I like to visit university campuses as part of my travels. I’ve visited dozens of campuses across 4 continents and I decided to collate them into a tier list, according to my personal preferences. This article is a living document that I will update with new campuses as I visit them.
Methodology
The rankings, in order from highest to lowest, are S, A, B, C, and D. I will also mention some characteristics of each campus:
- Type: A campus will be a dedicated plot of land somewhat segregated from the surrounding city, or loosely coupled buildings spread out and/or integrated throughout the city. For lack of a better name, I will use the terms Dedicated style and Integrated style for these types respectively. This is a pretty rough heuristic – most campuses will have the buildings pretty close together even for an Integrated style, and my classification is largely based on how it feels.
- Location: A campus will be located in or near a major city, or will be in a small city or town that is often built up specifically to accommodate the university, which is a dominating presence in the small city or town. I will use the terms Central and Remote to describe the location where the campus is situated.
- Size: Simply the size of the campus, measured as one of Large, Medium, or Small. There are no objective metrics for what constitutes each size; sizes may be somewhat inconsistent based on what my impressions were. Indeed, a campus in a small city might feel larger than one in a large city since it is more of a dominating presence, even though they might be the same size in terms of square footage. A campus that has few huge, domineering buildings might feel larger than one with smaller buildings even if it occupies less land.
Personally, I prefer Dedicated, Central, Medium to Large campuses. However, these seem to be quite rare, probably for good reason. Indeed, it is probably quite difficult to attain a large plot of real estate in a large city center in order to build a campus. Campuses that are Dedicated and Central tend to be smaller in size too, often just a single large building. Of course, this ranking will be based on my personal preferences. I will also factor my perceived quality of the city when doing my rankings. The prestige of the school will bear no weight on these rankings, neither will the students’ quality of life unless it also pertains to how I felt as a visitor there. For example, I will not consider how well the professors treats their students or the quality of the coursework.
I only had a limited time to explore many of these, especially the building interiors of many entries were completely unexplored. I tried my best to supplement my impressions with pictures from the internet in such cases. In any case, these rankings might be based on incomplete information.
To summarize, the main aspects I will consider when ranking each entry are as follows:
- Type, Location, and Size
- How I feel about the city and the campus’ location in said city
- Atmosphere: Does it feel lively or dull?
- Building aesthetics and building interior when applicable
- Other campus aesthetics: green spaces, decor, etc.
The List
The list will be in descending order of tiers. Unlike my Waterloo tier list, I don’t have a chronological narrative to tie each place together, nor do I remember the order in which I visited them. There will be some pictures, but I didn’t take pictures of every campus.
S Tier
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (Boston/Cambridge)
Size: Large
Boston is a fantastic, vibrant city that is gorgeous to look at with lots to do. The city’s public transport is on the better side when it comes to American cities, and the people there were incredibly friendly. MIT is situated across the Charles River, granting a magnificent view of the Boston skyline. Unique architecture and historic buildings abound.
University of Toronto (St. George campus)
Type: Integrated
Location: Central (Toronto)
Size: Large
Toronto is perhaps my favourite city. Massive and bustling, workable local public transit (especially with the new LRT), and a friendly Canadian population. The university predates the Dominion of Canada by 40 years, and some of the historic architecture reflects this. Though the buildings are scattered, the fact that it’s in such a pleasant city more than makes up for it.
Peking University
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (Beijing)
Size: Large
PKU, like Tsinghua (and I’m sure many other Chinese universities), is effectively a gated community. You need to submit to a facial recognition scan or otherwise provide identity documents to show that you are a student, staff, or otherwise authorized individual in order to enter. I obtained access through a family friend who studied there, and they registered me as a visitor. I reached the campus through the subway. The public transport network is somewhat crowded, but still impressive given the size of Beijing.
The campus itself is amazing. Though the buildings don’t show as much architectural prowess, lots of green spaces and recreational areas make up for it. Of note is the Weiming Lake, a large artificial lake within the campus perimeter. The lake area can be considered a tourist attraction in of itself.
Beijing itself is obviously a gigantic and busy city and perhaps the most iconic stop for any tourist in China. One flaw I’ve found is the car-centric city planning leads to a somewhat hostile experience for pedestrians. Beijing has accomplished dense urban building infrastructure, but commuters are still reliant on cars due to the sheer size of the city. As such, roads are massive and crossing them is an uneasy experience.
