s/o Most Beautiful College Campuses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mary Washington.

Surprisingly pretty!

I find smaller schools like Mary Washington often have the most coherent and consistent campuses. The largest schools have often outgrown or overdeveloped their space and had periods where development greatly outpaced planning.

Appreciate that Mary Washington may be more "of a piece" due to not having many new buildings, but the core of the campus, while attractive, isn't one of the most beautiful. It's a nice looking school with a number of nice Georgian buildings, but if we're being honest you can find that all over the Mid Atlantic and South.

I wasn't putting it forward as the most beautiful, just commenting that it may have a number of advantages on larger schools that may get more notice on this thread.

Sure, if you think existing in a time warp because UVA opened up to women really provides a "number of advantages." When I see a variety of architectural styles at a university, it tells me that it's a dynamic place, not a set piece.

Many universities butchered the "variety" of styles. They had an original style (classical, gothic, etc.), then moved to modern during a rapid growth period which was to differing degrees a disaster that they are looking to remedy 50 years on.

And some are replacing "bad" modern with nicer modern.

Even so, colleges that basically are a collection of buildings that pre-date the 1960s typically are small LACs that haven't kept up with the times and in many cases will be among the first to close in the coming years as the college-age population declines. The appeal strikes me as largely superficial because, once you scratch the surface, you find many of the buildings have not been well maintained.

There are schools that continued to build but didn't go for bad modern.

Eh, pretty much any major university that expanded after WW II has a clunker or two but it’s again evidence of a school that isn’t some stagnant set piece that peaked in the 1940s or earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mary Washington.

Surprisingly pretty!

I find smaller schools like Mary Washington often have the most coherent and consistent campuses. The largest schools have often outgrown or overdeveloped their space and had periods where development greatly outpaced planning.

Appreciate that Mary Washington may be more "of a piece" due to not having many new buildings, but the core of the campus, while attractive, isn't one of the most beautiful. It's a nice looking school with a number of nice Georgian buildings, but if we're being honest you can find that all over the Mid Atlantic and South.

I wasn't putting it forward as the most beautiful, just commenting that it may have a number of advantages on larger schools that may get more notice on this thread.

Sure, if you think existing in a time warp because UVA opened up to women really provides a "number of advantages." When I see a variety of architectural styles at a university, it tells me that it's a dynamic place, not a set piece.

Many universities butchered the "variety" of styles. They had an original style (classical, gothic, etc.), then moved to modern during a rapid growth period which was to differing degrees a disaster that they are looking to remedy 50 years on.

And some are replacing "bad" modern with nicer modern.

Even so, colleges that basically are a collection of buildings that pre-date the 1960s typically are small LACs that haven't kept up with the times and in many cases will be among the first to close in the coming years as the college-age population declines. The appeal strikes me as largely superficial because, once you scratch the surface, you find many of the buildings have not been well maintained.

There are schools that continued to build but didn't go for bad modern.

Eh, pretty much any major university that expanded after WW II has a clunker or two but it’s again evidence of a school that isn’t some stagnant set piece that peaked in the 1940s or earlier.

A lot of them did nothing but clunkers for 30 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mary Washington.

Surprisingly pretty!

I find smaller schools like Mary Washington often have the most coherent and consistent campuses. The largest schools have often outgrown or overdeveloped their space and had periods where development greatly outpaced planning.

Appreciate that Mary Washington may be more "of a piece" due to not having many new buildings, but the core of the campus, while attractive, isn't one of the most beautiful. It's a nice looking school with a number of nice Georgian buildings, but if we're being honest you can find that all over the Mid Atlantic and South.

DP. I respectfully disagree. We thought Mary Washington was really lovely and it does, indeed, have new buildings. However, they have (thankfully) kept the new architecture in keeping with the old, which makes it so consistent and harmonious. And sure, you can find that all over the MA and South, but it's a beautiful style that many love.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mary Washington.

Surprisingly pretty!

I find smaller schools like Mary Washington often have the most coherent and consistent campuses. The largest schools have often outgrown or overdeveloped their space and had periods where development greatly outpaced planning.

Appreciate that Mary Washington may be more "of a piece" due to not having many new buildings, but the core of the campus, while attractive, isn't one of the most beautiful. It's a nice looking school with a number of nice Georgian buildings, but if we're being honest you can find that all over the Mid Atlantic and South.

I wasn't putting it forward as the most beautiful, just commenting that it may have a number of advantages on larger schools that may get more notice on this thread.

Sure, if you think existing in a time warp because UVA opened up to women really provides a "number of advantages." When I see a variety of architectural styles at a university, it tells me that it's a dynamic place, not a set piece.

WOW. You have a chip on your shoulder for some unknown reason. Now it all makes sense. Mary Washington is a beautiful little school and the fact that it doesn't have a mismatch of architectural styles is a huge point in its favor.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mary Washington.

Surprisingly pretty!

I find smaller schools like Mary Washington often have the most coherent and consistent campuses. The largest schools have often outgrown or overdeveloped their space and had periods where development greatly outpaced planning.

Appreciate that Mary Washington may be more "of a piece" due to not having many new buildings, but the core of the campus, while attractive, isn't one of the most beautiful. It's a nice looking school with a number of nice Georgian buildings, but if we're being honest you can find that all over the Mid Atlantic and South.

