OT: Campuses across the country.
I was in the Bay Area for work this week. I had some extra time to kill so I decided to drive to Palo Alto and take a look at the Stanford Campus. I couldn't believe how nice it was. Everything from the architecture to the setting. I've been to quite a few campuses on the west coast and this would rank as the best.
My question is what other campuses outside the B10 have you guys seen and how would you rate them?
I've been to these and would rate them is this order.
Stanford A+
Washington A
UCLA B
Hawaii B
Oregon C++
Oregon State C+
Temple C
WSU D
February 25th, 2011 at 5:31 PM ^
Purdue D-
Notre Dame A
Texas C+
Pepperdine A+
Wisconsin A-
Oklahoma St. F
Indiana B+
Sparty A-
February 25th, 2011 at 5:38 PM ^
Sparty B-
Ohio State C+
Wisconsin A-
Penn State B+
Indiana D+
Purdue D-
Notre Dame A
Pomona A+
Michigan would be an A-
Edit: Meant to reply to the OP not your post, sorry.
February 25th, 2011 at 6:56 PM ^
When you say Pomona, do you mean Pomona College in Claremont? If so, I agree.
February 25th, 2011 at 5:35 PM ^
Ive been to MSU but i would put them in more the B range. how bad does a campus have to be to get an F?
February 25th, 2011 at 5:37 PM ^
Oklahoma State is located in Stillwater, OK. Stillwater, OK smells like cow shit all year. Seriously.
February 25th, 2011 at 10:54 PM ^
So you're saying it's about a B+ then?
February 26th, 2011 at 12:17 AM ^
A- on a hot day.
February 25th, 2011 at 5:35 PM ^
MSU gets an A-? I seriously hate the area, regardless of school affiliation. A couple of my good friends moved there after college and it was a dump.
February 25th, 2011 at 5:41 PM ^
Im sad to say my mom works in the athletic dept for MSU. Ive been there a few times. they have a few nice buildings but most of it looks like it was built in 1968.
February 25th, 2011 at 6:00 PM ^
Msu and east Lansing is a tire fire. The entire should be nuked from the earth like it was in the nanooks video. The campus smells like cow shit in the summer. I spent a summer at msu and I couldn't get over the stench of sheep and cow crap.
February 25th, 2011 at 6:52 PM ^
Never comprimise to your enemy. +1
Btw, could not agree with your analysis of the campus any further.
February 25th, 2011 at 11:59 PM ^
Michigan-A
PSU-A-
UNC (Chapel Hill) A+
Clemson-B
South Carolina-B
Stanford-A+ (visited relatives last yr who live 30 mins from the campus. everywhere in the bay area is beautiful).
SLIPPERY ROCK-A+++++++ not really but I have fun here lol
February 25th, 2011 at 5:43 PM ^
It is hard to beat Malibu and PCH.
February 25th, 2011 at 5:56 PM ^
Purdue A+ boiler up!
<br>Clemson - F fuck clemscum
<br>South Carolina -A
<br>Furman University - A
<br>Illinois UC - C
<br>Miami (fl) - B
<br>USC - b+
<br>Wisconsin - A
<br>Minnesota - b
<br>Msu - Z
<br>Bowling green - d
<br>Toledo - c
<br>Maryland - a-
February 25th, 2011 at 7:11 PM ^
Come on, guy. Whatever you have against Clemson, the fact is it is a beautiful town and campus: A.
February 25th, 2011 at 9:34 PM ^
Go gamecocks. Clemson is great for its one square mile.
February 25th, 2011 at 8:00 PM ^
Purdue is not an A+ its all brick. There is no natural beauty. I dont like it but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
February 25th, 2011 at 9:32 PM ^
I loved purdue for all four years. Friendliest campus I have been to. A+ in my book.
February 26th, 2011 at 12:28 PM ^
I've been to Purdue twice, about 14 years apart, both times to see Michigan play, including the cold rainy game last fall. Saw more of the campus this time, really wasn't impressed. And I imagine if you're one of them, they're the "friendliest campus," but not if you're wearing maize and blue.
February 25th, 2011 at 11:31 PM ^
but it has two saving graces.
One, you can get to both the Basketball and Football games on foot in 10 minutes from any dorm.
Two, it has the campus center, which was once ranked one of the 100 most beautifully landscapped places in the US by US NEWS.
WHen those trees all bloom... wow.
