<p>You mean Hogwarts isn't real?</p>
<p>zoogies, I would never say that to you. That would just be cruel.</p>
<p>of course its real! <em>glares</em></p>
<p>No doubt, Princeton. When I watched one of the Harry Potter movies for the first time (I think it was the second one), I was like, "Dooood, that's so Princeton!" From the architecture to the small feel to the houses (Princeton has 5 colleges, closer to the number of Hogwarts). So yeah, no doubt. Even my friends going to colleges like Yale and Penn agree. Good stuff.</p>
<p>Of the colleges I've visited, I would definitely say in the US Princeton is college that closest resembles Hogwarts. Bryn-Mawr, Yale and even Wesleyan are great; but Princeton is the campus that had the castles, sprawling lawns and ivy-covered walls that give it that indescribable magical atmosphere.</p>
<p>I was delighted to come across this thread. I'm the keeper of one of the websites that's been mentioned above, "The Collegiate Way: Residential Colleges and Higher Education Reform" (collegiateway.org). Although the words "college" and "university" are sometimes used interchangeably ("go to college" and "go to university"), and it's true that in American English they overlap quite a bit, the original distinction was that a college was a residential society you belong to while studying for a degree at a university. This is the structure of Oxford and Cambridge Universities in Great Britain, and many others that have descended from them. Oxford and Cambridge Universities are each made up of about 30 colleges (in American English we usually call them "residential colleges"). This type of arrangement give everyone a local, family-like community of a few hundred people, within the context of a very large university (with perhaps 20,000 people).</p>
<p>This colleges-within-the-university arrangement is more or less the same as the arrangement of houses within Hogwarts, which is modeled on British schools that have this same kind of collegiate arrangement. When I talk to people about the residential college model of university organization, many people now understand it because they know the Harry Potter stories.</p>
<p>If you're interested in seeing universities around the world that have this sort of house system, pay a visit to my directory of "Residential Colleges Worldwide":</p>
<p><a href="http://collegiateway.org/colleges/%5B/url%5D">http://collegiateway.org/colleges/</a></p>
<p>The architecture of these places may not be at all like the architecture in the Harry Potter stories, but the organization into houses (residential colleges) is the same. You'll see this kind of arrangement is found in lots of countries around the world, and the idea is becoming more popular every year. If you're a student thinking about what university to attend, you might consider the ones listed here.</p>
<p>(A few days ago, before discovering this thread, I had even posted a new item on collegiateway.org about the similarity between residential college systems and the Hogwarts houses. You can read it here: <a href="http://collegiateway.org/news/2005-04-02.html%5B/url%5D">http://collegiateway.org/news/2005-04-02.html</a> )</p>
<p>You might also want to check Doddsdad's "Review of Our Visit to Hogwarts" at <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=55867%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=55867</a> ;).</p>
<p>Meanwhile, welcome, Rjohara--and many thanks for your fascinating and informative post.</p>
<p>Probably few people know this, but Northwestern University's second library, Deering, is very old and very beautiful. It has beautiful wood paneling and tall windows- many of my friends in fact deemed it the "Harry Potter Library"- you should check it out.</p>
<p>I'm at Duke's blue devil days and West Campus certainly does resemble hogwarts. there's even a street here called Pew(???) its the name of the guy who was an animagus who turned into a rat and ratted out Sirius Black</p>
<p>I read this a while back and thought it was a good comparison for all the Hogwarts houses:
Gryffindor = Harvard (full of all-around Type-A's and immortals; high legacy rate like the Weasleys)
Ravenclaw = Yale (More academically focused than other houses)
Hufflepuff = Stanford (The most relaxed and laid-back of the bunch)
Slytherin = Princeton (Both are pure evil! Haha just kidding, but both seem to have very strong alumni support (Lucius Malfoy) and have the most "uptight" reputation)</p>
<p>I would have to say Yale. When I went into the dining hall everyday, I would always remember the scene from Harry Potter where he gets the broom. Yeah, but that's just me. haha</p>
<p>really, cause duke has gothic architecture to the hilt</p>
<p>oh, I remember, the street was pettigrew</p>
<p>Dining hall at BJ in University of Chicago.</p>
<p>It's NOT a college but Emma Willard is the most gorgeous castle-like boarding schools ever. That's why movies were filmed there.</p>
<p>See for yourselves:
<a href="http://www.emmawillard.org%5B/url%5D">http://www.emmawillard.org</a></p>
<p><em>school pride!</em> lmao</p>
<p>Duke, with it's gothic architecture, resembles Hogworts. Check out the Gargoyles. Underground...there are steam tunnels that run all over campus. Some of them were supposedly air-raid shelters also. Access is locked...but with the right spell..who knows...</p>
<p>Emma Willard has theses gorgeous underground tunnels you can use to get around to classes and totally gothic architecture. There are gargoyle's everywhere, the door were hand carved and shipped from France. Very Hogwartish.</p>
<p>I'm going to be an uptight Slytherin :D...hopefully I'll be assigned to a properly Hogwartsish residential college too :D</p>
<p>YAYYY!!!</p>
<p>mt holyoke looks really gothic, and their library has plenty of places to get lost....</p>
<p>University of Chicago --- no competition. :D</p>
<p>The Houses at Harvard compete for an athletic Cup every year. Unfortunately, Quidditch isn't on the schedule.</p>