all the money I earn,
The boss will be broke, and to work he must turn.
Oh, I like my boss, he’s a good friend of mine,
That’s why I am starving out on the bread line.
When springtime it comes, oh, won’t we have fun;
We’ll throw off our jobs, and go on the bum.”
Princeton may have some feeling of cookie cutter students with great resumes, great travel, great prep schools, great summer vacations and almost Stepford students.
That doesn’t t really describe the P’ton kids we know. The borough of Princeton is almost too perfect, and, like Harvard Square, Nassau St is almost always crowded with tourists.
Really? I’ve driven by Princeton NJ several times and it never occurred to me to stop and see anything there, even the college (and as a years long CC member, obviously I find college visits more interesting than the average person).
I’ve been to Harvard Square but not to see Harvard - it’s in the middle of a great neighborhood in a great city, and happened to be having a major street fair on my last visit.
I am just shocked that tourists have Princeton on their radar, unless they’re visiting the university with a potential student.
Seriously, what else is in Princeton to see? What’s even in that town to see?
Any tourist activity in the town is just related to the university. Princeton township and Princeton borough each have a population around only 13K so the university does create a little hustle and bustle in the part of the town adjacent to campus but I’ve personally never found it overwhelming.
Any given weekend on Nassau St, there are crowds of visitors in town. Many are, presumably, visiting campus, and then hit the shops. Princeton University does have superb art museum and the McCarter theater which may be running shows gearing up for NYC runs, so there is lots which would bring people into town beyond college visits.
Don’t see the point of “debating” about Nassau St or Massachusetts Ave or anything since we all have different eyes and subjective minds. While at Harvard as a grad student, Harvard Square was something I tolerated for its role as a tourist attraction. Nassau St has its own tourist charm and Telegraph Ave has its own, as well. If you’re asking what’s at Princeton other than the campus, then you don’t know anything about the Battle of Princeton and its critical role in the American Revolutionary War. In fact, Princeton was the capital of the early United States and Nassau Hall hosted the entire American government at that time. As a bit of history enthusiast, I enjoy digging into the location’s past. When at Harvard, I enjoyed escaping to Concord and Lexington not only to visit its Revolutionary past but also the homes of Emerson, Alcott, Thoreau, etc. The next time I visit Princeton, I plan to visit the Einstein House on Mercer St. Princeton also has a fascinating history of its role in the brain drain of prominent scientists of Europe at the time.
Well @TiggerDad you have a kid going to school there. I’ve explored the area around Amherst a lot, but that’s because I frequently find myself there. My point was, and is, it’s very difficult for me to imagine tourists going out of their way to see the sights of Princeton (historically important as they may be), while Boston is a major tourist destination in its own right,and that trickles out to Cambridge for reasons unrelated to the universities there. I suspect the universities are also a draw, of course.
@Midwestmomofboys description of the street (and the reason for visits) makes more sense to me.
@OHMomof2 - I see what you’re getting at now. Sure, I wouldn’t visit Princeton just based on its history if I have no other reasons to visit the town, unless I happen to visit NY or Philly and have enough leisurely time to stop by for a quick look. But that pretty much depicts the vast majority of schools. Stanford, for example. What’s to see in Palo Alto? In this sense, schools like Harvard, Columbia, Berkeley, etc. have an advantage for visitors.
By the way, I’d add to @Midwestmomofboys description, the Lewis Center for the Arts which opened recently. It was under construction the last time I visited Princeton, so that’s on my list for my next visit.
And Princeton “soulless”? Considering that Einstein chose it over CalTech as his permanent home, it must be a proof that there’s no such a thing as “soul.” 
You’re right @TiggerDad , but my son always talks about the large number of “tourists” walking around Stanford on any given day. Not on tours mind you, just walking around taking pictures.
Princeton has decent number of good places to eat, so I go there every so often with some friends when we get together. We’re not tourists (friend lives in next town over), we’re just there to eat, walk around to hang out. No different than going to Red Bank or Morristown really…
Stanford is a relatively easy swing-by visit, a bargain package that includes Berkeley and San Francisco. That’s what we did.
I never liked the Stepford Colleges. Perfect and manicured :-& .
@Rivet2000 - that’s because Stanford is a stunning campus with a ton of public art (over 75 sculptures, including the largest collection of Rodins after the Rodin Museum in Paris, lovely fountains, two art museums, etc.)
@LoveTheBard I’m not familiar with Stanford’s Rodin collection, but the Rodin Museum in Philly describes that it has the largest collection of Rodin outside of Paris . . . .