Favourite University Campuses
 

Hi!

I love looking at old university campuses however haven't seen too many in the US. I've seen Harvard, Unversity of Chicago, Northwestern, Columbia, and NYU. Harvard was my favourite of the lot. Any suggestions of other nice campuses to visit with good architecture, old buildings, nice cafes (nearby campus, not necessarily on)?

Also, any that are closeby to NYC would be most convenient? I.e. NJ, CT, MA, PA, VT, etc. And others will be nice to consider for possible holidays.

Thanks,

gtrekker2003

Of course, Princeton!

Mount Holyoke in South Hadley, MA has a beautiful campus designed by Frederick Law Olmstead.

Oxford, MS and the Ole Miss campus.

http://www.oxfordms.com/

http://www.jasonbaker.net/olemiss/lyc-tulip.jpg

Being a midwesterner, my favorites are Notre Dame in South Bend Indiana and the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Madison's campus is right on a beautiful lake, very near the capital and great restaurants, You can go sailing right from the Union terrace, and though we're well through school, we enjoy the bands that play every weekend right on the lake. Notre Dame, is Notre Dame. A beautiful campus and of course Touchdown Jesus.

Yale
Swarthmore

Duke, NC and parts of Chapel Hill, NC.

West Point and Annapolis are certainly notable for their campuses. Also, being around the "best and brightest" cadets and midshipmen adds to the whole experience..especially at this time in our country!

Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the Homewood campus (not the Med School campus) is the most beautiful campus I've seen. Its architecture is beautiful, pathways are brick, many nice quadrangles, so nicely landscaped and well-kept. We just returned from graduation there. It's amazingly picturesque, especially when the trees are blooming.

Other runners-up for me are Washington U. in St. Louis, and Rice U. in Houston (too far for you).
:)>-

I didn't go to school there nor do I have any ties there but to me nothing compares to the University of Virginia.

I didn't mention this the first time because you asked for campuses near NYC. But, without a doubt, the most beautiful campus I've ever seen* is the University of Indiana in Bloomington. The buildings, made from locally quarried stone, are magnificent. As is the landscaping.

*I've seen quite a few. We did a lot of campus visits when our kids were deciding on colleges. But I think I've seen even more due to the fact that our son is a college basketball freak! He insists on visiting the campus of any big basketball school we happen to be near.

I was going to post U of VA. It's beautiful there! Alson in VA the College of William and Mary. In CA, UC Santa Cruz is very pretty. Near cafe's? UC Berkeley would be a good one.

Smith
Yale
UVA

The campus of Cornell Univ. in Ithaca, NY is gorgeous! Two very deep gorges run through the main campus. The views from the bridges over the gorges are amazing. Also, the views from Cornell down to Ithaca and Cayuga Lake (one of the Finger Lakes) are lovely.

It's the most beautiful location for a campus that I've ever seen!

Another vote for Johns Hopkins.

Trinity College, in Hartford, CT is often considered to have the nicest campus of the NE LACs.

Bryn Mawr, outside of Philadelphia is beautiful.

Agree with Princeton and Smith College.

Also quite beautiful is Boston College.

If your travels take you to Canada, check out McGill University in Montreal. McGill is a beautiful campus located in downtown Montreal with Mont Royal in the background. Lots of good reataurants, cafes & shopping nearby.

I thought Princeton was very nice when I visited.

The University of Florida has lovely architecture and the best football AND basketball teams too. :D

CORNELL is truly beautiful - in its architecture, quads, and setting - rural, Cayuga lake, hills, with dramatic gorges and waterfalls very close... its very worth a trip. I live in Princeton, where there is another beautiful campus.... go to both! Also want to recommend Amherst College, which is close to Smith and Mt Holyoke - they are members of a 5 College consortium in western Mass - close enough to each other that kids take classes at the other schools - you could see a few of those very easily. let us know what you think after your travels!

Princeton comes to mind first b/c it's easy to get there on the train from NYC. The town is very pretty with lots of history. Tons of little shops and cute restaurants.

Vanderbilt--and you do not have to be a fan of country music to enjoy Nashville!

I'm a bit biased because I'm an alum, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a more beautiful campus than Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. It sits in a valley south of the city and all the architecture is Georgian-Colonial (even the press box on the football field). It's small enough to walk around in a few minutes...makes a nice stop if you're headed to the Gulf Coast on I-65 from the north.

Since my daughter is a student at Hampshire College, I just had to butt back in to add to WG's post by saying that Hamshire and UMASS are the other two schools in the consortium. While Hampshire's campus is pretty and wooded, the architecture leaves much to be desired!;)

In the East? Cornell. Further West (in case any others were wondering...): University of California at Berkeley and surrounds(views of the Bay and GG Bridge, classic architecture/landscape - Maybeck, Morgan and Olmstead); and University of Washington in Seattle.

I agree with both the Vanderbilt and University of Virginia suggestions. Vanderbilt's campus is also a national arboretum.

Because I work here..The University of Georgia, especially North Campus..
Colgate University in NYS also has a nice Campus.
But Cornell....absolutely specatcular!

St. Mary's College in Maryland. Beautiful campus right on the water. Lots of places to think deep thoughts - wish I'd gone there!

Ohio University, Athens Ohio.

In the South, Tulane and Rice both have extremely attractive campuses.

Actually agree with Duke...but compelled to say OSU especially the Oval, and The 'Shoe'. If you don't know what I'm talking about, oh well, Duke will do.

And for the few and proud, would agree with Annapolis.