2008.07.29
Princeton Review rankings are out
As I waited to receive my parking pass at the Virginia Tech visitors center today, I overheard a conversation between the mother of a prospective student and the woman giving out passes. Mom mentioned that they planned to leave campus right after lunch to look at another school.
"Stay for lunch and you won't want to go anywhere else," she told the mother.
"Well, this is actually our daughter's second choice," the mother replied. "She wants to go to Annapolis."
"Well that is a good school," she said. "Bet the food's not as good, though."
Seemingly unmoved by the culinary recommendation, the smiling mother was quick with a retort.
"If she's going to be in the Navy I guess she should get used to it."
Maybe she would've been convinced if they were handing out Princeton Reviews in the visitors center. The publication released its best colleges rankings this week and Virginia Tech once again made the top five in best campus food and also ranked high in "students pack the stadiums" and "class discussions rare."
There's been a backlash in recent years against college rankings. Still, after they're done complaining about how unfair they are, most colleges don't hesitate to use the rankings to help market themselves.
The Princeton Review, with it's less-scientific method of measuring things like, "best party school" by surveying freshmen students, tends to get kicked around even by people who don't bash rankings in general.
When I wrote a story on rankings a couple of years ago, Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said the Princeton Review rankings weren't good for anything more than cocktail party conversations. For that same story Washington and Lee University spokesman Tim Kolly quipped, "I don't think the Princeton Review tries to make sure they get it right, they just try to make $21 a copy."
At the time, W&L was a regular in several superlative categories measuring professor quality, campus beauty and beer and hard liquor consumption. The university was doing everything it could to discourage students from taking the survey at the time and it seems like their efforts worked. The school isn't listed on any superlatives this year, good or bad.
As for the Princeton Review, it may be flawed, but the publication got at least one thing right. Tech's food is pretty good. Way better than what I remember eating in the W&L dining hall.
Maybe I was just too drunk to appreciate it.
- Greg Esposito
