Texas A&M named top 20 ugliest campuses in America

[MajorMike]

18. Texas A&M- There’s not much wrong this campus except for the lack of color. One poster said it’s essentially “BEIGE BEIGE everywhere…” I couldn’t agree more. And, um, “Aggieland”??? Not exactly an appealing phrase, is it? And on their website, they have an extremely strange lack of pictures of their buildings. Just keep adding fuel to my fire, Texas A&M. Knock yourselves out.

LINK (http://campussqueeze.com/static/20-ugliest-colleges-in-the-USA.html)

[RonMexico]

So does this put OSU in the "Top 100 mediocre, unlisted campuses that no one cares about" list?

[samikeyp]

A. who really cares?

B. rarely do I defend Aggieland but I guess whomever did that list didn't visit Lubbock.

[johngateswhiteley]

i can't find oklahomo state on this list....anywhere. though i did find university of oklahoma...strange. you should email them, its probably an error.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php


27. Southern Cal
44. t.u.
62. University of Texas A&M
108. OU
?. oklahomo state

[MajorMike]

You know what... Lubbock is a complete hole. However, their campus is not all that bad. I'm not saying it is the most pleasing place on earth, but I've seen worse.

[MajorMike]

i can't find oklahomo state on this list....anywhere. though i did find university of oklahoma...strange. you should email them, its probably an error.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php


27. Southern Cal
44. t.u.
62. University of Texas A&M
108. OU
?. oklahomo state


The Princeton Review has named OSU as one of its "Best Value" colleges.

The Student Guide to America's 100 Best College Buys named Oklahoma State as America's Best College Buy.

[RonMexico]

You also forgot to quote that A&M was in that list of "Best Buys"

[Extra Stout]

18. Texas A&M- There’s not much wrong this campus except for the lack of color. One poster said it’s essentially “BEIGE BEIGE everywhere…” I couldn’t agree more. And, um, “Aggieland”??? Not exactly an appealing phrase, is it? And on their website, they have an extremely strange lack of pictures of their buildings. Just keep adding fuel to my fire, Texas A&M. Knock yourselves out.

LINK (http://campussqueeze.com/static/20-ugliest-colleges-in-the-USA.html)
Texas A&M built lovely edifices until World War II. Then they decided to get "modern." This resulted in numerous 1950's industrial-style buildings with things like yellow tile on the outside. They looked really bad.

Then came the 1970's, when A&M apparently embraced utilitarian Soviet-style architecture consisting of depressing gray concrete, exemplified by Rudder Tower, and some of the Ag buildings on West Campus.

The school of thought at the time was that it was worth it to save a little bit of taxpayer money even if the resulting building looked terrible.

This was also the period when glaring civil engineering mistakes were made which resulted in strange buildings with reduced utility. For example, the library wing built in the 1970's had two fewer stories than originally planned, because the original engineer forgot to account for the weight of the books, and the resulting reinforcements meant two fewer floors could be fit in the building.

In addition, modular dorms built in the 1970's have rooms on one side shorter than rooms on the other side. This is because at first the architect forgot to include room for the hallway in the frame.

The Zachry Engineering Building, when it opened in 1979, had a maldesigned HVAC system that exposed students and faculty to toxic fumes from some of the basement labs.

Those sort of mistakes, reflecting basic incompetence, contributed to the impression that Aggies are stupid. If civil engineers and architects made those kind of mistakes in the private sector, it likely would end their careers.

So dumb were those in charge of building things at A&M in the 1970's that a UT architect could run rings around them with a clever prank. The Journalism building was accented with a maroon paint that over a few months oxidized to burnt orange. Since nobody at the school would fund another paint job, journalism students collected some maroonish-looking landscaping rocks and glued them to the orange parts of the building.

The sad state of A&M architecture even into the 1980's was exemplified by the unattractive, non-functional and chronically leaky building the Architecture school erected for itself.

