[support] Drupal vs. Mambo/Joomla

Hello, Now I am designing a school site... The specifics are the following... I need a forum and a customisable registration form/login and also an easy to use GUI. However the most important part of all of this is that I have to be able to make templates easily...... Now what I needed to know is whethere there are any good looking Drupal sites out there.. the ones I have come across look bland... I have used drupal and have to admit it is superior in handling of information in terms of management e.t.c. however I have found that in terms of appearance and useablitity Joomla/Mambo tend to look better... Is there any way around this?