The Overflow

The Princeton Review is a great resource to use in finding info on colleges and universities in the United States.

Each year, a comprehensive, scientific study is conducted on various aspects of our nation’s schools: academics/admissions, demographics, town life, politics, quality of life, extracurriculars, and the social scene (my favorite).

PR released the 2010 edition of their rankings today.

Since you have to log in to their site to view the rankings, I’ll post a few samples here. 122,000 students were surveyed to get these results:

STUDENTS STUDY THE MOST:

1. California Institute of Technology
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
3. Reed College
4. Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
5. Harvard College
6. Middlebury College
7. Swarthmore College
8. University of Chicago
9. Princeton University
10. Davidson College
11. Williams College
12. United States Coast Guard Academy
13. United States Military Academy
14. The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
15. Bryn Mawr College
16. Sweet Briar College
17. Carleton College
18. Harvey Mudd College
19. College of the Holy Cross
20. Grinnell College

STUDENTS STUDY THE LEAST:

1. West Virginia University
2. University of Maryland, College Park
3. State University of New York at Albany
4. University of Mississippi
5. University of North Dakota
6. Louisiana State University–Baton Rouge
7. Florida State University
8. University of Florida
9. Florida Southern College
10. University of Georgia
11. Pennsylvania State University–University Park
12. University of Central Florida
13. City University of New York–Brooklyn College
14. Arizona State University
15. The University of Texas at Austin
16. The University of Alabama – Tuscaloosa
17. Ohio University–Athens
18. University of Louisiana at Lafayette
19. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey–New Brunswick
20. Salisbury University

I always hear people whining about how tough FSU is … maybe those people should put down their football once or twice a week and open a book for a couple of hours.

Here are couple of rankings from the social scene category:

MOST POTHEADS:

1. University of California–Santa Cruz
2. Skidmore College
3. University of Vermont
4. Bard College
5. University of Colorado–Boulder
6. New College of Florida
7. Colorado College
8. Hampshire College
9. University of California–Santa Barbara
10. Eckerd College
11. Ithaca College
12. Sarah Lawrence College
13. Warren Wilson College
14. Pitzer College
15. University of Oregon
16. Guilford College
17. West Virginia University
18. Wesleyan University
19. State University of New York–Purchase College
20. Green Mountain College

MOST BEER DRINKERS:

1. Pennsylvania State University–University Park
2. University of New Hampshire
3. Providence College
4. University of Florida
5. Claremont McKenna College
6. Ohio University–Athens
7. Hampden-Sydney College
8. West Virginia University
9. Colgate University
10. University of Wisconsin-Madison
11. Lehigh University
12. The University of Texas at Austin
13. Union College (NY)
14. Florida State University
15. DePauw University
16. Trinity College (CT)
17. Eckerd College
18. Gettysburg College
19. Indiana University–Bloomington
20. University of Mississippi

MOST HARD LIQUOR DRINKERS:

1. University of Mississippi
2. Providence College
3. Fairfield University
4. The University of Texas at Austin
5. Tulane University
6. University of Wisconsin-Madison
7. Indiana University–Bloomington
8. University of Georgia
9. Pennsylvania State University–University Park
10. Trinity College (CT)
11. University of Colorado–Boulder
12. Sewanee–The University of the South
13. Ohio University–Athens
14. Lehigh University
15. University of North Dakota
16. University of Tennessee
17. University of Iowa
18. University of Florida
19. Loyola University New Orleans
20. University of California–Santa Barbara

Parents – now you know where not to send your kids. You’re welcome.

There are a ton of other categories to peruse with useful information … one of the cool things I found is that San Francisco is ranked as one of the top college towns. Also, SFSU is no longer listed as a top school for marijuana use. We’re moving up in the world (or down, depending on your perspective).

Please share this resource with others. It’s great for prospective students, parents, campus ministers, and anyone else interested in staying up-to-date on collegiate life in the United States.

Enjoy!