Basic competence was restored by the mid-'80s, but the prevailing theme was still to skimp on aesthetics, so beige and blocky carried the day.

The stuff they were building in the 1990's when I was there at least looked halfway-decent, though the beige theme was pretty much established by then.

[Extra Stout]

The landscaping at A&M, though, is like Disneyland.

[degenerate_gambler]

Building smack??

Slow news day for the Okie Lite water polo team Capt. Mike?

[MajorMike]

Building smack??

Slow news day for the Okie Lite water polo team Capt. Mike?

If you don't get it, just move along.

[RonMexico]

This link brought to by the guy who claims A&M is no more than a "blip on his radar"

[degenerate_gambler]

If you don't get it, just move along.


what I get is you're probably bitter A&M declined your application for enrollment.

[RonMexico]

what I get is you're probably bitter A&M declined your application for enrollment.

Complete Pwnage.

[Thunder Dan]

Best Values?

sounds like you're buying a dishwasher

[RonMexico]

the Ohio State University will never compare to The Greatest University in the World (aka the "Real OSU")

[Thunder Dan]

the Ohio State University will never compare to The Greatest University in the World (aka the "Real OSU")

damn straight. They had Barry Sanders, Ohio State didn't.

[MajorMike]

what I get is you're probably bitter A&M declined your application for enrollment.


Bwaha, nice. Fortunately, there was never any doubt who was going to get my National Merit Scholarship money.

[MajorMike]

damn straight. They had Barry Sanders, Ohio State didn't.

Hey, you see Barry is the #2 all time college player?

[RonMexico]

damn straight. They had Barry Sanders, Ohio State didn't.

Yeah, we all thought that the most Heisman winners were from Ohio State, USC, and Notre Dame, but they're actually from Oklahoma State... wait, what's that? You don't get the Heisman for winning Olympic wrestling?

[Thunder Dan]

Hey, you see Barry is the #2 all time college player?

I know, our best running back came in 20-something (Archie Griffin.. 2x Heisman Winner), I was giving you props. Oklahoma State is Running Back U

[MajorMike]

I was a little suprised at that, actually. I mean at where Archie came in. You know, there was another Okie, altho not OSU, on the list at #6 with Jim Thorpe.

Strange that the 2 highest players from the state of Tejas were from SMU and TCU.

[degenerate_gambler]

...there was never any doubt who was going to get my National Merit Scholarship money.



How old are you?

Were you always the last one picked during P.E. or after school in the neighborhood?

If the threads you start here and the nicknames you doll out to various athletes/coaches in said threads are any indication of the level of intelligence required to be a National Merit Scholar, count me as relieved that I had to make due on puny Pell Grants to pay for school and weed back in the day.

[Extra Stout]

An A&M diploma probably impresses a prospective employer more than an Okie State diploma, unless one is applying for a job in Tulsa, even though A&M has some ugly buildings.

[MajorMike]

How old are you?



Right. This comes from the person who goes completely off the subject and tries to issue a 'neat-o' one liner like, "you don't like them because atm didn't accept you." Kettle?

Maybe its all that pot that affected your melon.

[Doug Collins]

18. Texas A&M- There’s not much wrong this campus except for the lack of color. One poster said it’s essentially “BEIGE BEIGE everywhere…” I couldn’t agree more. And, um, “Aggieland”??? Not exactly an appealing phrase, is it? And on their website, they have an extremely strange lack of pictures of their buildings. Just keep adding fuel to my fire, Texas A&M. Knock yourselves out.

LINK (http://campussqueeze.com/static/20-ugliest-colleges-in-the-USA.html)

A&M's campus isn't so much ugly as it is boring, the architecture isn't very modern just utilitarian and functional. The new buildings going up are much more modern and easy on the eyes like the new Chemical engineering building.

Research park is a nice area, it's where all the crazy depressed girls go to reconnect with themselves. :downspin:

[Doug Collins]

Brutalis's absence has rekindled the board's hatred of Capt. Mike.

