Most "scenic" campuses

College Search & Selection
1

<p>There are recurring threads on CC about the most beautiful campuses in the U.S., but I find that those rankings invariably combine campuses that are truly beautiful with those that happen to be located in especially scenic locations. For example, Pepperdine, with a mountaintop view overlooking Malibu Beach and the Pacific, often comes out near the top though as I recall, the campus architecture or landscaping itself is not all that unusual. On the other hand, the Penn campus is beautiful, but sited in the midst of an urban jungle.</p>

<p>So which campuses have the happy advantage of spectacular natural scenery, regardless of the campus itself? Surely:</p>

<p>Pepperdine (Pacific Ocean)
U. of Colorado (backdrop - Flatiron Range of the Rockies)
Cornell (overlooking Cayuga Lake)
Eckerd (on Boca Ciega Bay of the Gulf of Mexico)
College of the Atlantic (in Bar Harbor, ME at the foot of Acadia N.P.)</p>

<p>Others?</p>

2

<p>I would definitely have to ad:</p>

<p>Elon University (North Carolina flatlands)
University of Virginia (historic Harrisonburg)</p>

<ul>
<li>I've visited both, not sure whether this results in a bias or not....</li>
</ul>

3

<p>Are you thinking of U.Va. or Mary Washington?</p>

4

<p>Williams has nice views of the Berkshire Mountains, which often look purple.</p>

<p>Boston College is on a hill surrounded on 3 sides by ritzy residential neighborhoods. The 4th side looks out at the Boston skyline.</p>

<p>Northwestern is right ON the shore of Lake Michigan.</p>

<p>UC Berkeley looks out over San Francisco Bay.</p>

<p>UC San Diego is across the street from the Pacific Ocean.</p>

5

<p>(. . . can't believe I missed Northwestern!)</p>

6

<p>University of Utah and BYU - both have the Wasatch range of the Rockies as a backdrop.</p>

<p>Scroll down to see the photos:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.summitpost.org/area/range/171211/wasatch-range-south-.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.summitpost.org/area/range/171211/wasatch-range-south-.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

7

<p>UMiami (Fl):
Huge lake in the center, lots of trees, palm trees, arboretum. Really nice neighborhood. Finally its got the carribean and atlantic ocean! :)</p>

8

<p>Wow - how do BYU students manage to get any work done?
Here's a link to natural scenery at Cornell:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.cornell.edu/tours/scene308f.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.cornell.edu/tours/scene308f.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

9

<p>Pepperdine University
University of Oregon
University of Washington</p>

10

<p>a few already mentioned and some new ones:</p>

<p>northwestern university (lake michigan)
cornell university (gorges, ravines, lakes, etc.)
university of san francisco (overlooks san francisco)
university of colorado - boulder (rocky mountains)</p>

11

<p>U Virginia is in Charlottesville.</p>

<p>Mary Washington is in Fredericksburg.</p>

<p>James Madison University is in Harrisonburg. </p>

<p>IMO U Virginia is the hands down winner for campus beauty and stunning architecture. If you've ever been on the area they call The Lawn, then you know what I mean. </p>

<p>As far as settings go, I second Scipio's thoughts on BYU and the beautiful area around Provo. If you are a skier and have been out to some of the nearby ski resorts, then you know how wonderful that area is. Truly spectacular scene (and great powder skiing!!) and a very good school.</p>

12

<p>Univ. of the South- 10k acre campus on the cumberland plateau. Their website is crap, tho</p>

13

<p>Ditto on Sewanee. Add Hamilton and Carleton (with their Arb).</p>

14

<p>
[quote]
So which campuses have the happy advantage of spectacular natural scenery, regardless of the campus itself?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
IMO U Virginia is the hands down winner for campus beauty and stunning architecture.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>uva does have a nice campus, but not "stunning scenery regardless of the campus itself. and definitely not james madison in this regard, although also a very nice campus.</p>

15

<p>
[quote]
Wow - how do BYU students manage to get any work done?

[/quote]

Those pictures are peaks in the Wasatch, which are indeed spectacular, and very accessible. Views from campus are not so great. </p>

<p>View of Cascades and Mt. Rainier from UW is spectacular, when you can see it.</p>

16

<p>lol, just wrong local name :P but yeah, I still meant UVA</p>

17

<p>I didn't know about U. of San Francisco's setting so I looked at their website. On it, I learned another interesting USF detail - apply EA with a 3.8 and a 1320 SAT and they give an automatic $16,000 merit scholarship.</p>

18

<p>UC Santa Cruz</p>

<p>its located in a beautiful forest on top of a hill that overlooks the Pacific Ocean</p>

<p>its also only ten minute drive from the beach</p>

<p>its amazing</p>

19

<p>Colgate is arguably the most scenic campus.
Northwestern is also beautiful sitting on Lake Michigan that almost looks like an ocean front.</p>

20

<p>Ditto UCSC plus it is a redwood forest repleat w/ wildlife. Stunning!</p>