WashU is hands down the most beautiful campus I've ever seen

I've seen many colleges too. A close second is Princeton (and the architecture of both schools share many similarities). Most other colleges don't come close. Harvard in particular ain't all that and it was a religious school once so it is intentionally plain I think. Columbia if it weren't in NYC would not be impressive either as the whole school is congested into just ten streets.

I know I'm biased but imo more people should be applying to WashU based on the campus alone. Aesthetics play a big role in quality of life and few schools match WashU in terms of quality of life imo. People talk about Dartmouth as if it's this quaint wonderful community but it is still in the middle of nowhere. WashU is that but also has a city, St. Louis, as a resource.