[Extra Stout]

Bwaha, nice. Fortunately, there was never any doubt who was going to get my National Merit Scholarship money.
:dramaqueen Ooooh, you were a National Merit Scholar? Wow, I bet OSU must attract a whopping two dozen or so every year!! What a great school!

I'll bet you were in the top 10% of your high school class, too!! Nearly one-fourth of OSU students are proud to proclaim they were in the top 10% of classes from highly competitive high schools in places like Okmulgee and Enid!

If your proud Board of Trustees keeps plugging away at it, someday OSU will be rubbing shoulders with such hallowed institutions as North Texas and Louisiana Tech!

[degenerate_gambler]

Research park is a nice area, it's where all the crazy depressed girls go to reconnect with themselves. :downspin:


yeah but are they easy?

[RonMexico]

yeah but are they easy?

Yes.

Or as Mike would say, they are "renown easy."

[K-State Spur]

While it's a far cry from Boulder, I prefer A&M's campus to most urban schools.

[Extra Stout]

While it's a far cry from Boulder, I prefer A&M's campus to most urban schools.
Urban? You consider Bryan/College Station urban?

[Doug Collins]

Urban? You consider Bryan/College Station urban?

We have 5+ stoplights and 2 Wal-Marts which, by East Texas standards, is defined as "urban"

[Doug Collins]

yeah but are they easy?

Unbelievably easy and clingy

[Extra Stout]

We have 5+ stoplights and 2 Wal-Marts which, by East Texas standards, is defined as "urban"
I do remember as a freshman, running into some girls from like Jacksonville, or Crockett, or somewhere, who were in awe because they'd never seen any place as big as Bryan/College Station. It was like a Crusader seeing Constantinople for the first time.

[RonMexico]

I do remember as a freshman, running into some girls from like Jacksonville, or Crockett, or somewhere, who were in awe because they'd never seen any place as big as Bryan/College Station. It was like a Crusader seeing Constantinople for the first time.

CaptMike throws out National Merit Scholarships and you have to bring up obscure, Middle Age references to prove "aggrot" knowledge.

$300 million worth of knowledge

[Extra Stout]

CaptMike throws out National Merit Scholarships and you have to bring up obscure, Middle Age references to prove "aggrot" knowledge.

$300 million worth of knowledge
It's funny because every year "uo" gets like 150 National Merit Scholars, and OSU gets 20 or 30. They'll throw $50,000-$100,000 in scholarships at them and still only get a trickle. Bringing up NMS was an epic act of self-ownage.

[MajorMike]

It's funny because every year "uo" gets like 150 National Merit Scholars, and OSU gets 20 or 30. They'll throw $50,000-$100,000 in scholarships at them and still only get a trickle. Bringing up NMS was an epic act of self-ownage.

It is interesting and if you are an alumni of the program as I am it is cause for some controversy. You see, uo created an entire program and staff to very aggressively recruit NMS. Many in the community do not like this approach, but it seems to work for them is the ultimate arguement. Some consider it unethical badgering, but many colleges do it. OSU does not take this approach. If you are a NMS, you get a letter from OSU saying, oh happy day for you, you should come see us if you like. uo has people show up on your doorstep unannounced (did it to me 3 times) and I didn't even have them anywhere in my package. Sure, ok, you may say it makes sense to go get them, but I was still getting phonecalls AFTER I was attending OSU.

I guess they learned the extra phone calls from Sampson and the negative recruiting from darth visor.

[Holt's Cat]

Texas A&M built lovely edifices until World War II. Then they decided to get "modern." This resulted in numerous 1950's industrial-style buildings with things like yellow tile on the outside. They looked really bad.

What was/is that one building just south of Sterling C. Evans? I had a class there once. That was a pretty good example.




Then came the 1970's, when A&M apparently embraced utilitarian Soviet-style architecture consisting of depressing gray concrete, exemplified by Rudder Tower, and some of the Ag buildings on West Campus.


