<p>I honestly don't think the high rises are that ugly on the outside, particularly at night. All lit up, they have a certain attractive glow. I really dislike them on the inside, though.</p>
<p>My least favorite block is 34th to 36th on Walnut. You've got the ugly side of the design school, the ugly side of van pelt, the ugly offices above dunkin donuts, and the ugly franklin building. Locust walk and college green are so close on one side, and then the row along sansom (new deck, white dog) and the law school are so close on the other.</p>
<p>People seem to comment on buildings a lot but to me, architecture is only part of the equation. I don't find Northwestern's architecture particularly beautiful or impressive (though some of them are nice) but the beach, the lagoon, and the Lake are more than enough to compensate. I also like their open space and how their buildings aren't so densely packed together like some other schools. Northwesten is lucky to have the help from mother nature. Overall, I like that campus even more than Stanford campus which impressed me a lot initially but bored me after one quarter. To me, buildings are static and they get boring after a while. So what about the general scenary of the Penn campus?</p>
<p>Given Penn is urban and space is at a premium, I think it's a beautiful campus. Princeton and Yale are my favorite ivies...I'd honestly put Penn or Cornell next. Much above Columbia imo which is kind of small. I think Harvard and Brown are just OK. I expected more, esp from H. Also don't get the Dartmouth thing, why everyone thinks it's so gorgeous. Nephew just graduated Dart, played a sport, so I visited often. Just nice red brick (and some white painted brick) buildings, nothing outstanding or awe-inspiring...kind of a less attractive Wm and Mary. I think Penn's much nicer.</p>
<p>i really dislike the campus...too much traffic, too urban, Philly is kind of a dirty city, and some of the security people are really starting to creep me out. Given i'm from the middle-of-nowhere Idaho and i'm a little out of my league here i'm just not impressed with the scenery or the location.</p>
<p>^That's not such bad advice. A relative of mine went to the University of Chicago from a small town in the Midwest. He never felt comfortable there in all four years (more his problem than the university's). Then he went to grad school at Cornell, and loved the campus and Ithaca so much he could hardly bear to leave. There's definitely a different mix of qualities in the environments of Penn and Cornell. Some people would thrive at either equally well, but for others the differences will really make a difference . . . either way.</p>