Anonymous
04/18/2026 22:50
Subject: Most beautiful campuses
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Another nice list:
https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/a70897879/most-beautiful-college-campuses/
It is fascinating to me that Boston College never makes any of these lists. This list, for example, has Villanova and BU. The Travel and Leisure list has Georgetown. I've been to these campuses, and BC is a far more beautiful campus in my opinion.
There are few campuses that don't have average or bad areas.
Vassar College may be among those few with no average/bad areas. I’ve heard it described visually as the “Platonic ideal of a (albeit small) campus.” You do need to enjoy Dark Gothic, with a very few exceptions, though.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 18:50
Subject: Most beautiful campuses
Cambridge has extraordinary architecture and gardens, particularly on the Backs of the Cam. In the U.S., I think Colorado is the best large campus and Scripps the best small campus.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 14:47
Subject: Most beautiful campuses
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Another nice list:
https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/a70897879/most-beautiful-college-campuses/
It is fascinating to me that Boston College never makes any of these lists. This list, for example, has Villanova and BU. The Travel and Leisure list has Georgetown. I've been to these campuses, and BC is a far more beautiful campus in my opinion.
BU? I didn't see BU on any list, did I miss it. The thing with the super urban schools is that they don't have the same kind of identifiable campus, just emblematic buildings. Boston is a beautiful city but don't know how you can put BU on the list.
I agree with you that BC is lovely. I like Georgetown's location better but for a campus itself, BC is prettier than Georgetown or Villanova.
I find so many campuses charming and pretty, I don't know how anyone compiles these lists. Many colleges have a few spectacular spots: like the Rotunda and Lawn at UVA or views of the River Houses and bridges on the Charles River at Harvard... it is hard to beat those shots but does that make the schools "most beautiful"? And others just seem very nice but not superlative like William and Mary--I think it is very nice but does it stand out among peers? To me, the ones that really stand out to me have a distinctive and uniform look like Stanford or Sewanee.
Harvard never quite comes together compared to its peers like Cambridge, Oxford, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford (in that order in my view). Not sure why given their wealth and age. UVA's Lawn area is beautiful and historic, but the rest of the campus doesn't do much for me. I like William and Mary's campus, but it definitely has some spots that are average.
Gothic Duke is nice, but I don't really like the East Campus or some other areas. Washington has extraordinarily beautiful areas, but it seems to me like they have some real clunkers. There are few campuses that don't have average or bad areas.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 14:32
Subject: Most beautiful campuses
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Another nice list:
https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/a70897879/most-beautiful-college-campuses/
It is fascinating to me that Boston College never makes any of these lists. This list, for example, has Villanova and BU. The Travel and Leisure list has Georgetown. I've been to these campuses, and BC is a far more beautiful campus in my opinion.
BU? I didn't see BU on any list, did I miss it. The thing with the super urban schools is that they don't have the same kind of identifiable campus, just emblematic buildings. Boston is a beautiful city but don't know how you can put BU on the list.
I agree with you that BC is lovely. I like Georgetown's location better but for a campus itself, BC is prettier than Georgetown or Villanova.
I find so many campuses charming and pretty, I don't know how anyone compiles these lists. Many colleges have a few spectacular spots: like the Rotunda and Lawn at UVA or views of the River Houses and bridges on the Charles River at Harvard... it is hard to beat those shots but does that make the schools "most beautiful"? And others just seem very nice but not superlative like William and Mary--I think it is very nice but does it stand out among peers? To me, the ones that really stand out to me have a distinctive and uniform look like Stanford or Sewanee.
Well, it is all subjective. You could rank based the most beautiful spots on the campus or based on the overall beauty of the entire campus and get two completely different lists.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 14:22
Subject: Most beautiful campuses
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Another nice list:
https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/a70897879/most-beautiful-college-campuses/
It is fascinating to me that Boston College never makes any of these lists. This list, for example, has Villanova and BU. The Travel and Leisure list has Georgetown. I've been to these campuses, and BC is a far more beautiful campus in my opinion.
