Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a new favorite - Middlebury. Just gorgeous.

+1

Except in winter, which lasts from late September through April.

Guess you’ve never been to Vermont in October. Best month of the year. Also, some people like snow and skiing. Guess that’s not you.

CU Boulder

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Out of the colleges I've visited, this is my list in tiers:
One of the benefits of touring colleges is getting to see the architecture, which I love.

-Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Duke, Oxford
-Cornell, W&M
-Columbia, UVA, Washington
-Colgate, Santa Clara
-Berkeley, UCLA, MIT
-Dartmouth, Fordham
-Harvard, Brown, Emory
-UNC, UCSB
-Stony Brook

I've never seen UChicago, but photos show that it is also a stunning campus.

It used to be but lately looks like there hasn't been a maintenance man or gardener in about 3 yrs. Weeds everywhere, peeling paint, etc.

Winter in Chicago will do that. I seriously doubt what you claim – their Instagram frequently posts pictures of campus, and it looks anything but unkempt.

My high school classmate is Chicago's grounds and horticulture manager. He knows his stuff and when the weather clears it is beautiful. Not an easy guy to get along with but his sharp personality means he demands a lot in his job. Haven't been in a few years but would be surprised if grounds were not in good shape.

A simply great school but not a fit for everyone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a new favorite - Middlebury. Just gorgeous.

+1

Except in winter, which lasts from late September through April.

This is a weird list, whoever made it clearly just likes colonial style campuses. Best campuses for architecture and landscape are Cornell, Yale and Princeton. Colonial style campuses are nice but too common.

Princeton
Brown
Hobart
Wisconsin
U Dub

Duke Gardens are tops.

Cambridge and Oxford, but I assume you were asking about U.S. schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Out of the colleges I've visited, this is my list in tiers:
One of the benefits of touring colleges is getting to see the architecture, which I love.

-Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Duke, Oxford
-Cornell, W&M
-Columbia, UVA, Washington
-Colgate, Santa Clara
-Berkeley, UCLA, MIT
-Dartmouth, Fordham
-Harvard, Brown, Emory
-UNC, UCSB
-Stony Brook

I've never seen UChicago, but photos show that it is also a stunning campus.

It used to be but lately looks like there hasn't been a maintenance man or gardener in about 3 yrs. Weeds everywhere, peeling paint, etc.

Winter in Chicago will do that. I seriously doubt what you claim – their Instagram frequently posts pictures of campus, and it looks anything but unkempt.

Notre Dame, Kenyon, William and Mary

Anonymous wrote:I have a new favorite - Middlebury. Just gorgeous.

+1

Anonymous wrote:Duke hands down!

I went there as a highly recruited athlete. It was the deciding factor for me.

The golf course (lots of trails) and the incredible trails in Duke Forest are, as one of their recent recruits stated, like a beautiful national forest.

The east west campus thing can be a pain and I can see why riding on a campus drive bus could be a negative for some. It is also a very social place where wealth matters. Far from perfect. But it is a beautiful place. As a very poor kid from a Chicago apartment, I used to ride the bus in silence thinking I was the luckiest guy to go to such a beautiful place at no cost.

I am surprised App State not mentioned. A true mountain campus and Moses Cone state park a few miles away. Moses Cone the best place I have run and hiked east of the Mississippi. Seems like a string statement until you go -

Anonymous wrote:I went on a lot of tours where I thought, two full-time gardeners and one lawn expert here would make a world of difference.

So weird to spend tens of millions on a gym an don't a tiny fraction on some bushes and well pruned trees.

Capital budget vs operating budget. Operating budgets, including maintenance, can be squeezed even at relatively well off schools because there are so many competing uses.

Colorado, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley

I went on a lot of tours where I thought, two full-time gardeners and one lawn expert here would make a world of difference.

So weird to spend tens of millions on a gym an don't a tiny fraction on some bushes and well pruned trees.