A Tier
ETH Zurich
Type: Integrated
Location: Central (Zurich)
Size: Medium
A historic institution that once hosted the likes of Einstein and von Neumann, ETH Zurich’s main building (the “Zentrum”) could not be more centrally located in the Zurich city center core. The building itself is gorgeous and shows off elegant nineteenth century architecture. Other ETH affiliated buildings are close by, and the university has a satellite campus in the Honggerberg. The main building’s “Polyterrasse” provides an overlook onto the rest of Zurich (such as the one pictured below), which is absolutely gorgeous at any time of day. While the city of Zurich doesn’t provide a whole lot to do for the average tourist, the city boasts a vibrant atmosphere and very high quality of life.
Northeastern University
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (Boston)
Size: Medium
Located in the Boston city center, Northeastern University has a sprawling campus right in the heart of the city. The location is phenomenal, and the main building looks quite grand. For me, the only thing holding NEU back from S tier is some more interesting and unique architecture.
Boston University
Type: Integrated
Location: Central (Boston)
Size: Medium
Located on the Boston side of the Charles River, the BU campus is minutes away from the same gorgeous view as MIT, except this time from the opposite side. The computer science building (pictured below) has incredibly unique architecture, and the interior is cozy and inviting. Despite all the BU buildings being clustered in one place, the lack of dilineation of the campus boundaries make it feel somewhat more scattered.
UC Berkeley
Type: Dedicated
Location: Remote-ish (Berkeley)
Size: Large
The buildings at Berkeley aren’t particularly exceptional, but they aren’t bland either. A major selling point is the abundance of greenery, as much of the campus feels surrounded by forest which gives it a secluded yet still vibrant aura. Despite this, it is not isolated from the rest of the city of Berkeley, which despite being quite small did not feel very boring. One factor that helps UC Berkeley a lot is its close proximity to San Francisco, which in my opinion is one of the better cities in America. SF can be conveniently reached via the BART public transit system.
B Tier
University of Miami
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (Miami)
Size: Medium
The University of Miami fully exploits the wildlife and natural beauty native to the Miami area. The lake that dominates the middle of campus makes it one of the most scenic campuses on this list. Something that holds Miami back is the egregious surburban sprawl which makes the campus very far from the Miami core where all the fun is. This is compounded by the totally inadequate (though improving) public transit. If UMiami was located in the city, the campus would have the potential to be S tier.
Florida International University
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (Miami)
Size: Large
I have pretty much the same things to say about Florida International University as I do about the University of Miami. FIU, however, boasts some very impressive buildings such as the library pictured below.
University of Barcelona
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (Barcelona)
Size: Small
The University of Barcelona, similar to a number of European schools on the list, is one large building. Barcelona is an incredible tourist destination, though recent protests have publicized issues with this; namely, the presence of tourists driving prices up and pricing locals out of their own city. The University interior features a central garden area with a coffee shop hidden inside.
Manchester Metropolitan University
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (Manchester)
Size: Small
Manchester Metropolitan University features some impressive buildings, however it’s located in a rather inconvenient place relative to the Manchester city center. I didn’t go inside, but pictures online make the building interiors seem quite impressive.
London School of Economics
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (London)
Size: Small
The London School of Economics is tucked away in a quiet part of the other loud and bustling city of London. Lots of bonus points for the location, though the campus itself is rather unremarkable.
Georgia Institute of Technology
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (Atlanta)
Size: Large
Georgia Tech boasts a rather large campus, located directly next to Atlanta’s midtown core. There’s no truly impressive architecture, but the buildings aren’t bland by any means and there’s a lot to explore on and around campus. I’m not a big fan of Atlanta between the extremely poor public transit, the extremely aggressive traffic conditions, and the suburban sprawl.
Harvard University
Type: Integrated
Location: Central (Cambridge/Boston)
Size: Large
Harvard is a dominating presence in Cambridge. The campus is quite sprawling and large to the point that it feels like a Dedicated campus once you’re in the middle of it. I classified it as Integrated since the edges of campus feel very well integrated with the rest of Cambridge. The architecture isn’t much to look at save for a couple buildings, and its quite far from the Boston city center; though there is a direct bus between Harvard and MIT.