Don't forget Heldenfels and Blocker.




The school of thought at the time was that it was worth it to save a little bit of taxpayer money even if the resulting building looked terrible.

This was also the period when glaring civil engineering mistakes were made which resulted in strange buildings with reduced utility. For example, the library wing built in the 1970's had two fewer stories than originally planned, because the original engineer forgot to account for the weight of the books, and the resulting reinforcements meant two fewer floors could be fit in the building.

In addition, modular dorms built in the 1970's have rooms on one side shorter than rooms on the other side. This is because at first the architect forgot to include room for the hallway in the frame.


I remember that.



The Zachry Engineering Building, when it opened in 1979, had a maldesigned HVAC system that exposed students and faculty to toxic fumes from some of the basement labs.

Those sort of mistakes, reflecting basic incompetence, contributed to the impression that Aggies are stupid. If civil engineers and architects made those kind of mistakes in the private sector, it likely would end their careers.

So dumb were those in charge of building things at A&M in the 1970's that a UT architect could run rings around them with a clever prank. The Journalism building was accented with a maroon paint that over a few months oxidized to burnt orange. Since nobody at the school would fund another paint job, journalism students collected some maroonish-looking landscaping rocks and glued them to the orange parts of the building.

The sad state of A&M architecture even into the 1980's was exemplified by the unattractive, non-functional and chronically leaky building the Architecture school erected for itself.

Basic competence was restored by the mid-'80s, but the prevailing theme was still to skimp on aesthetics, so beige and blocky carried the day.

The stuff they were building in the 1990's when I was there at least looked halfway-decent, though the beige theme was pretty much established by then.

The new engineering building on University looks pretty slick.

[RonMexico]

CaptMike was so wanted by OU and by this board... good for him!

You go get 'em, Cowboy!

[Holt's Cat]

College Station today has an example of every possible kind of retail development style known to suburban America.

[Holt's Cat]

Anyways, the only surprise for me is that A&M didn't place #1 on this list.

[RonMexico]

Anyways, the only surprise for me is that A&M didn't place #1 on this list.

I'm quite surprised your face didn't appear #1 on this list

-Aggrot joke via CaptMike

[Extra Stout]

CaptMike throws out National Merit Scholarships and you have to bring up obscure, Middle Age references to prove "aggrot" knowledge.

$300 million worth of knowledge
I do have to admit, though, that if you polled A&M students to see who could find Constantinople on a map, basically it would be only the five Orthodox students and maybe two history majors.

[Extra Stout]

Although 10,000 would start humming the song.

[MajorMike]

Although 10,000 would start humming the song.


Bwaha beat me to it.

[Doug Collins]

This has to be the slowest work day of all time. We all have absolutely nothing to do.

[degenerate_gambler]

This has to be the slowest work day of all time. We all have absolutely nothing to do.



:toast


thinking the same thing

[samikeyp]

:toast


thinking the same thing


here too.

[j-6]

Best college forum day ever?

[beachbarbie948]

The only other college I've visited on that list is NC State, and it's really not THAT bad.

And they completely missed Yale and Duke on the most beautiful colleges list. UNC, Virginia and Va Tech are also nice.

[Extra Stout]

Best college forum day ever?
No, it was better in the days when CBF and the Victoria brigade would have week-long threads about Vince Young, chode bloading, chode regulation, and rofl. That was the Golden Era.

[Extra Stout]

The only other college I've visited on that list is NC State, and it's really not THAT bad.

And they completely missed Yale and Duke on the most beautiful colleges list.
Y'know, thinking back to my college days, usually when guys discussed how attractive a particular college campus was, the discussion had nothing to do with architecture.

[j-6]

Y'know, thinking back to my college days, usually when guys discussed how attractive a particular college campus was, the discussion had nothing to do with architecture.

