<p>Here is an interesting article. Check out…number 33. It just confirms what we all know… that the University of Alabama is amazing!!!</p>
<p>[The</a> 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses - Prettiest Universities](<a href=“http://www.thebestcolleges.org/most-beautiful-campuses/]The”>http://www.thebestcolleges.org/most-beautiful-campuses/)</p>
<p>It really is a gorgeous campus! And once the SEC Complex and Science Quad are complete and the Gorgas Library expansion and the new Academic Quad are complete, Bama may move up some more spots. :)</p>
<p>Elon??? Elon as the #1 most beautiful campus chosen over Princeton, Sewanee, Duke, UCSB (right on the Pacific!). The fix is in!! Elon?? Seriously, guys. I have been to Elon: you cross a set of train tracks and then you are in the usual quad with the usual brick buildings. Anyone here think the Elon library, with its few paltry white wooden columns, is more impressive than Harvard’s Widender Library, with massive steps and staggering Doric sculpted columns. Really, whoever publishes this stuff has no integrity or common sense. It is like Forbes a few years back naming “Centre College” in Kentucky the #1 college in the US (or something equivalent). Ever since, Forbes has lost all credibility in college analysis and rankings. This Elon thing is just about on par. Elon is an isoloated, one horse college with sullen students (those I saw) with a few grass lawns and a busy street cutting directly through the heart of the quad – is that a prescription for prettiest college? Don’t think so!!! Idioten.</p>
<p>Are you kidding me? The University of Hawaii is the 10th most beautiful campus in the land AND is “a prestigious university with a long waiting list?” Puh-lease.</p>
<p>I live in Hawaii and trust me when I say UH is a butt-ugly hodgepodge of architectural incoherence, Kafkaesque bureaucracy, and administrative incompetence. The only long waiting list there is occupied by underserved students trying to graduate before their Social Security kicks in. </p>
<p>Prestigious? Only if you consider a Happy Meal toy to be so.</p>
<p>Hey now, don’t insult my hapy meal toy collection! ;)</p>
<p>Never, vlines. A collection is indeed prestigious. :)</p>
<p>Lol…</p>
<p>Count me as another who will just agree to disagree with their choices. Although now I understand why, when I asked D about Bama’s campus after she visited, she said that except for the super suite dorms it was pretty much comparable to those of the other schools she was looking at (which surprised me because everyone on CC talks about how gorgeous the Alabama campus is). Turns out the two other schools she’s considering are also on the list of pretty campuses, surprisingly rated above Bama.</p>
<p>Malanai, the pictures of the campus in the article are pretty enough. Plus, one can never underestimate the power of setting and location. 
Of course, four pictures is not enough to form an opinion of the overall feel of a campus.</p>
<p>While I think the list is great for not being beholden to a single architectural style while undervaluing all others, I do have to agree that Elon University is plain-looking and indistinguishable from any number of other small, rural southern colleges.</p>
<p>Ask anyone in Ky. and they will tell you, Centre College is in fact very prestiges and deserves it’s ranking as a top “undergrad liberal arts” college. It is not a research institution, nor does it grant advanced degrees, it is however, a school for those wanting a very rigorous undergrad education. It offers excellant aid, and almost 100% of the students study abroad</p>
<p>The campus is gorgeous too. My daughter had already chosen Alabama, when she was accepted as a Govenor’s Scholar and spent 6 weeks in the summerof her senior year at Centre. Her impression of the campus, “it’s a miniature Alabama.”</p>
<p>*when I asked D about Bama’s campus after she visited, she said that except for the super suite dorms it was pretty much comparable to those of the other schools she was looking at (which surprised me because everyone on CC talks about how gorgeous the Alabama campus is). Turns out the two other schools she’s considering are also on the list of pretty campuses, surprisingly rated above Bama. *</p>
<p>Yes, if the other visited campuses are also beautiful, then Bama’s beauty may not seem unusual. </p>
<p>It seems, to me, that there are a good number of beautiful campuses east of the Mississippi…especially if you prefer a tradtional looking campus (not a bunch of steel, concrete and glass). </p>
<p>As someone who comes from Calif (home to tooooo many ugly and “so so” campuses), visiting Bama can be breathtaking. Bama also has the benefit of having a good bit of land…unusual for a school that is not an “Ag school”…which requires a lot of land for that kind of use.</p>
<p>* the list is great for not being beholden to a single architectural style *</p>
<p>Right.</p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone has visited IU (Indiana University) but the article features the best 4 shots anywhere on campus. It’s ALL LIMESTONE. I love limestone but I mean it’s everywhere! All the building look exactly the same. I was so happy to see a few Frats that went outside of the limestone mentality. Yes, it’s locally sourced and it’s pretty on the first two buildings not every one of them.
