There's a certain thrill that comes with watching a movie and recognizing a shooting location as a place you've been to. Attendees of St. John's School in Houston, Texas will have that Eureka moment when watching Rushmore, and students of Ulysses S. Grant High School in Los Angeles might feel that twinge of recognition when they watch Cher sashay through the hallways of her high school in Clueless.
But what about college? There are a thousand-and-one movies set on college campuses, and more often than not, they film on-location (or at least somewhere close enough). Today, we're going to be looking at a few notable schools that have served as shooting locations for classic movies. And we're not saying you should base your decision off of this info, but wouldn't it be cool to walk around the same campus as Will Hunting or Elle Woods?
The List
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Ah, Harvard University. There might be no school more iconic in the American popular lexicon than Harvard, and the school is a setting for numerous works of pop culture. Films like The Social Network, Legally Blonde, and the stunningly ill-conceived Soul Man have all taken it as the setting for their narratives and evocations of high-status education, but there's a catch. None of these movies were actually filmed at Harvard itself (well, except possibly for Soul Man, unfortunately) and instead had to capture the essence of that campus in other locations. Harvard has been notoriously stingy about film shoots on its premises, and as a result, very few movies have been allowed to actually depict the campus.
The truly bizarre kicker? A movie that was filmed at Harvard was Good Will Hunting. Those remembering that movie primarily for its thick Bostonian accents and snooty intellectual stock characters might not find this unusual until they remember that the movie was actually set at MIT! Perhaps the single most famous movie shot at the single most exclusive college campus in the country wasn't even set there, while movies that have Harvard as their primary location had to film elsewhere. How's that for irony?
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Located in the heart of the film industry, attended and patronized by some of the industry's leading figures, and beautifully designed, Los Angeles's University of Southern California has been the shooting location for dozens of iconic films and television shows. From 1967's The Graduate to 2004's Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and oodles of popular tv shows (any fans of How to Get Away With Murder?), if you see a college campus on your screen, there's a solid chance it was filmed at USC.
We already mentioned Legally Blonde, but it's worth noting that this Harvard classic was actually filmed at USC among several other locations. No doubt anyone who's a fan of this film will recognize plenty of locations if they ever go to USC.
University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Another Los Angeles college, it's no surprise that the university home to one of the most respected film schools in the world (with George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Francis Ford Coppola as its most famous alumni) has also been used as a shooting location for tons of movies. As well as being located inside the center of the global film industry, UCLA has a classically collegiate-looking campus, with magisterial stone buildings and plenty of green space. With this in mind, we shouldn't wonder why movies like Erin Brockovich, The Nutty Professor, and yes, even Legally Blonde again chose UCLA for their filming locations.
And while we're on the subject, UCLA is a great place to go for cinephile for a host of fairly obvious reasons. If film is your bag, then definitely keep UCLA high on your list of favorite schools as you go through the college application process.
Columbia University, New York City, NY
New York City's Columbia University is one of the most filmed colleges in America, appearing in tons of films over many decades. Superhero aficionados will recognize it from Sam Raimi's Spiderman trilogy, where Peter Parker both visits the campus at the start of the first film (where he gets bitten by a genetically modified spider) and becomes a student there in the second film. The college isn't just famous for Spiderman, however, having been used as a shooting location for at least 20 films over the course of its history. In fact, the college is such a popular choice for filmmakers that its historic Havemeyer Hall classroom is reputed to be the single most filmed college classroom in the world. If you see a stuffy-looking classroom in a movie, there's a good chance it's Havemeyer Hall.
Now, we can't guarantee that you'll become Spiderman if you go to Columbia (but would you even want the great responsibility that comes with such great power?), but we can guarantee you'll get a stellar education. And just as a bonus, you might recognize a few buildings here and there from your favorite movies.
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
This one isn't so much widely used as a filming location as it is prominently used in an absolutely fantastic movie. That's right, Baton Rouge's LSU served as the shooting location for the iconic Pitch Perfect series. And we should also mention, besides just being the physical location that became the film's Barden University, many actual LSU students got to work as extras in the film. If you're a fan of this movie (and at this point who isn't?), something like that seems like a dream come true, but lightning really only strikes once. With the trilogy now finished, it's unlikely they'll be asking future LSU Tigers to film again, but if you walk around campus, you'll no doubt recognize tons of different spots from the film.
Rhodes College, Memphis, TN
Okay, so this one isn't that iconic, but this is our list, and we'll write whatever we want! Memphis, Tennessee's Rhodes College is a relatively small liberal arts college with a picturesque campus consistently ranked as one of the most beautiful in the country, and it's also the alma mater of our founder and CEO Bill Townsend. Why do we bring it up here? Back in 1984, it served as the shooting location for the largely forgotten Judd Nelson-vehicle Making the Grade, wherein it was transformed into the fanciest-panciest, snootiest-patootiest private prep school on either side of the Mississippi River: Hoover Academy.
Anyone who sees Rhodes College in person will know immediately why it was chosen for this purpose. Imposing gothic buildings, swaying trees, and climbing arms of ivy abound on the historic campus, making it perfect for invoking the kind of prestigious education needed for the film. If you want your college to really look the part, Rhodes is a perfect place for you, and it doesn't hurt that the education you get there is pretty stellar.
How College Rover Can Help
There are just too many factors going into your college choices to decide all on your own, and as cool as we think it would be to go to a school prominently featured in your favorite movies, it can't be the only deciding factor. That's why at College Rover, we aim to simplify the process by letting you compare all your favorite schools with the metrics that matter to you. We do all this other stuff just as a bonus. Visit CollegeRover.com today and make this process a whole lot easier!