I was introduced to the hottie threads at texags.com a couple of weeks ago. That's quality.


No, it was better in the days when CBF and the Victoria brigade would have week-long threads about Vince Young, chode bloading, chode regulation, and rofl. That was the Golden Era.

Those were the good ol' days, but sometimes I like to read threads that don't require my mookie decoding ring.

[K-State Spur]

Urban? You consider Bryan/College Station urban?

No. Just saying I prefer A&M to most urban campuses (of which there are more than 20), not that A&M is one of them.

[K-State Spur]

The only other college I've visited on that list is NC State, and it's really not THAT bad.

And they completely missed Yale and Duke on the most beautiful colleges list. UNC, Virginia and Va Tech are also nice.

Is anybody going to lobby for their own, or can we all accept that Colorado is #1 in the Big 12?

(so long as you avoid the strip clubs...)

[Extra Stout]

Is anybody going to lobby for their own, or can we all accept that Colorado is #1 in the Big 12?

(so long as you avoid the strip clubs...)
Are there any other Big 12 schools in the foothills of the Rockies?

[Extra Stout]

Is anybody going to lobby for their own, or can we all accept that Colorado is #1 in the Big 12?

(so long as you avoid the strip clubs...)
Although if instead we're referring to the conventional definition college-age males have for "attractive," then the term that best describes Colorado is "earthy."

[j-6]

Is anybody going to lobby for their own, or can we all accept that Colorado is #1 in the Big 12?

(so long as you avoid the strip clubs...)


Never been to Ames, Lincoln, Columbia, Manhattan, or Stillwater. I'll agree with you on CU. Tech's is surprisingly pretty.

[mookie2001]

Urban? You consider Bryan/College Station urban?ROFLROFLROFLROFLROFLROFLROFLROFLROFLROFLROFL

chodebloadded

[MajorMike]

Looks like most national folks agree CU is pretty nice.


A friend of mine went to school there. He said when he enrolled they gave him a map. The top of the map was east. He said it made it even more difficult to get around on top of all the beige buildings that looked identical.


A&M is just flat bland. When me and my fiance went there a couple years back, we were unimpressed at all those biege buildings. I was also unimpressed with all the hitler youth when I heard only a small percent actualy go in to the armed forces. Weird bunch down there.


I agree on KU and Colorado as being nice...OSU is pretty nice too. Big drop off in Big 12 after that.


I like KU's. I haven't actually been to CU's but from the pictures, looks like it is probably the best in the league.


A&M just looked like a giant army base. Very blah buildings everywhere with no real order to them.

Besides OSU, I think CU and Mizzou have great campuses.


Having lived in both Lawrence and Stillwater, I may be biased. But I think those two stand WAY out among any other campus I've been around.


Georgia has a very nice campus, OU is fairly nice, KSU is ok fairly lackluster. Went to West Virgina's on time, it was horrible, worst planned campus I have ever seen. Also seen part of UT's and it was nice.


The University of Washington is absolutely gorgeous, looking out over a big lake and having Mt. Ranier as a backdrop.

Boulder is a great campus, beautiful town, and the Rockies provide a perfect backdrop.

I've heard Tennessee is a nice setting with the river and the Smoky Mts to the east, but never been there.


UC-Santa Cruz is beautiful, as is Pepperdine. Colorado might be the prettiest in the Big XII.

[Extra Stout]

The A&M Corps would be better if it were ROTC-only.

[RonMexico]

Props to CaptMike for including quotes from someone who has only lived in Lawrence and Stillwater... sounds like a credible, well-traveled source.

[Extra Stout]

Props to CaptMike for including quotes from someone who has only lived in Lawrence and Stillwater... sounds like a credible, well-traveled source.
Well, what places in America can compare to Lawrence and Stillwater?

Notice that the guy didn't say what those campuses stood out for.