I actually once took a photo that won a local art contest there.
February 25th, 2011 at 5:34 PM ^
Never been to Stanford, but I've had family tell me the exact same thing. They told me it was hands down the nicest campus they've ever seen.
I've only seen the campuses of the bigger schools in Michigan but Ann Arbor is by far my favorite. Probably a bit of homerism mixed in that opinion.
February 25th, 2011 at 5:37 PM ^
i think it helps that the campus is surrounded by million dollar houses too.
February 25th, 2011 at 7:05 PM ^
Yes it's nice, but in an old Palm Springs resort sort of way. It's not very college-y. I kept looking for the little old ladies with their tennis rackets.
The town of Palo Alto is nice and trendy, but it's seperated from the University and not very close.
Some of the campus student housing looks like 1970's Brady Bunch architecture.
February 26th, 2011 at 8:49 PM ^
I know many people love Stanford, but to me, it feels a little cold. It just doesn't have that classic college feel.
I'd give high marks to Wisconsin, Pepperdine, Cornell, Indiana, and maybe Princeton.
February 25th, 2011 at 5:34 PM ^
Notre Dame A+ (Beautiful in the Springtime--I know, I know)
Duke B
North Carolina B-
Texas C
OK State S (For smells like cow shit)
Oklahoma C
For reference, I'd give Michigan a solid B.
February 25th, 2011 at 5:38 PM ^
A b- for unc? Really? I love that campus, easily my favorite outside of Ann Arbor. Brick side walks, arboretum on campus, gardens everywhere, sculpture, old buildings, then the modern stuff on the medical side. It's like William and Mary but bigger.
February 25th, 2011 at 5:48 PM ^
I may be grading hard, but it's also been a while since I was in Chapel Hill.
Someone else mentioned Miami, OH. Very nice campus. I almost went to undergrad there.
February 25th, 2011 at 9:15 PM ^
I think your are being a little hard on UNC, but no way it's better than Michigan.
I had offers to both - no ties to either school - and chose Michigan because everything (besides the winter) was better. Better campus, better people (higher out of state population), and better business school.
Everything is in the eye of the beholder, but I have a hard time seeing what people see in UNC.
(Luckily my dad saw it the same way)
February 26th, 2011 at 12:06 AM ^
UNC was one of the nicest campuses I have ever been too. It's an A for sure. But everyone has their own opinion. I was also there in the summer when there were gorgeous girls everywhere and also visited the Dean Dome. But the campus is beautiful, and I thought the city was a perfect college town.
February 27th, 2011 at 11:42 PM ^
Zone left;
I echo the sentiment about Miami of (OH). Most the campus’s I’ve visited have been in the Midwest, and while I’m partial to Miami of (OH) campus due to my undergrad years there, I feel one would be hard pressed to find a better college setting. The consistency in campus design coupled with the ambiance of its surroundings tends to be a hard combination to beat.
Miami (OH)…A
Toledo…B
Bowling Green…C-
Ohio…A-
Kent State…D
Navy…A
Michigan…B
OSU…C
Purdue…C
Notre Dame…A
Arizona State…B+
Carnegie Mellon…B
Cincinnati…B-
Wittenberg…B+
Heidelberg…C
Ohio Wesleyan…C-
Denison…B+
Wilmington…D
February 25th, 2011 at 5:53 PM ^
Notre Dame's campus is very pretty, but IMO you can't evaluate a campus without taking the surrounding town into consideration . . . and South Bend is a terrible, dumpy city. I'll be generous and give it a B.
Duke is very similar to ND in this way (Durham is awful), but for some reason has two campuses divded, requiring bus transit. C+.
UNC was pretty cool. A-.
Princeton is very small, but a nice campus/town. B+.
Yale is a lot like ND/Duke, but the town is possibly crappier still. C.
USC is a nice campus . . . in South Central. C-
Northwestern is kind of boring, but in a nice location. B.
MSU . . . meh. B-.
Purdue . . . not much going on. C+.
Indiana was pretty nice. B+
February 25th, 2011 at 6:01 PM ^
My sister went to St. Mary's of ND for a year or two, and I have to say--ND is a huge golf course in the middle of Detroit and Gary Indiana's love child. I suppose if you're going to treat the campus as a freaking Sandals resort and never step off property you could give ND something North of a D. Otherwise not a chance.
February 25th, 2011 at 8:55 PM ^
with the Sandals resort analogy.
