<p>Quick question for those who have visited various Ivies - Brown, Yale, Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, etc.</p>
<p>Which seemed to have the most defined campuses? Had the best layout in terms of quads and the like? After seeing schools like Notre Dame and Northwestern, I'm just curious how the Ivies compare, at least in terms of the feel of the campus - obviously though, no school will have such an enclosed campus as Notre Dame, Northwestern, Stanford, etc.</p>
<p>Having a defined campus isn't a necessity to me - I'm just curious. (and looking at campus maps can't really do justice to the feel of being on campus!)</p>
<p>I have never seen those campuses but from what I know of Princeton sounds more geared to what your looking for. Hopefully someone on here can help you better and share personal experiences.</p>
<p>Many non-Ivies are just as beautiful.I would consider the fit of a student on many categories.Having done the trips with 4 college -bound kids,I feel it is important to look at a variety of schools-urban,rural,large ,small,private and public.</p>
<p>fauxmaven - that’s what I’m hoping to do this year. based on the past few instances where I’ve visited schools, it has REALLY helped me figure out things I want in a college. For instance, visiting Berkeley made me realize, as much as I had convinced myself otherwise beforehand, a big state school (i.e. >4000 per undergrad class) would not be a good fit for me.</p>
<p>Now, I’m trying to figure out if I want a defined, more isolated campus, or more loose campus closer to a city.</p>
<p>In my experiences the college campus itself is much more important then its location unless its location is the campus ex NYU, BU. Seriously though checkout Princeton its close to NYC and Philadelphia, yet has one of the most beautiful and unique campuses.</p>
<p>Why get your heart set on such a tough school to get into? You can find lots of great schools with a beautiful setting ,and have a better chance to get in .The ivies are a crap shoot for most people-why not look at a variety ?My D is at Harvard ,but she had already decided to attend St. Andrews in the UK ,where she would have been perfectly happy .They have rolling admissions,so she knew in October that she had a good choice .She was quite relaxed after that.</p>
<p>All the ivies have distinctive, “well-defined” campuses. Each is different, but they all have them. Of the four you’ve mentioned, here is my thumbnail take-it-FWIW sketch of each one:</p>
<p>Brown - very typical, urban university with quads laid out along a city grid, courtyards inside, a variety of facade styles facing the street.</p>
<p>Yale - similar to Brown but even more pronounced, with a trademark Gothic style to almost everything that wasn’t built after 1960. </p>
<p>Cornell - there’s really nothing else in Ithaca (NY) so, it’s hard to say there isn’t a defined campus.</p>
<p>Dartmouth - ditto with a lot of Colonial-era styling; fewer courtyards, more open space than Yale. </p>
<p>Princeton - not unlike Yale in feel; less densely populated downtown location.</p>
<p>^^^ And actually, Columbia and Penn, though very urban, have well-defined traditional campuses too. Harvard is a little different - it’s not a “bubble” campus nor is it an urban one. There are sections of campus interspersed with the Harvard Square section of the city. If you took the map of Cambridge and highlighted the areas that are part of the Harvard campus, it would probably look like the spots on a giraffe.</p>
<p>We did a campus visit to Northwestern, which I love, but I wouldn’t say that it has a traditional layout. It has no quad or architecturally-defined central point, and the south and north ends of the campus are like two entirely different campuses. While Harvard is segmented, each segment tents to have an open quad, Yard, lawn, courtyard, etc.</p>
<p>The Cornell campus is absolutely beautiful. They even jokingly refer to how “gorges” the campus is, with all its gorges and idyllic scenery.</p>
<p>I live pretty close to Princeton, and I’m not sure why people make such a big deal about the campus. It’s not much more spectacular than a lot of non-ivies. Pretty, but not spectacular.</p>
<p>Cornell is probably the most traditional, but its location makes it the least appealing. For the urbans, I love Penn. Harvard is a disappointment and Yale and Princeton were slightly overated. Princeton is nice though. I wish they would make more of an effort.</p>
<p>I actually really like Notre Dame, Michigan and Boston College campuses more than most of the ivies. BC is doing a Master Plan that will add more buildings in that traditional gothic style, which is why I like Michigan. Notre Dame is a great campus, though at times it feels a little dated (and its in freaking Indiana). I also love Stanford for the west coast. Pepperdine for natural beauty is nice too.</p>
<p>It’s hyperbole to say “there’s really nothing else in Ithaca” besides Cornell. Ithaca is a thriving town of about 30,000 people with a small city feel. (The metropolitan area population is about 100,000. Ithaca’s population is three times that of Hanover, New Hampshire.) There are roughly 100 restaurants in the town, featuring a wide variety of cuisines: [Ithaca</a> Menus: Restaurant Menus for Ithaca Restaurants in Ithaca, NY](<a href=“http://www.ithacamenus.com/]Ithaca”>http://www.ithacamenus.com/)</p>