[Holt's Cat]

Stillwater is the bestest. When me and muh fiancee went on our, uh, honeemoon we went to the cradle of eastern Okie civil-uh-zashun

[MajorMike]

Did you know Gary Busey went to OSU?

http://www.throwmyshoe.org/images/nicknoltedui.jpg

[RonMexico]

Did you know Gary Busey went to OSU?

http://www.throwmyshoe.org/images/nicknoltedui.jpg

Too bad that's a picture of Nick Nolte...

Ladies and Gentlemen, OSU's top National Merit Scholar, Capt Mike!

[Extra Stout]

Did you know Gary Busey went to OSU?

http://www.throwmyshoe.org/images/nicknoltedui.jpg
Did you know I went to A&M?

Beat that. No, don't try. Can't be done.

[Indazone]

18. Texas A&M- There’s not much wrong this campus except for the lack of color. One poster said it’s essentially “BEIGE BEIGE everywhere…” I couldn’t agree more. And, um, “Aggieland”??? Not exactly an appealing phrase, is it? And on their website, they have an extremely strange lack of pictures of their buildings. Just keep adding fuel to my fire, Texas A&M. Knock yourselves out.

LINK (http://campussqueeze.com/static/20-ugliest-colleges-in-the-USA.html)

I went to Texas A&M and I'd have to agree. Frigging white and beige rock everywhere. Totally flat and no landscaping.

[Vinny Del Negro]

They also have a scoreboard for a dead dog. Or something. It could be a poignently contrasting juxtaposition of neo-Byzantine classicist style and Danish Functionalism.

Or it could just be fucking stupid. One or the other.

[MajorMike]

Did you know I went to A&M?

Beat that. No, don't try. Can't be done.

You win.

[ShoogarBear]

Y'know, thinking back to my college days, usually when guys discussed how attractive a particular college campus was, the discussion had nothing to do with architecture.Not true. We often discussed the brickhouses.

[j-6]

Once you start having to drive all over around Austin (away from the 40 acres) for upper level courses and labs and whatnot, the beauty of the campus wears off.

SMU's is very nice - and the scenery certainly helps the cause.

[ClingingMars]

the guy who made this list also made a 'beautiful' campus list and failed to mention UVA at all. all credibility has been lost.

-Mars

[K-State Spur]

Did you know Gary Busey went to OSU?

http://www.throwmyshoe.org/images/nicknoltedui.jpg

He also played football at D2 power Pittsburg State in SE Kansas. (and yes, that's a picture of Nolte)

[MajorMike]

Gratz, KState; took someone long enough to figger it out.

[RonMexico]

Too bad that's a picture of Nick Nolte...

Ladies and Gentlemen, OSU's top National Merit Scholar, Capt Mike!

Since CaptMike has blocked me, someone please quote me and show him that I discovered it was Nolte less than 10 minutes after he posted that picture...

"Took you long enough." What a fag.

[johngateswhiteley]

Since CaptMike has blocked me, someone please quote me and show him that I discovered it was Nolte less than 10 minutes after he posted that picture...

"Took you long enough." What a fag.

who gives a fuck, he was probably just covering his ass...or making an irrelevant joke. btw, i doubt he has you blocked, i don't give a fuck what he says.

[MajorMike]

who gives a fuck, he was probably just covering his ass...or making an irrelevant joke. btw, i doubt he has you blocked, i don't give a fuck what he says.

Obviously... I know when I don't give a fuck about someone I constantly start new threads directly aimed at them and continuously verbally attack them.

[RonMexico]

Obviously... I know when I don't give a fuck about someone I constantly start new threads directly aimed at them and continuously verbally attack them.

No, you just start constant threads about a school that isn't a "blip on your radar."

[johngateswhiteley]

Obviously... I know when I don't give a fuck about someone I constantly start new threads directly aimed at them and continuously verbally attack them.

:jack ...you are the biggest internet homo ever...i wonder what you are like in person, you can't be this gay?

[degenerate_gambler]

I can't believe this shite thread still has legs..