You could do a very good top 10 just off of Catholic/Jesuit schools. University of San Diego, Notre Dame, Holy Cross, Boston College, Loyola Marymount, Villanova, Fordham, Santa Clara. Maybe Georgetown, but I suspect there may be better ones I have forgotten or not seen.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 08:50
Subject: Most beautiful campuses
City College of NY. Not joking.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 08:44
Subject: Most beautiful campuses
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Another nice list:
https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/a70897879/most-beautiful-college-campuses/
It is fascinating to me that Boston College never makes any of these lists. This list, for example, has Villanova and BU. The Travel and Leisure list has Georgetown. I've been to these campuses, and BC is a far more beautiful campus in my opinion.
BU? I didn't see BU on any list, did I miss it. The thing with the super urban schools is that they don't have the same kind of identifiable campus, just emblematic buildings. Boston is a beautiful city but don't know how you can put BU on the list.
I agree with you that BC is lovely. I like Georgetown's location better but for a campus itself, BC is prettier than Georgetown or Villanova.
I find so many campuses charming and pretty, I don't know how anyone compiles these lists. Many colleges have a few spectacular spots: like the Rotunda and Lawn at UVA or views of the River Houses and bridges on the Charles River at Harvard... it is hard to beat those shots but does that make the schools "most beautiful"? And others just seem very nice but not superlative like William and Mary--I think it is very nice but does it stand out among peers? To me, the ones that really stand out to me have a distinctive and uniform look like Stanford or Sewanee.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 07:26
Subject: Most beautiful campuses
Anonymous wrote:Another nice list:
https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/a70897879/most-beautiful-college-campuses/
It is fascinating to me that Boston College never makes any of these lists. This list, for example, has Villanova and BU. The Travel and Leisure list has Georgetown. I've been to these campuses, and BC is a far more beautiful campus in my opinion.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 07:24
Subject: Most beautiful campuses
Cornell.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 01:06
Subject: Re:Most beautiful campuses
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:According to Travel & Leisure- here are the top 50: https://www.travelandleisure.com/most-beautiful-college-campus-in-usa-11910559.
The top 10 are:
1. Sewanee: The University of the South
2. Indiana University Bloomington
3. University of Colorado Boulder
4. Kenyon College
5. St. Olaf College
6. Santa Clara University
7. Rhodes College
8. William & Mary
9. Vanderbilt University
10. Pepperdine University
Miami of Ohio makes Vanderbilt look like a dump.
I have seen most of these. Of the ones I have seen I would say Vanderbilt is very nice but not top 10. Same for Santa Clara. I would replace with Duke and Scripps feon the same general regions.
Anonymous
04/17/2026 14:40
Subject: Re:Most beautiful campuses
Anonymous wrote:According to Travel & Leisure- here are the top 50: https://www.travelandleisure.com/most-beautiful-college-campus-in-usa-11910559.
The top 10 are:
1. Sewanee: The University of the South
2. Indiana University Bloomington
3. University of Colorado Boulder
4. Kenyon College
5. St. Olaf College
6. Santa Clara University
7. Rhodes College
8. William & Mary
9. Vanderbilt University
10. Pepperdine University
Miami of Ohio makes Vanderbilt look like a dump.
Anonymous
04/17/2026 12:19
Subject: Most beautiful campuses
It is interesting but no one from California finds Stanford especially beautiful. Believe it’s considered faux Spanish and beyond the somewhat dramatic entry other buildings are honhum. Even a lot of trailers.
Anonymous
04/17/2026 12:09
Subject: Most beautiful campuses
NYU
Anonymous
04/17/2026 10:17
Subject: Most beautiful campuses
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Kenton’s dorm was dingy
Kenyon?
Assuming so, I think that is unfair. Several of the dorms have rooms that don't look like prison cells. Beautiful campuses usually are ranked by the outside of the buildings, not the inside.
Anonymous
04/17/2026 10:06
Subject: Most beautiful campuses
Or just the browser shuffling them for a while. Carry on.