I heard that Indiana University and Michigan State are both very beautiful.
I suspect that Cambridge University in England is beautiful, as is, I’m sure, the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
I had a dream last night that I was at Stanford University and couldn’t believe how beautiful the student dorms (on campus) were. Way more beautiful than they ever could be in real life, made of beautiful inlaid stones and gorgeous stained glass and such.
Anyway, the dream, it was the dream that got me thinking about this.
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My job takes me to college campuses all over the country. For my vote, several California schools, some in the northeast, and Wisconsin and Colorado are the nicest. Virginia and Duke are up there, too. Indiana is nothing special.
I have to vote for the University of Toronto, where I was a student years ago. The campus itself was beautiful, with green spaces surrounding all kinds of old stone buildings. You can link to photos and information about the University’s buildings and grounds from this site, but unfortunately, they only show the exteriors of the most famous and historic buildings.
Here, at least, you can take a virtual tour of the interior of Hart House, the U of T’s student centre. It is a beautiful building, inside and out, and I will always stop by when I’m in town, just to see it again.
Edinburgh’s hardly nice to look at, and certainly not in the same class as Cambridge or Oxford. Really, there’s only two decent buildings - the medicine and law buildings, the rest were either thrown up in the 60’s and 70’s or are currently being built.
Incidentally, I was in Cambridge yesterday. I think Cambridge also edges out Oxford - King’s College is a particularly impressive sight from the riverbank.
The Princeton Review’s survey listed these schools as the most beautiful.
Pepperdine University
Princeton University
Sweet Briar College
Agnes Scott College
Sewanee-University of the South
Mount Holyoke College
Scripps College
Kenyon College
Loyola Marymount University
University of California-Santa Cruz
A few years ago, they gave the top ranking to Brooklyn College, which is part of the City University of New York.
[QUOTE=vivalostwages]
A friend who’s been there tells me I should see the University of San Diego. I think it’s close to the Old Town section.
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Just as long as you don’t confuse it with the incredibly ugly University of California at San Diego. One of the most unattractive campuses I’ve ever seen.
My current institutionn, Montana State University, is up there. The campus itself is unremarkable, but the setting is breathtaking. 15 minutes from the ski slopes, an hour or two from Yellowstone, and mountains all around. And I’ll back the local young ladies against any California girls in a heartbeat, but my tastes may be atypical there.
And Williams was one of the places I looked at for undergrad, and I’ll wholeheartedly back psychobunny’s recommendation, too. The mountains are nothing like out here, but it’s right smack dab in the middle of Oh-my-God-look-at-the-fall-foliage territory.
[QUOTE=aktep] Pepperdine is usually the run away winner.
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Frankly, I think Pepperdine looks like a theme-park, and the place gives me the creeps. It’s as antiseptic as a dentist’s office, and strikes me as an upscale summer camp for wealthy PTL viewers. IMO, better examples of oceanside schools are UC, Santa Cruz and UC, San Diego, although neither features particularly great architecture. I used to teach at the latter.
[QUOTE=Chronos]
My current institutionn, Montana State University, is up there. The campus itself is unremarkable, but the setting is breathtaking. 15 minutes from the ski slopes, an hour or two from Yellowstone, and mountains all around. And I’ll back the local young ladies against any California girls in a heartbeat, but my tastes may be atypical there.
And Williams was one of the places I looked at for undergrad, and I’ll wholeheartedly back psychobunny’s recommendation, too. The mountains are nothing like out here, but it’s right smack dab in the middle of Oh-my-God-look-at-the-fall-foliage territory.
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Yeah, the campus ain’t much, but the town/locale is great. I also like that Gibson’s acoustic guitars are made in Bozeman. And although the University of Montana looks a little like an overgrown high school, Missoula is a great place. I’d trade Los Angeles for Montana in a heartbeat if my four-year-old son weren’t African-American. Right now we need the ethnic diversity.
*I am in love with Montana … Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans. * — Norman Maclean
[QUOTE=dalej42]
Just as long as you don’t confuse it with the incredibly ugly University of California at San Diego. One of the most unattractive campuses I’ve ever seen.
I agree that the architecture at UCSD sucks mightily, but with Torrey Pines State Park and the Pacific Ocean right across the street it’s pretty easy to ignore it.
Michigan State University currently has about half the roads covered in orange cones and construction equipment. I recommend not visiting until next year.
My alma mater Indiana’s central campus is very pretty, but a lot of the rest of it is sprawl.
Oxford is beautiful, but in its own way I guess. Visiting it I was struck by the age and history, but not really by the beauty. And I have major ancestral ties to the university - I really wanted to like it more.