Bloomington is a cool little college town that’s very similar to Tuscaloosa. The article would have been better off to feature the town instead of the “beauty” of campus. I suppose it’s true…beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Personally, I would have ranked Alabama in the TOP 10.</p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone has visited IU (Indiana University) but the article features the best 4 shots anywhere on campus. It’s ALL LIMESTONE. I love limestone but I mean it’s everywhere! All the building look exactly the same. I was so happy to see a few Frats that went outside of the limestone mentality. Yes, it’s locally sourced and it’s pretty on the first two buildings not every one of them.
Bloomington is a cool little college town that’s very similar to Tuscaloosa. The article would have been better off to feature the town instead of the “beauty” of campus. I suppose it’s true…beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Personally, I would have ranked Alabama in the TOP 10.</p>
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<p>I know what you mean. It can get boring when every building looks the same. That’s why I like those few yellow brick buildings Bama has that were built after the Civil War. </p>
<p>Bama does use local stone for the pillars and such.</p>
<p>I am an IU Bloomington grad and yes the IU campus is beautiful! </p>
<p>Alabama in my opinion is just as nice, the schools are different in apperance as one would expect since one is in the midwest and the other the southeast. Alabama has a nice combination of limestone and red brick with some white and yellow brick mixed in as well.</p>
<p>My son and I have visited many Universities over the past few years IU being one of them. I must admit being a Big 10 grad and with IU being as beautiful as it is some of our campus visits just were not that inspiring to me although I tried my best to not have my feelings influence my son’s college decision.</p>
<p>In my opinion deciding on a University is a whole “fit” decision. Yes campus beauty plays a part, as does student body size, school spirit, sports, dorms/off campus options, greek llife, finance and of course adademic programs and opportunities. </p>
<p>I know there was another thread on CC with some “top 10” reasons to choose Alabama and all I can say it I agree wholeheartldy with the reasoning given.</p>
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<p>Very much agree. Also, there’s no accounting for taste: not everybody is going to like the same thing.</p>
<p>For the love of Big Al, why can’t they post better pics of the UA campus? Those are not the four most attractive buildings on campus. Alston Hall? Are you kidding us? They should have shown Clark, Morgan, the new Science and Engineering Building, and Gorgas Library from Denny Chimes’s view. Did UA choose these pics? And the front of Bryant Denny is actually not that attractive in my view. I mean its nice and impressive and modern, but I think they screwed up by not making the front look like what the south side of the stadium now looks like. Or they could have shared a pic from the following: our new South Engineering Research Center</p>
<p><a href=“University of Alabama updates - Page 10 - SkyscraperPage Forum”>University of Alabama updates - Page 10 - SkyscraperPage Forum;
<p>I thought it was odd that they included Bryant-Denny unless the point was that Bama even has a nice looking stadium (some schools do little to improve the fascades of their stadiums).</p>
<p>Speaking of the SERC, I walked through the facility today and it is a stunner. And since all the construction moved to SEC Phase IV, the Engineering quad is beginning to take shape. It needs more foliage, but it’s very nice.</p>
<p>I have to add that UNC-Chapel Hill does not deserved to be ranked that highly. It has once nice quad space and two nice looking buildings but most of the buildings are nondescript brick or stone and were clearly built in the 60s or 70s. Definitely not better than UA.</p>
<p>Speaking of the SERC, I walked through the facility today and it is a stunner. And since all the construction moved to SEC Phase IV, the Engineering quad is beginning to take shape. It needs more foliage, but it’s very nice.</p>
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<p>I’m looking forward to a finished SEC Quad! Hopefully, with the growing season soon upon us, there will soon be some more foilage!</p>