Ugliest Elite College?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

To me, Amherst for liberal arts colleges and MIT for university with Yale as a runner up


I don't understand comments about Amherst being ugly. It is not a masterpiece, but I have seen way worse like MIT.

I read the title of the thread and immediately thought of Amherst.

Yeah…Amherst is pretty dang ugly. Yeah they have the memorial hill, but the actual built environment is really ugly. The only decent building on campus is the science center, which I got a really bad coffee from. It’s a shame cause all the other lacs we toured were nicer.

I don't understand this. We visited Amherst several times as my DS was very interested, but ended up choosing somewhere else. The campus is beautiful. The buildings are a bit mix and match, but that seems like part of the charm. The campus as a whole is beautiful, as are the views. I think people on this threat focus too much on the buildings.

My kids doesn't go to Amherst and neither did I, so I have no bias. But DH and I were literally talking the other day about how Amherst is the quintessential American college, so pretty.

[Anonymous]

I was admitted to Amherst and visited years ago. It really left no impression so was literally the definition of “underwhelming.” Williams, on the other hand, left a much stronger impression as the quintessential SLAC (ended up at an Ivy).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MIT, including the insides of some of the buildings. The outskirts of Cornell’s campus are terrible but the A&S area is lovely with an incredible view so I think it’s really nice for undergrads staying on campus in that area. I like Stanford’s campus but I grew up in California so perhaps it’s an acquired taste.

I grew up in CA as well, and people compared Stanford's design to Taco Bell!

My DC who attends Stanford says the campus architecture is like Taco Bell. But they absolutely LOVE everything about Stanford and couldn't imagine going anywhere else. Younger DC thought the campus was very nice and weather pretty perfect, but doesn't care for the architecture. Likes the traditional East Coast look like Princeton and Duke.

[Anonymous]

Penn, never thought an Ivy would look so cheap and low budget. Also right next to the hood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Penn, never thought an Ivy would look so cheap and low budget. Also right next to the hood.

I swear my hidden talent is inadvertently taking the scenic route into college tours. We walked around a lot, how did I not see it?! It’s not fresh, but I recall walking around hospital on one side and Drexel on the other. Same with Yale, everyone makes similar comments, and I didn’t see it there either.

[Anonymous]

Does Gatech count as eliteish? Is so than it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Penn, never thought an Ivy would look so cheap and low budget. Also right next to the hood.

Agree. After the tour we went looking for a snack and metro stop, so we walked about 2 blocks off campus and it was ghastly. Heroin addicts passed out in front of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

To me, Amherst for liberal arts colleges and MIT for university with Yale as a runner up


I don't understand comments about Amherst being ugly. It is not a masterpiece, but I have seen way worse like MIT.

I read the title of the thread and immediately thought of Amherst.

Yeah…Amherst is pretty dang ugly. Yeah they have the memorial hill, but the actual built environment is really ugly. The only decent building on campus is the science center, which I got a really bad coffee from. It’s a shame cause all the other lacs we toured were nicer.

I don't understand this. We visited Amherst several times as my DS was very interested, but ended up choosing somewhere else. The campus is beautiful. The buildings are a bit mix and match, but that seems like part of the charm. The campus as a whole is beautiful, as are the views. I think people on this threat focus too much on the buildings.

My kids doesn't go to Amherst and neither did I, so I have no bias. But DH and I were literally talking the other day about how Amherst is the quintessential American college, so pretty.

Yeah, we thought so too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MIT, including the insides of some of the buildings. The outskirts of Cornell’s campus are terrible but the A&S area is lovely with an incredible view so I think it’s really nice for undergrads staying on campus in that area. I like Stanford’s campus but I grew up in California so perhaps it’s an acquired taste.

I grew up in CA as well, and people compared Stanford's design to Taco Bell!

My DC who attends Stanford says the campus architecture is like Taco Bell. But they absolutely LOVE everything about Stanford and couldn't imagine going anywhere else. Younger DC thought the campus was very nice and weather pretty perfect, but doesn't care for the architecture. Likes the traditional East Coast look like Princeton and Duke.

Neither of those campuses are traditional East coast architecture at all. They’re rip offs from English academic architecture.

Traditional east coast architecture is seen at Harvard, Williams, and Dartmouth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

To me, Amherst for liberal arts colleges and MIT for university with Yale as a runner up


I don't understand comments about Amherst being ugly. It is not a masterpiece, but I have seen way worse like MIT.

I read the title of the thread and immediately thought of Amherst.

Yeah…Amherst is pretty dang ugly. Yeah they have the memorial hill, but the actual built environment is really ugly. The only decent building on campus is the science center, which I got a really bad coffee from. It’s a shame cause all the other lacs we toured were nicer.

I don't understand this. We visited Amherst several times as my DS was very interested, but ended up choosing somewhere else. The campus is beautiful. The buildings are a bit mix and match, but that seems like part of the charm. The campus as a whole is beautiful, as are the views. I think people on this threat focus too much on the buildings.

My kids doesn't go to Amherst and neither did I, so I have no bias. But DH and I were literally talking the other day about how Amherst is the quintessential American college, so pretty.

How strange. There’s hardly anything on the campus, and it’s depressingly dull. Is frost library the “quintessential American college?” It’s ugly as heck. The whole place is resoundingly mediocre. I’m sure the education is excellent, but the campus is very poor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MIT, including the insides of some of the buildings. The outskirts of Cornell’s campus are terrible but the A&S area is lovely with an incredible view so I think it’s really nice for undergrads staying on campus in that area. I like Stanford’s campus but I grew up in California so perhaps it’s an acquired taste.

I grew up in CA as well, and people compared Stanford's design to Taco Bell!

My DC who attends Stanford says the campus architecture is like Taco Bell. But they absolutely LOVE everything about Stanford and couldn't imagine going anywhere else. Younger DC thought the campus was very nice and weather pretty perfect, but doesn't care for the architecture. Likes the traditional East Coast look like Princeton and Duke.

Neither of those campuses are traditional East coast architecture at all. They’re rip offs from English academic architecture.

Traditional east coast architecture is seen at Harvard, Williams, and Dartmouth.

Kid doesn't like the red brick look. I stand corrected. They don't like "traditional east coast architecture".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does Gatech count as eliteish? Is so than it.

I think Gatech is very good. Whether it's considered "elite" in DCUM terms, I don't know. May be others can chime in.

[Anonymous]

Weird, I went to Amherst and thought it was lovely. And the new buildings give great views of the Holyoke Range. Each to their own!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does Gatech count as eliteish? Is so than it.

I think Gatech is very good. Whether it's considered "elite" in DCUM terms, I don't know. May be others can chime in.

Definitely elite for engineering and CS.

[Anonymous]

Amherst is extremely ugly