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Picking the Right College
Think Princeton Review is more than just a test preparation service? Think again. While they are a one-stop-shop for everything from practice PSAT tutorials to on-line LSAT courses, they go an extra step once a year with their Best 379 Colleges guidebook. If 379 wasn't a random enough number for you, just consider the 62 categories across which those colleges are ranked.
Want a sampling of the 2014 winners? Syracuse is the top party school. Mormon Brigham Young University is the top "stone-cold sober" school. Sarah Lawrence has the "most liberal students". Vanderbilt's are the happiest.
Scientific? Well, they have surveyed roughly 130,000 college students overall-an average of about 340 students per school. I'm not sure whether a student who has only ever attended one school really has the capacity to put their school's strengths and weaknesses into perspective. But I'm pretty certain few students take a very scientific approach to selecting colleges in the first place.
I've written a great deal about the importance of selecting the college that is the right fit. Not all students have the capacity to get accepted at their top choice. Not all of them are actually suited for their top choice. The Princeton Review has tapped into this ambivalence with its rankings, which quantify a wide range of collegiate qualities.
By their own account, all of the colleges on the list are "good schools". They just have different attributes. So if "Best Campus Food" is a deal-breaker for you, then you need look no further than Virginia Tech.
Or maybe, just maybe, you can see the Best 379 Colleges for what it really is-a catalogue allowing students to arm themselves with a bit more information. In a way, the book plays into the truth of the selection process for many students-that it can be arbitrary, emotional, and not at all scientific. And I think that's okay.
You can be amongst the first to order your copy here: Amazon
Labels: Picking the Right College
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