College ranking guides claimthey give prospective college students insight into which schools will best meet their needs, but do the rankings accurately reflect the character of the University?
The Princeton Review annually publishes a list of the 357 best colleges in the nation. It compiles information from surveys conducted at various colleges to create lists of rankings with topics ranging from more serious categories like "Best Professors," to relatively lighthearted ones such as "Students most nostalgic for Clinton." For 2005, the University clenched spots in three of the Review's lists based on academic and social life. The Review ranked the University twentieth on the list of "Toughest Schools to Get Into," eighteenth for "Greatest College Libraries," and thirteenth among "Jock Schools."
Newsweek's 2005 edition of America's Hottest Colleges named the University the "hottest" college in the nation for fitness, describing its fitness facilities as some of the best in the nation. Newsweek called the University a haven for jocks of all kinds, from the hardcore "varsity competitors" to the "weekend warriors" of the intramural and club sports worlds. The article further described the University as "300,000 square feet of pools, running tracks, weight rooms, and classrooms for yoga and kickboxing," as well as a 23-acre park for outdoor sports.
First-year College student Anthony Harper said he appreciates all the athletic facilities at the University and uses them regularly.
"I had been to the AFC once before [coming to the University] and was impressed with it," Harper said. "Now that I am at school here, I love to have all the facilities for my use. I like being able to run, swim and lift at the AFC and being able to go to Slaughter to play basketball up until 2 a.m."
Although this particular element of fitness was not mentioned in Newsweek's rankings, the University also has an informal reputation as a running school.
"U.Va. has a good campus for running," Harper said. "I like to run through the Lawn and down Rugby Road a lot."
In 1987, the University gained the "prestige" of being ranked by Playboy as the tenth best party school in the nation, according to campusdirt.com. When "Playboy" compiled a more recent list in 2002, however, the University failed to make the cut.
"I think the Playboy rankings are fair," second-year College student Tom Bannard said. "We were ranked much higher in the '70s, and our status [as a party school] since then has diminished."
Despite acknowledging a decline in the University's party-school status, Bannard, a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity, said he had heard of the University's reputation for parties and Greek life before he arrived here.
Nationwide rankings attempt to create a general picture of campus life by painting a picture of the stereotypical college student. Newsweek described the typical University guy as sporting a Polo shirt and khakis both to class and to his fraternity meetings; his female counterpart is a nearly identical sorority sister. The article also emphasized the University's focus on life outside of Rugby Road, however, noting that "academics are and always have been the number-one priority at UVA."
These characterizations can play a large part in the decisions of prospective students.
First-year College student Brittany Hu said she feels that because she is an in-state student, she had heard that the University had a lively social scene before she learned of its top academic rankings.
"All I had heard about U.Va. was about how it was a party school," Hu said. "I didn't know it was a good school."
On the other hand, first-year College student Tara Schaeffer said that when she was looking at schools from her home in Washington state, she began to form her first image of the University through national academic rankings in publications like The Princeton Review and U.S. News and World Report.
"I didn't think I would get in because I had heard of U.Va.'s academic prestige," Schaefer said. "Now that I'm here, I realize that I really liked the U.Va. attitude of party hard, study hard. It's cool that the same people who are usually partying on the weekends are in the lounges studying during the week."
Third-year Engineering Student Emily Brumm attested to the University's academic competitiveness.
"I think we're of the same caliber as highly-ranked private schools, and we definitely deserve our rankings as a public school," Brumm said, laughing as she continued. "My dad would never have let me come here if U.Va. wasn't so highly ranked."
She also said that her friends back home in Cincinnati were all blown away by the fact that she was going to a school that both "works hard and plays hard."
U.S. News traditionally has ranked the University and UC Berkley as the top two public schools in the nation. In 2005, UC Berkley claimed the top spot, and the University shared the No. 2 spot with the University of Michigan.
Responding to the University being surpassed in the U.S. News rankings by her home state's UC Berkley, first-year College student Nikki Smith defended the University. She emphasized the balance of academic and social aspects she perceived as absent from its California competitor.
"The difference between U.Va. and Berkley is the social life," Smith said. "U.Va. is so much more of a community. When I applied, I had only seen its academic rankings, but it really is the perfect combination."
First-year College student Austin Drake wasn't overly concerned about the University's recent drop to the No. 2 spot in the U.S. News rankings. Drake said he believes that quantifying the value of all aspects of a college is impossible.
"I think the ranking is really not that huge of an issue as long as it is kept in perspective," Drake said. "What makes one school best and another second best seems pretty trivial to me. I came to U.Va. not because it was No. 1 or anything, but because everyone I had ever talked to who went to U.Va. or graduated loved it."
As the Newsweek's Hottest College List suggests, all of the colleges listed have in common their ability to provide outstanding educations.
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