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<p>Totally agree. Two of the schools I visited, Western Carolina and Appalachian State, are on the same academic level. Both are in a beautiful, mountainous area, Western Carolina has only slightly less students and tuition costs are pretty much equal. </p>
<p>However, at Western, the buildings have no architectural beauty to them, they’re rather boring, and many were not so well maintained. The amount of landscaping was very limited, it was all concrete and empty fields. A lot of it was new, but it was no more interesting in appearance than an addition to a public high school.</p>
<p>At Appalachian the buildings and grounds of the campus are amazing, Stanford Mall and Durham Park are great places to hang out, and the Belk Library is a masterpiece of a building.</p>
<p>Boone, where Appalachian State is also considered one of the best college towns. There are plenty of clubs, always lots of events, and the town is really welcoming of students. Though the college certainly dominates the development of the town, it still has a culture and history of its own.</p>
<p>Cullowhee, where Western Carolina is, doesn’t even have a Wal-Mart. Actually, it’s not even a town, just a “CDP.” There are very, very few people who are not students or staff, and those people seem to live way out in mountain hollers. Downtown Cullowhee is one strip mall with a bank, a Subway, and a ski store.</p>
<p>The boring little town and unattractive campus definitely caused Western Carolina to be knocked down a few pegs on my list. You can look up Cullowhee, NC and Boone, NC online and see the difference (Bing Maps has the clearest, most updated shot of each)</p>