I have a bit of a problem. I am trying to decide betweeen Bradley and another private school, and although Bradley is cheaper (I can probably graduate without loans, not the case at the other school), has a good program for my major, and features the best Collegiate Speech Team in the US (I am president of my schools team and want to join), the campus just doesn’t feel right. I can’t explain it, but whenever I’m on campus, I don’t feel any excitement or joy. I think it may be because of the dreary design of the buildings in campus. What should I do? Do you think the feeling will fade if I go there and get used to the campus?
The excitement should not come from the buildings, etc. but from the people. Are these kids you can see yourself hanging out with? Are these professors that can push you? Base it on the people. The pretty dorms and great gyms are all meaningless unless you like the people that are in them. Think long and hard about that. I made the mistake (30 plus years ago) of ignoring the weird vibe I got on a campus and went anyways. Ended up transferring and my final school (University of Pennsylvania) was a perfect fit…I like to say I never worked harder/learned more in my life AND I never had more fun. THAT is what college should be. Best of luck!
Did you end up going to Bradley? Do you like it there? 
Love to know what you decided or any one else’s thoughts.
We also visited Bradley and something just felt off to us as well, but I can’t pinpoint what.
We’ve visited a few times. I think part of the campus feel is that it’s a city campus. They could probably do a little more with the campus to give it a more consistent look. I think the new engineering and business buildings will upgrade the campus feel. I have several friends that attended Bradley and really enjoyed it.
I felt that way more about Drake than Bradley. My family members who went to Bradley really liked it also.