Top American Party Schools 2010-2011: Princeton Review Rankings

University of Georgia: Top Party School - Jim Clark, Wiki Commons

Click here for the updated 2011-2012 Top Party Schools.

The annual Princeton Review college rankings are in, and it's official --- the University of Georgia at Athens is the top American party school.

The 2009 Top Party School, Penn State, fell to #3. The 2008 Top Party School, the University of Florida, fell all the way to #7.

Here's the Princeton Review's complete list of top party schools for the 2010-2011 school year:

1. University of Georgia
2. Ohio University
3. Penn State
4. West Virginia University
5. University of Mississippi
6. University of Texas at Austin
7. University of Florida
8. University of California – Santa Barbara
9. University of Iowa
10. DePauw University
11. Florida State University
12. University of Wisconsin - Madison
13. University of Alabama
14. Sewanee - The University of the South
15. Indiana University - Bloomington
16. University of Colorado - Boulder
17. University of Missouri
18. University of Illinois
19. University of Maryland
20. Michigan State University

Read more about the other categories in the Princeton Review Top College Rankings for 2010-2011.

What Does it Mean to be a Party School?

How much does the party school ranking matter? Should students make decisions about whether to go (or not to go) to a school based on this ranking? And how does the Princeton Review decide on the top party school?

Here's the thing: the party school ranking is a bit arbitrary. Other organizations have their own Top Party School Rankings, such as Playboy Magazine -- and in a recent trend, a popular website has started ranking Top Party Schools based on drunk "party school texts" from college students.

The Princeton Review surveys over 100,000 students from schools across the country about their experiences in college. From that data, they rank everything from academics to financial aid to dorms.

The Top Party School ranking is tabulated from information about alcohol and drug use on campus, hours spent (or not spent) studying, and Greek participation on campus. Yes, being on the top party list does indicate that a school probably has more than its share of partying, but there's no scientific way to "prove" that one place is more of a party college than another. Here's more on what it means to be a party school.

And should students and parents make admissions decisions based on the party school ranking (and other rankings like this as well)? While these kinds of rankings can be used as valuable tools to help students and parents make a decision, it's important to look at other factors as well. Here's more about how students and parents should use the party school ranking when it comes to admissions decisions.

In short, the Princeton Review party school ranking is overhyped and unscientific. However, this ranking does give students and parents some insight into what campuses are party colleges, so it's a useful tool for looking at prospective schools.

Source:

The Princeton Review. The Best 373 Colleges, 2011 Edition. Framingham, MA: The Princeton Review. 2010.

For more useful articles from the Campus Life section of Suite101.com, check out this Freshman Year Survival Guide and Ten Articles about Study Skills that Every Student Should Read.

Naomi Rockler-Gladen - Instructional designer and freelance writer, Naomi Rockler-Gladen writes some of Suite101's most read work.

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