As collegiettes, we take pride in our love of pop culture, which couldn’t be more evident when it comes to movies.
While we may aspire to be Anne Hathaway’s character in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, or Reese Witherspoon in ‘Legally Blonde’, sometimes even the stars take a back seat to the sets in which they are filmed.
Here are some of your favorite Hollywood classics and their real-life college backdrops.
Movie: Old School
School: UCLA
Note: When Will Ferrell wanted to ‘go streaking’, he was probably referring to Royce Quad.
Movie: Good Will Hunting
School(s): Harvard and MIT
Movie: 21
School: Boston University
Movie: D3 – The third Mighty Ducks movie
School: Carleton College
Note: Some prideful students boast that the Minnesota school is ‘Home of the Mighty Ducks.’
Movie: Center Stage
School: Julliard School
Movie: Animal House
School: University of Oregon
Note: Oregon was also the backdrop for Prefontaine, a true story about a former Olympic runner who helped inspire the Nike brand.
Movie: Patch Adams
School(s): University of California, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Movie: Legally Blonde
School(s): USC, CalTech
Movie: The Social Network
School: Johns Hopkins University
Note: Due to filming restrictions at Harvard, Johns Hopkins had to step in and play the famed Cambridge university.
Movie: Water for Elephants
School: Cornell University
Movie: Philadelphia
School: University of Pennsylvania
Movie: Harold and Kumar go to White Castle
School: USC
Movie: Mean Girls
School: University of Toronto
Note: Thanks to tax-friendly film credits, many recent films have been filmed north of the border. Mean Girls is just one of those examples.
Movie: Rudy
School: Notre Dame
Note: The main character, Daniel ‘Rudy’ Ruettiger’ is now a motivational speaker.
Movie: Revenge of the Nerds
School(s): University of Arizona and Texas A&M