C Tier
University of Waterloo
Type: Dedicated
Location: Remote (Waterloo)
Size: Large
I spent much of my life in the Waterloo campus. The buildings generally aren’t much to look at, and some are downright depressing. Much of the interior does not make up for this. The university is a dominating presence in the small city of Waterloo, which is a generally boring place to be. At least an ecosystem has been built up around the university – there is a major bus stop on campus which acts as a terminal station for many routes and a large restaurant plaza services the university’s students.
Dalhousie University
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (Halifax)
Size: Medium
For some reason Dalhoudie is located in the middle of surburban residential housing, though it’s within walking distance of the vibrant Halifax city center. There are a number of Dalhousie affiliated buildings spread out through the city besides the main campus area.
EPFL
Type: Dedicated
Location: Remote (Lausanne)
Size: Large
The EPFL campus is large and in the middle of nowhere. The buildings are generally bland, plain concrete. Even if you take a tram to the Lausanne city center, there’s not much going on. The city is small and boring.
Free University of Brussels (VUB/ULB)
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (Brussels)
Size: Large
The Free University of Brussels existed from 1834 to 1969, after which contention between the Dutch and French speaking populations of Brussels resulted in it splitting into two, independent schools: the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the Universite libre de Bruxelles, speaking Dutch and French respectively. Since they are literally next to each other and effectively part of the same campus, I will include them in the same entry here. Though the campus is generally boring and far away from the Brussels city center, some standout areas feel quite lively. I’m not a big fan of the city of Brussels – it feels a little rundown and in need of major investments in infrastructure. The tier list summary at the end of the post will use the VUB logo (instead of the ULB one) for no particular reason.
University of Bern
Type: Dedicated
Location: Remote (Bern)
Size: Small
In the de-facto capital of Switzerland, the University of Bern features one large, very impressive looking building pictured below. The city of Bern also boasts magnificent panoramic views1. The city is otherwise very small, peaceful, and relaxing to live in. That’s great for some people, but I prefer a more upbeat vibe.
Technical University of Denmark (Danmarks Tekniske Universitet)
Type: Integrated
Location: Remote (Lyngby)
Size: Large
The most remote-feeling campus on this list – much of it is surrounded by forest! Although Lyngby is well connected to the Copenhagen city core, the town itself feels very isolated and sparse. The buildings are not much to look at either but I enjoyed the general atmosphere among the students, it felt like there was a strong sense of community.
University of Antwerp
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (Antwerp)
Size: Small
The University of Antwerp is one building with a courtyard in the middle. My friend and I passed by the main gate just as staff were locking it for summer break. They allowed us to look inside for a couple of minutes so I got a proper look of the entire exterior at least. Antwerp is a major city in Belgium, and the university is located near the city core. The university building itself, however, is unremarkable.
Virginia Commonwealth University
Type: Integrated
Location: Remote-ish (Richmond)
Size: Medium
The city of Richmond, Virginia is home to over 200,000 people, straddling the line between Remote and Central. Ultimately, my classification was based on the general vibe that it felt like a small city rather than a large city. Although the architecture wasn’t exceptionally dull, nothing really stood out to me to warrant a higher rank. The city itself felt peaceful.
Stanford University
Type: Dedicated
Location: Remote (Palo Alto)
Size: Large
Stanford University has a sprawling campus in the middle of nowhere, Palo Alto with a well-known church as a centerpiece. The campus is massive with lots of small wooded or otherwise green areas, and roads that make driving around campus very possible. This also creates a lot of physical distance between campus buildings, and walking from one building to another takes a long time. To be honest, this campus felt like a posh private villa and not at all like a university. Both the interior and exterior look appealing as a vacation resort, but that vibe is not what I am looking for at a university campus.
University of California, Davis
Type: Dedicated
Location: Remote (Davis)
Size: Large
UC Davis is just off to the west of Sacramento, and boasts a large campus in the small town of Davis, which has a population of under 100,000. There’s no particularly impressive architecture, but both the exterior and interior felt nice and lively. The main thing bringing down the ranking of UC Davis is the remote location, which is not in range of the BART. You would need to drive or take Amtrak (which is absolutely horrible) to get to SF. I didn’t visit Sacremento – it’s possible I would have liked US Davis better if I had, though from what I hear there’s nothing going on in Sacramento either.
