Venn diagram of selective colleges and pleasant campuses/dorms/food

[Anonymous]

Are expensive private universities, and possibly state colleges who are pushing to attract more students, going to have the most comfortable dorms, best food and general attention to students' wellbeing?

I assume that selectivity in itself is NOT a proxy for comfort, since very selective colleges will have kids desperate to get in even if they have to live in crappy conditions.

Anyone want to weigh in on which very selective institutions are also comfortable?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

UCLA

[Anonymous]

Bowdoin is supposed to be nice.

[Anonymous]

Bowdoin, WashU, and UCLA come to mind. Pomona and Scripps also sound very nice.

As a UCLA alum, I'll say that the housing arrangements for upper-classmen are the opposite of posh. Expect to share a small two-bedroom apartment with three others and never have a single if you want to live in Westwood. I'm not complaining though. I think dealing with off-campus housing is a nice transition into adulthood for me.

[Anonymous]

High Point's dorms and amenities are incredible.

[Anonymous]

UCLA has a few beautiful buildings but most of its facilities re pretty pedestrian compared to any T50 private college.

[Anonymous]

Wake,
Wash U
Colby
Bowdoin
Rice
Cornell

[Anonymous]

Elon

[Anonymous]

I went on tours for a number of selective SLACs, and I think there would be a high quality of life at any of them. I don't think selective small colleges (many with healthy endowments) are choosing to forgo renovations or pick inferior dining services just because students will go there any way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went on tours for a number of selective SLACs, and I think there would be a high quality of life at any of them. I don't think selective small colleges (many with healthy endowments) are choosing to forgo renovations or pick inferior dining services just because students will go there any way.

Maybe we're not talking about the same ones, but when we toured northeast (S)LACs, we saw that Vassar had some terribly run-down buildings, Bard was ramshackle (OK, maybe not that selective), even Dartmouth and Williams weren't that great. Middlebury had the best facilities of all of them. None of them allowed dorm visits except Skidmore (OK, maybe not that selective), which had decent dorms and cafeteria.

Then more locally, William & Mary and St John's College (Annapolis) had awful food (I hear W&M is doing something about it), UMD showed us the nice Honors dorms and decent dining halls, Georgetown only showed us the hard-to-get rooms with stunning views of the Potomac, and George Washington had better dorms and food than Skidmore and UMD.

Ivies probably have a non-existent need to attract students with luxury carpeting and hotel-like single rooms with private bathroom I was told certain Ivies are really not comfortable when you live there, but I haven't visited any, so can't speak from personal experience.

[Anonymous]

The nicest housing we saw on our tours were the apartments for upperclassmen at Scranton. No sharing a bedroom and pretty new.

[Anonymous]

Would you actually choose your college based upon this? Not fit or quality of education?

Are you superficial and status seeking in other aspects of your life?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went on tours for a number of selective SLACs, and I think there would be a high quality of life at any of them. I don't think selective small colleges (many with healthy endowments) are choosing to forgo renovations or pick inferior dining services just because students will go there any way.

Maybe we're not talking about the same ones, but when we toured northeast (S)LACs, we saw that Vassar had some terribly run-down buildings, Bard was ramshackle (OK, maybe not that selective), even Dartmouth and Williams weren't that great. Middlebury had the best facilities of all of them. None of them allowed dorm visits except Skidmore (OK, maybe not that selective), which had decent dorms and cafeteria.

Then more locally, William & Mary and St John's College (Annapolis) had awful food (I hear W&M is doing something about it), UMD showed us the nice Honors dorms and decent dining halls, Georgetown only showed us the hard-to-get rooms with stunning views of the Potomac, and George Washington had better dorms and food than Skidmore and UMD.

Ivies probably have a non-existent need to attract students with luxury carpeting and hotel-like single rooms with private bathroom I was told certain Ivies are really not comfortable when you live there, but I haven't visited any, so can't speak from personal experience.

Whoa. You thought Dartmouth and Williams weren't that great? Personally, I was blown away at how nice everything is at Williams. It felt like everything had been either built or refurbished in the last decade and polished by a team of well-paid elves each night. Dartmouth was also extremely nice although just a shade less nice than Williams. I'm not disputing your observations, but just noting how different my own were.

In terms of nice, well-kept buildings, I'd rank Bowdoin just after Williams and Dartmouth. But, overall, very nice. I had no complaints. And Bowdoin's food was excellent.

[Anonymous]

Usc. Lol at whoever said ucla

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you actually choose your college based upon this? Not fit or quality of education?

Are you superficial and status seeking in other aspects of your life?

There's no need for the sanctimony. I think the vast majority of kids at least consider the quality of a college's facilities, food, and dorms in their college selection process. It shouldn't be the dominant consideration, but it's still a legitimate consideration.