I wasn't putting it forward as the most beautiful, just commenting that it may have a number of advantages on larger schools that may get more notice on this thread.

Sure, if you think existing in a time warp because UVA opened up to women really provides a "number of advantages." When I see a variety of architectural styles at a university, it tells me that it's a dynamic place, not a set piece.

And some of us prefer campuses with buildings that have similar architecture - A cohesive aesthetic.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mary Washington.

Surprisingly pretty!

I find smaller schools like Mary Washington often have the most coherent and consistent campuses. The largest schools have often outgrown or overdeveloped their space and had periods where development greatly outpaced planning.

Appreciate that Mary Washington may be more "of a piece" due to not having many new buildings, but the core of the campus, while attractive, isn't one of the most beautiful. It's a nice looking school with a number of nice Georgian buildings, but if we're being honest you can find that all over the Mid Atlantic and South.

I wasn't putting it forward as the most beautiful, just commenting that it may have a number of advantages on larger schools that may get more notice on this thread.

Sure, if you think existing in a time warp because UVA opened up to women really provides a "number of advantages." When I see a variety of architectural styles at a university, it tells me that it's a dynamic place, not a set piece.

Many universities butchered the "variety" of styles. They had an original style (classical, gothic, etc.), then moved to modern during a rapid growth period which was to differing degrees a disaster that they are looking to remedy 50 years on.

And some are replacing "bad" modern with nicer modern.

Even so, colleges that basically are a collection of buildings that pre-date the 1960s typically are small LACs that haven't kept up with the times and in many cases will be among the first to close in the coming years as the college-age population declines. The appeal strikes me as largely superficial because, once you scratch the surface, you find many of the buildings have not been well maintained.

There are schools that continued to build but didn't go for bad modern.

+1
It's clear that PP has terrible taste.

[Anonymous]

Before the Fire, 100% Pepperdine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before the Fire, 100% Pepperdine

After the fire, 100% Pepperdine. There’s so much opportunity in California.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mary Washington.

Surprisingly pretty!

I find smaller schools like Mary Washington often have the most coherent and consistent campuses. The largest schools have often outgrown or overdeveloped their space and had periods where development greatly outpaced planning.

Appreciate that Mary Washington may be more "of a piece" due to not having many new buildings, but the core of the campus, while attractive, isn't one of the most beautiful. It's a nice looking school with a number of nice Georgian buildings, but if we're being honest you can find that all over the Mid Atlantic and South.

I wasn't putting it forward as the most beautiful, just commenting that it may have a number of advantages on larger schools that may get more notice on this thread.

Sure, if you think existing in a time warp because UVA opened up to women really provides a "number of advantages." When I see a variety of architectural styles at a university, it tells me that it's a dynamic place, not a set piece.

WOW. You have a chip on your shoulder for some unknown reason. Now it all makes sense. Mary Washington is a beautiful little school and the fact that it doesn't have a mismatch of architectural styles is a huge point in its favor.
DP

It’s not really impressive but probably nicer than Longwood and Radford.

[Anonymous]

Mount Holyoke. It is consistently voted as one of the most beautiful campuses in America. It is particularly gorgeous in the fall and spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Before the Fire, 100% Pepperdine

After the fire, 100% Pepperdine. There’s so much opportunity in California.

Meh. Ugly concrete buildings. The views and climate are great, but the campus is not pretty imo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mary Washington.

Surprisingly pretty!

I find smaller schools like Mary Washington often have the most coherent and consistent campuses. The largest schools have often outgrown or overdeveloped their space and had periods where development greatly outpaced planning.

Appreciate that Mary Washington may be more "of a piece" due to not having many new buildings, but the core of the campus, while attractive, isn't one of the most beautiful. It's a nice looking school with a number of nice Georgian buildings, but if we're being honest you can find that all over the Mid Atlantic and South.

I wasn't putting it forward as the most beautiful, just commenting that it may have a number of advantages on larger schools that may get more notice on this thread.

Sure, if you think existing in a time warp because UVA opened up to women really provides a "number of advantages." When I see a variety of architectural styles at a university, it tells me that it's a dynamic place, not a set piece.

WOW. You have a chip on your shoulder for some unknown reason. Now it all makes sense. Mary Washington is a beautiful little school and the fact that it doesn't have a mismatch of architectural styles is a huge point in its favor.
DP

Meh. Could say the same thing of CNU but it doesn’t really stand out, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mount Holyoke. It is consistently voted as one of the most beautiful campuses in America. It is particularly gorgeous in the fall and spring.

I think Smith and Bryn Mawr are a lot nicer. Mount Holyoke seems gloomy in comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This board hates on it but Ole Miss and the town of Oxford Mississippi is definitely a top 5 college experience from the aesthetic standpoint

The south would be a soul-crushing, intellect-dulling college experience imo. Wouldn't attend even if it were free and twice as beautiful as a New England college (it is not).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mount Holyoke. It is consistently voted as one of the most beautiful campuses in America. It is particularly gorgeous in the fall and spring.

I think Smith and Bryn Mawr are a lot nicer. Mount Holyoke seems gloomy in comparison.

I went to Mt Holyoke and my sister went to Bryn Mawr We both agree that MHC is superior. Smith's campus is not as pretty as either of those two, but Northampton is a better town.