February 25th, 2011 at 10:07 PM ^
"the middle of Detroit and Gary Indiana's love child".
<br>
<br>Great college campus...hideous city around it.
February 25th, 2011 at 6:10 PM ^
Good point, although it is easier to avoid South Bend at Notre Dame or Durham at Duke than, say, Ann Arbor for Michigan because those two campuses exist sort of separately from the town. However, you're right--or you stay in the dorms on Saturday for four years.
February 25th, 2011 at 6:34 PM ^
As for good ol' A2, I'd give it an A-. It'd get a perfect grade, but North Campus is a bit of a downer for people who have to take classes there.
February 25th, 2011 at 6:12 PM ^
Yeah Oklahoma reminds me of MSU. Texas is overrated on all fronts but the campus is especially unimpressive. I think you hit both those ratings on the nose.
February 25th, 2011 at 6:15 PM ^
It depends on what you're looking at. If it's just campus, Texas is really overrated, which is what I was looking at. I love Austin, it reminds me a lot of a bigger Ann Arbor or Madison, but the campus itself is nothing to write home about.
February 25th, 2011 at 7:49 PM ^
B- is a little harsh I think..facilities may be a little dated (not athletic I mean; I love the Dean Dome), but I thought it was a GORGEOUS campus...tucked away on the little hillside, little downtown area...really enjoyed my time there
I was also blown away by Wake Forest...compact little campus completely surrounded/enclosed by a mini-forest in the heart of Winston-Salem...sucks that the football stadium is a little ways away, but overall thought it was a great place with a great feel to it...
February 25th, 2011 at 5:37 PM ^
Before i chose to go to school at Michigan I checked out the following; rated as followed
<br>John Hopkins c-
<br>California berkeley A+
<br>Stanford A+
<br>Georgetown B+
<br>Lsu (b/c of mom) D-
<br>Columbia B+
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February 25th, 2011 at 5:39 PM ^
i'll be back in the bay in 3 weeks. I hope i can go through Berkely.
February 25th, 2011 at 8:13 PM ^
Really? I'm doing my graduate work here, and I don't think this campus holds a candle to Ann Arbor. Overwatered lawns in a place where grass shouldn't grow to begin with, haphazard placement of buildings (and equally haphazard selection of architectural schemes - the Doe Library is nice, but WTF is up with Birge?), Telegraph is way sketchier than South U, there are zero worthwhile bars near campus, and I'm so, so tired of walking/biking up this damn hill every day. OTOH, the creek through the middle of campus is nice, and having a view straight out over the Bay to the Golden Gate bridge when walking home at night is pretty hard to beat. I'd give it a B- overall, but not an A+.
Agreed that Stanford has an absolutely beautiful campus... but agreed also with whoever said it feels more like a country club than a college.
February 26th, 2011 at 10:48 AM ^
Columbia is a hilarious approximation of a college campus. Come on.
February 25th, 2011 at 5:40 PM ^
It's considered one of the best. Small but beautiful.
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<br>Indiana A
<br>MSU B-
<br>Vanderbilt B
<br>Depaul B
February 26th, 2011 at 10:27 AM ^
I give Vandy an A. It is a beautiful campus. Add in lots of good looking girls and it moves up to an A for me.
Not yet mentioned-Wash U in St Louis. Great campus as well. Not so much for the girls though
February 25th, 2011 at 5:44 PM ^
I forgot i briefly went through Temple in downtown Philly. That to me was odd. A lot of thier classes were in very lage buildings.
February 25th, 2011 at 10:52 PM ^
Also in a bad part of town. Friends of mine have had their car broken into multiple times there.
February 25th, 2011 at 5:48 PM ^
nicest campus I have been on. Worst: Mississippi State's in Starkville--I still have nightmares about it. MSU's campus surprised me as reasonably attractive but what no place--not even Stanford has--the UM has is such a great town cheek-by-jowl w. it. NYU maybe :).
February 25th, 2011 at 5:51 PM ^
Yes you should that was my number two behind A2 bc of costs and distance, but you should like it. Make sure you see entrance gate its very nice. I've been to the U in south beach I wouldn't rank it an A+ more so B+ range
February 25th, 2011 at 5:53 PM ^
Canadian so haven't been on too many US campuses but I completely agree with the A for Washington. Sunny day next to Lake Washington with the mountains in the background isn't easy to complain about.