D Tier
Saint Mary’s University
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (Halifax)
Size: Small
SMU is actually directly next to Dalhousie’s main campus. What warrants a lower rank is its size – there is one main building, which I explored with a friend but it did not feel very impressive, grand, or vibrant.
University of Malta (Msida campus)
Type: Dedicated
Location: Remote (Msida)
Size: Medium
There is actually another campus in the capital city of Valletta, but I won’t review it since it’s just a singular building and it would achieve the same ranking. Although the buildings are very bland concrete, the campus well compensates for it with lots of recreational spaces such as a public square and a small plaza for shopping and restaurants. My largest gripe by far is the location. Msida is a small town, but besides that all of Malta except a select few places have twisting and nonsensical roads and very hostile infrastructure for pedestrians. It’s so all over the place that it’s hard to tell where Msida starts and ends. Valletta breaks with this norm by providing pedestrian friendly walkways and nicer architecture. I imagine this is to better accommodate tourists, but the stark contrast is a little disconcerting. At least the country seems very friendly to cats.
University of Liechtenstein
Type: Dedicated
Location: Remote (Vaduz)
Size: (Very) Small
Vaduz is the one of the largest cities and capital of Liechtenstein, yet it only houses around 6000 people. It barely trails behind Schaan in population. I was surprised that the country even has one university, but it seems there are multiple. The University of Liechtenstein has one building, which is quite small. It was locked so I couldn’t get inside, but glass panes revealed at least the main lobby. I imagine that studying here would be quite isolating, but at least the view onto the alps (pictured below) is unparalleled.
Sapienza University of Rome
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (Rome)
Size: Medium
I don’t need to tell any reader just how bustling, lively, and full of adventure the city of Rome is. Why then is the University of Rome in D Tier? The buildings, perhaps surprisingly, are architecturally boring. The main building is a plain beige colour with no texture whatsoever. The campus also gave somewhat of a run-down feeling, as if it needed major renovations.
University of Texas at Austin
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (Austin)
Size: Large
While Austin is a decently sized city, it is marked by endless sprawl and extremely poor transit infrastructure. The campus itself is very car-centric too, with roads everywhere.
University College London
Type: Dedicated
Location: Central (London)
Size: Medium
UCL is centrally located in London – a fantastic place to be. The location literally could not be much better. The poor ranking is due to the claustrophobic atmosphere around campus. Everything feels tight and the buildings were bland, ugly looking brick. The main entraceway was under construction when I visited so I was unable to visit. If it was complete, it’s possible that it would elevate UCL to C tier, or B tier at most. But I can only judge based on what I saw that day.
Anton de Kom University
Type: Dedicated
Location: Remote (outskirts of Paramaribo)
Size: Medium
Anton de Kom is Suriname’s only accredited university. While it’s technically located in Suriname’s largest city Paramaribo, it being on the edge combined with the fact that it’s unreachable from the city center without a long car ride makes it more akin to a remote campus. Even though the Miami campuses were on the outskirts as well, at least they were reachable with Miami’s poor but existent transport system. Buses do exist in Paramaribo, but the documentation is extremely poor when it comes to schedules and maps and I doubt any of them can reach the university.
The university itself, by first-world standards, is extremely run-down. Many of the buildings don’t even have four walls around it. They are plain concrete without any flair to speak of. I don’t think school was in session while I was there, but looking at the nameplates it looks like many of their professors only had bachelor degrees. This cmapus is the only one I’ve visited that doesn’t have eduroam.
All that being said, Suriname is a small developing country and the fact that they’ve managed even this much to educate their citizens is a commendable accomplishment. Plus, the library had a very nice fish pond (pictured below) as a centerpiece.
F Tier
UC Louvain
Type: Dedicated
Location: Very Remote (Louvain-la-Neuve)
Size: Small
THERE IS NOTHING HERE!!! I found this campus accidentally because I had a transfer at the station in Louvain-la-Neuve but missed my transfer, so I was stranded for about an hour. It is extremely remote with absolutely nothing here. The town was built around the university, and the university has nothing interesting to speak of. I didn’t even realize I was on a university campus until after I had left and googled the location. This place is so weird and so remote, it felt like an abandoned ghost town.
Summary
I’ve included an HTML rendering of the tier list below. As part of this blog post, I wrote a script to scrape university logos to feature them in the tier list render. The repository for my code, as well as for all the logos I scraped is here.
University Campus Tier List
