<p>Propose a ranking of the campuses. It doesn't have to be very scientific, just say what you believe from pictures or from things you've heard. Consider the beauty of the place itself, plus the friendly environment</p>
<p>lets not try and rank friendly environment... that becomes farrr to subjective. friendliness often reveals something more about the reviewer than the school. </p>
<p>the prettiest college campuses ive seen are
northwestern, u. of chicago (in a very different sense, but still magnificent) st. mary's college of california, santa clara, reed, lewis and clark, UC Santa Cruz</p>
<p>ugly ones: SF State, Oberlin (nice architecture.. its been too hippie-fied), berkeley (too congested)</p>
<p>and before this thread swings into full gear, id like to make it a point that the Ivies, UCLA, Stanford, and so on with the top 25 private schools.. all have magnificent campuses. the schools have more money than they know what to do with, so of course theyre going to have nice buildings. I only mentioned NU cus i like the beach/landfill aspect, and UofC because its such a perfect mix of gothic architecture and modern masterpieces (they have an I.M. Pei, and the gym is designed by the same architect who did the Kuala Limpur world's tallest building.)... </p>
<p>So we dont need a thread of "OMG Princeton is SOOOO NICE, like, they have a manion and stuff LOLzrrzz!!!!111!!!!one!!" because everybody already knows it is nice. </p>
<p>oh, and a neat trick i just figured out today.. you can use google maps to get sattelite images of all the schools, that can get pretty damned detailed (i was able to find my brother's dorm at his college).. all you gotta do is type in the name of the U. in the search bar.</p>
<p>thanks, that's exactly what we're looking for, mention not so obvious nice campuses. Goo comment on Chicago</p>
<p>I liked the Berkeley campus, even though lots of people don't. I thought it was the perfect mix of prettiness (Strawberry Creek, Memorial Glade, South Hall) and urban-ness (the surrounding area). It's an interesting campus and seems really vibrant to me. Of course, I could be influenced because I am desperately seeking to leave suburbia, but whatever. I still think its great.</p>
<p>Two of the prettiest campuses I've seen are: Swarthmore and Wellesley.</p>
<p>I also agree that Santa Clara has a beautiful campus!</p>
<p>I nominate Bucknell's campus....beautiful brick Georgian bldgs., with lots of green quads and big, old trees....spring flowers and flowering trees and shrubs abound, and it's absolutely stunning in the fall. Maybe more important...it's CLEAN and well-maintained...no dirt, cigarettes and litter in the stairwells, etc., as we saw on a number of campuses during college visits. The only blemish would be the modular housing west of Rt. 15 - supposed to be temporary housing put up about 30 yrs. ago in a nice grove of trees - they've been remodeled and are still serviceable - and the sophs seem to really like it after they move in (it's usually what's left in the housing lottery by the time their numbers are drawn). I hear there is planning being done to replace them with new dorms and/or apts., but that's down the road a few years.</p>
<p>Also - Rice is very, very nice, as well....heavy Spanish influence in the architecture but lots of trees and a great tall hedge that surrounds the campus and really shields it from traffic noise. You forget you're in the middle of a city - and across the street from a major medical complex - until you step through one of the gates to the sidewalk outside the hedge.</p>
<p>Stanford Stanford Stanford.</p>
<p>USC, UCLA, and Columbia are nice too.</p>
<p>I have visited many colleges, and I like a variety of settings and styles. My favorite campus is Colgate. When we pulled into Hamilton, NY at 8pm on an evening in late March, there was a thin layer of new snow reflecting the moonlight. The campus is on a hill, and the lights made the whole place look magical. I was very taken with the little town and the Colgate Inn, where we stayed. I know it is a very small town, isolated, etc., but I found it very enchanting.</p>
<p>here are my favorites of the lesser known.. for whatever reason most of em are in the bay area.. maybe im just getting a little sentimental, since ill be leaving soon.. but i dont think you can doubt that they are beautiful. the USF one is kinda hard to understand the beauty of because you cant tell that its on a hilltop from the satellite. </p>
<p>ppl say Cornell is beutiful, that's when you can actually see green.</p>
<p>bball: you mean that its beautiful on BOTH days when you can see green?</p>
<p>/there are only one or two a year, from what i hear. </p>
<p>:-P</p>
<p>I found Cornell a little overwhelming--it seemed too big to me. Of course, Cornell IS much bigger than any of the other colleges I visited, and that was much of the reason I ended up crossing it off my list. My favorite campus was probably Colgate, but I also loved Swarthmore. I loved the town of Amherst, and the campus was also very nice, but not really special. The coast a few miles from Bowdoin was gorgeous.</p>
<p>cynthiaR, how did you find the actual campus of Bowdoin and the town of Swarthmore?</p>
<p>TheCity, i understand you are goin to Northwestern--great chose, I almost ended up there, it is pretty dam cold over there as well. Good luck during the winnter, it is just as bad as Ithaca, if not worse. That campus is like an ice cube with cold wind, uhhh.</p>
<p>what if we subdivide it into two categories: top campuses in big cities and nice college towns</p>
<p>haha, yeah you dont have to tell me its going to be cold. I come from san francisco.. weather doesnt get any more mild than san francisco. When i visited northwestern, it was 85º and sunny... it had been foggy/raining the entire time in san francisco before. The otehr time i visited, it was snowing. The weather there is exciting.
The weather probably isnt much better at all than ithaca.. but for some reason, it doesnt get the same bad rep.
chillout about it, its a joke.</p>
<p>beautiful: Colgate, all the Claremont schools</p>
<p>100% right, no one has any right to speak on this. Most kids have not been to many of these campuses, that is what the experts are for.</p>
<p>dude, i am realllllly chilled right now, good luck at NW, great school!!!</p>
<p>all the claremont schools? have you SEEN Claremont McKenna? its one of teh ugliest ive seen ever. Fortunately, its across teh street from Pomona and Scripps. Scripps is hands-down one of the best in the nation, pomona is not far behind... although they are both in LA, and the whole place feels very suburban and too manincured.
Harvey Mudd looks too institutional. </p>
<p>while on the topic of socal.. USC has nice buildings... UCLA has some really really beautiful buildings, and some hideous ones.. pepperdine has weird architecture, but wins points for location.</p>