UVA, BC, Georgetown, and UPenn were all disappointing when we toured.

Tufts was the most depressing place we had ever been, and the tour was downright strange, and took us almost no where of importance.

Anonymous wrote:We thought Bucknell had potential, but there was this God-awful big ugly cylinder that started on campus and appeared to lead in the direction of Manhattan. I think I heard it referred to as some sort of "pipeline." Not really sure, but it ruined the campus aesthetic.

Fascinating. It would have been interesting to crawl through that pipeline to see where it leads. Probably just leads to a kielbasa shop in Altoona or Johnstown, but you never know.

We thought Bucknell had potential, but there was this God-awful big ugly cylinder that started on campus and appeared to lead in the direction of Manhattan. I think I heard it referred to as some sort of "pipeline." Not really sure, but it ruined the campus aesthetic.

Georgetown, GW, American

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA

Too many columns. Too much sprawl. There is more to masonry than red brick.
The recent interior "upgrades" to the historic buildings consists mostly of painted gypboard.

+10000 about the sprawl and the ***RED*** brick. Got so sick of the thousands of bright white columns, too. I know it's original/historic but it kind of looked like a cheap remake of something. Not to mention the weird vibe of the tour. I heard they changed it recently but it was very off putting. DC did not end up applying partially because of the tour ("grounds" and experience of the tour combined.)

Anonymous wrote:W&M, as many other posters have said. Underwhelming doesn't even begin to cover it.

What does this mean?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA

Too many columns. Too much sprawl. There is more to masonry than red brick.
The recent interior "upgrades" to the historic buildings consists mostly of painted gypboard.

Right?! +100

W&M, as many other posters have said. Underwhelming doesn't even begin to cover it.

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Anonymous wrote:Davidson was a ghost town. We did pop in to the cafeteria at 6:00 and all the students looked so young. Felt like high school.

Northwestern was one long linear corridor.

Penn? Surprisingly lively and buzzing. Loved it.

Are the students supposed to look old?

lol

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Anonymous wrote:When we were doing the college tours, Columbia is the one that struck me as the most dismal. The cigarette smoking was pretty striking. The school seemed really depressing.

i don't want to pile on Northwestern, but that too seemed like an unhappy school. And yes, Lake Michigan. Nice football practice facility. But the place felt cold.

Students from New England boarding schools smoke. It’s just how it is. I feel like there’s so much actual important things to notice that this makes no sense to even bring up

I have never noticed this. Certainly did not occur at the few elite NE boarding schools which I used to visit.

You really should meet there alum. DD’s roomate is a choate alum and smokes habitually. Her smoker friends have graduated from Deerfield, Milton, Taft, Hackley, and a public school. There’s a reason students smoke cigars when they graduate those schools, smoking is silently encouraged and socially promoted.

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Anonymous wrote:When we were doing the college tours, Columbia is the one that struck me as the most dismal. The cigarette smoking was pretty striking. The school seemed really depressing.

i don't want to pile on Northwestern, but that too seemed like an unhappy school. And yes, Lake Michigan. Nice football practice facility. But the place felt cold.

Students from New England boarding schools smoke. It’s just how it is. I feel like there’s so much actual important things to notice that this makes no sense to even bring up

I'm a former smoker. But I think any 19 year old smoking cigarettes today is not well. And if that's what boarding students from New England at Columbia are about, it's reflective of a completely garbage culture. And that's generally my opinion of Columbia. They are the cigarette people.

I agree with this assessment. What a turnoff.

Interesting. I went to Columbia and am a prof there now. This assessment seems accurate for when I went there in the mid-late 90s but not for now! There used to be large clusters of smokers outside every humanities building all the time. Now there aren't and there are actually only a few designated smoking places on campus and they're far from building entranes.

+1 We visited Columbia in the fall and didn’t see anyone smoking. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I saw any smokers on our college tours (CT, MA, PA). If there were any, would’ve been minimal. I hate smoking and would’ve noticed if there were a lot.

DP. Maybe off topic, but the smoking I noticed wasn't specifically at Columbia, but the smell of weed on almost every block in Manhattan.

I live in Manhattan and this is accurate . Not much you can do, except not send your kid to college in NYC.

To be fair, every block in DC also smells of weed.

Anonymous wrote:MIT. ugliest campus.

In MIT's defense, its middle name is Institute. That doesn't scream aesthetics.

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Anonymous wrote:When we were doing the college tours, Columbia is the one that struck me as the most dismal. The cigarette smoking was pretty striking. The school seemed really depressing.

i don't want to pile on Northwestern, but that too seemed like an unhappy school. And yes, Lake Michigan. Nice football practice facility. But the place felt cold.

Students from New England boarding schools smoke. It’s just how it is. I feel like there’s so much actual important things to notice that this makes no sense to even bring up

I'm a former smoker. But I think any 19 year old smoking cigarettes today is not well. And if that's what boarding students from New England at Columbia are about, it's reflective of a completely garbage culture. And that's generally my opinion of Columbia. They are the cigarette people.

I agree with this assessment. What a turnoff.

Interesting. I went to Columbia and am a prof there now. This assessment seems accurate for when I went there in the mid-late 90s but not for now! There used to be large clusters of smokers outside every humanities building all the time. Now there aren't and there are actually only a few designated smoking places on campus and they're far from building entranes.

+1 We visited Columbia in the fall and didn’t see anyone smoking. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I saw any smokers on our college tours (CT, MA, PA). If there were any, would’ve been minimal. I hate smoking and would’ve noticed if there were a lot.

DP. Maybe off topic, but the smoking I noticed wasn't specifically at Columbia, but the smell of weed on almost every block in Manhattan.

I live in Manhattan and this is accurate . Not much you can do, except not send your kid to college in NYC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA

Too many columns. Too much sprawl. There is more to masonry than red brick.
The recent interior "upgrades" to the historic buildings consists mostly of painted gypboard.

That said, my kid is enjoying her experience there. I have no gripes about the campus planning.
I speak as an architect weirded out by the replication of the same visual language everywhere on that campus. And those cheap interior upgrades do not honor the historic ism of the buildings.

UVA has always struggled with how and when to use modern architecture.