I find the apparent insecurity and boosterism of those connected to Washington University in St. Louis surprising, but not great.

Anonymous wrote:STL is a hell hole. I'd disown my kids if they tried to go to school there.

I think there are many such as PP who simply don’t know better – which is why WashU is SURPRISINGLY beautiful.

Evidently FORBES doesn’t agree with PP (at least when it comes to business, careers & education (if those matter to you):

http://www.forbes.com/best-places-for-business/list/

Just four of the Top 10 schools are located in better cities:

#10 Durham, NC (Duke)
#21 San Francisco (Stanford?) #41 San Jose
#30 Cambridge, MA (Harvard)
#50 NY (Columbia)
#52 St. Louis (WashU)

Isn't this thread supposed to be about campuses that are surprisingly attractive, not where any school will end up in US News rankings in a few years.

No dog in this fight, but the Wash U. people often come off as very anxious for attention. Lots of hyperbole, lots of superlatives. It doesn't leave one with a good impression.

Anonymous wrote:STL is a hell hole. I'd disown my kids if they tried to go to school there.

So nice that your kids' education is all about you.

STL is a hell hole. I'd disown my kids if they tried to go to school there.

I agree that Wash U is a great school but it is most certainly not "the most beautiful campus among Top 15 schools." Yale, Harvard, Stanford, and Chicago all have far more beautiful campuses, and two of those schools are also adjacent to thriving major cities. I don't have the USNWR list in front of me now, but off the top of my head, Columbia is also pretty nice (the actual campus, not the surrounding area). And is UVA in the top 10? If so, it also has a very beautiful campus. I would rank all of these schools' campuses above Wash U, and of course, they are all ranked above Wash U in USNWR, too, except for UVA (which may or may not be).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Washington University in St. Louis.

I expected a boring Midwestern campus and was blown away by the GORGEOUS campus adjacent the largest urban park in the country.

Undoubtedly the most beautiful campus among Top 15 schools.

+1. I was impressed also.

+1. Wash U is headed to the Top 10. One of the "hot" schools"

-1. Overrated already. Nothing in St. Louis will ever be a Top 10 school.

What a strange statement. Have you been to St. Louis? and you think the cities of the current Top 10 are ALL a notch above St. Louis? Really?

There are a few people on DCUM who loathe WUSTL. I'm not really clear why. It's a nice school with a great reputation and a beautiful campus and smart, talented students. WUSTL students have a reputation for being more down-to-earth and less neurotic and assholish than Ivy League students, so maybe that's it.

Or maybe their school got knocked down in the rankings by WUSTL's rise.

Poor babies. So, so bitter!

Middlebury. Golf course, ski mountain and the Breadloaf campus 20 minutes away in the Green Mountains. A little cold in the winter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Washington University in St. Louis.

I expected a boring Midwestern campus and was blown away by the GORGEOUS campus adjacent the largest urban park in the country.

Undoubtedly the most beautiful campus among Top 15 schools.

+1. I was impressed also.

+1. Wash U is headed to the Top 10. One of the "hot" schools"

-1. Overrated already. Nothing in St. Louis will ever be a Top 10 school.

What a strange statement. Have you been to St. Louis? and you think the cities of the current Top 10 are ALL a notch above St. Louis? Really?

There are a few people on DCUM who loathe WUSTL. I'm not really clear why. It's a nice school with a great reputation and a beautiful campus and smart, talented students. WUSTL students have a reputation for being more down-to-earth and less neurotic and assholish than Ivy League students, so maybe that's it.

Haverford and Kenyon have beautiful campuses.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Washington University in St. Louis.

I expected a boring Midwestern campus and was blown away by the GORGEOUS campus adjacent the largest urban park in the country.

Undoubtedly the most beautiful campus among Top 15 schools.

+1. I was impressed also.

+1. Wash U is headed to the Top 10. One of the "hot" schools"

-1. Overrated already. Nothing in St. Louis will ever be a Top 10 school.

It is definitely getting the trickle down benefit of hyper-competitive admissions fallout at Ivy League and Stanford universities.

It’s very possible that Washington University will move into the Top 10 within a few years. The school was ranked #23 when it first appeared in the USNEWS rankings in 1988. UPENN moved into the Top 10 from #20 in 1990. Columbia was #18 in 1988. Chicago was #14 as recently as 1999.

Schools such as Cal-Berkley, Michigan, Brown, Northwestern and Cornell were all once in the Top 10 and have fallen out.

There just seems to be a buzz around WashU and Vanderbilt that suggests to me that these schools will continue to rise in the rankings.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Washington University in St. Louis.

I expected a boring Midwestern campus and was blown away by the GORGEOUS campus adjacent the largest urban park in the country.

Undoubtedly the most beautiful campus among Top 15 schools.

+1. I was impressed also.

+1. Wash U is headed to the Top 10. One of the "hot" schools"

-1. Overrated already. Nothing in St. Louis will ever be a Top 10 school.

What a strange statement. Have you been to St. Louis? and you think the cities of the current Top 10 are ALL a notch above St. Louis? Really?

Goucher College.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Washington University in St. Louis.

I expected a boring Midwestern campus and was blown away by the GORGEOUS campus adjacent the largest urban park in the country.

Undoubtedly the most beautiful campus among Top 15 schools.

+1. I was impressed also.

+1. Wash U is headed to the Top 10. One of the "hot" schools"

-1. Overrated already. Nothing in St. Louis will ever be a Top 10 school.