Looking for college towns with beautiful, contained campuses

Applying to College
1

My daughter visited Miami in Oxford, Ohio and fell in love with the idea of perfectly matching buildings on a medium/large contained campus and a bustling college town. She also had a similar feeling about William and Mary.

We are having a hard time identifying schools that might have a similar feel with the types of lists and search engines that are out there. We’re hoping you could help us identify some other possible fits.

Here are some of the criteria:

  1. Of course, quality education - love Miami’s focus on undergraduates but willing to look at other possibilities here. She’s a strong student (4.4 weighted GPA, 8 AP’s, strong extracurriculars, test optional).
  2. Medium to large size - 10,000 - 25,000 students seems to be her sweet spot but willing to go a LITTLE bigger or smaller.
  3. Rural or suburban location - nothing right in a city
  4. Loves a beautiful campus - especially one where the buildings all match
  5. Loves a contained campus - no major highways cutting through or sprawling campuses
  6. Loves a college town attached or within walking distance of campus
  7. Wants to be in - NH, VT, NY, CT, RI, NJ, DE, MD, DC, PA, VA, OH or possibly IN and IL
  8. Public or private
  9. Bonus if it is a school that has an outdoor vibe or strong environmental science, wildlife management, etc. types of programs
  10. Bonus if it is a school that has something other than Greek life and strong athletic vibe

Thanks in advance for your help!

2

I can think of a lot of schools but they aren’t as big…

University of Richmond, Denison, Union, Boston College, American, all of the colleges near Philadelphia Villanova, Haverford.

7 Likes
3

Lehigh - a bit smaller but 7000+ students so mid size. I thought it was one of the prettiest campuses we visited.

3 Likes
4

Thanks! Is Boston College outside the city or in the city? She’s hoping to find something rural or suburban. I always thought this was an urban campus?

1 Like
5

Thanks - this is a great one we hadn’t thought of!

1 Like
6

JMU checks a lot of your boxes, but I’m guessing the highway that splits the original campus from the newer campus is a deal breaker.

2 Likes
7

U Delaware

10 Likes
8

Boston College is in Chestnut Hill…a lovely area outside of Boston. It’s NOT in downtown Boston like BU, Northeastern, etc. Very lovely area.

2 Likes
9

That was my answer, my daughter was 5th in her HS class, 34 act, and loved her time there in honors, very pretty campus by a great Main Street with shops, bars and restaurants. They took all 9 of her AP credits so she graduated a year early. Lots of clubs and activities, friendly happy students. It’s a large enough campus where they have shuttles, my daughter never used them, it’s walkable.

5 Likes
10

For more rural…what about Dartmouth or Cornell. Not sure whether these are too reachy for her. But Boston College is also a pretty competitive school for admissions.

University of Vermont is another option.

Can you perhaps share her stats so we make recommendations that are attainable!

11

The buildings at Cornell don’t “match” if that’s an issue. I think the campus is beautiful but it evolved over time so has different architectural styles

6 Likes
12

Oh I agree…but if beautiful rural campus is what this kid is looking for, Cornell sure would fit…even though every building doesn’t match.

3 Likes
13

If she were willing to add Oregon to her list, I think the Honors College at Oregon State University checks off all of her other requirements.

Corvallis is regularly ranked among the best college towns in the US.

Edited to add: The OSU campus itself just was designated as an arboretum: Oregon State University’s historic campus earns coveted arboretum status

4 Likes
14

4.44 weighted GPA, mainly honors classes and 8 AP classes, strong mix of athletics, community volunteer, school and paid extracurriculars, test options

2 Likes
15

Wake Forest

1 Like
16

Vassar?

4 Likes
17

Boston College (Catholic) is in an upscale suburb – Boston University is in the city!

5 Likes
18

University of Delaware and University of Maryland, I think meet most of your criteria.

I’d add Princeton, but it’s much smaller than your preferred size.

3 Likes
19

Cornell and Syracuse popped into my head quickly.

Not sure this would be a match but Fordham’s Rose Hill campus was an enjoyable visit. Bronx zoo next door.

4 Likes
20

Northwestern, Cornell, Dartmouth . . . they are all extremely selective, however. Dartmouth might be a little smaller than you’d like. A lot of selective LACs would meet your daughter’s aesthetic and academic criteria, but are typically on the small side.

3 Likes