New Princeton Review Rankings for Hampshire

Colleges and Universities A-Z Hampshire College
1

<p>The Princeton Review just came out with their annual rankings and lists of colleges, and here are the rankings for Hampshire:</p>

<h1>2 Birkenstock-Wearing, Tree-Hugging, Clove-Smoking Vegetarians</h1>

<h1>2 Class Discussions Encouraged</h1>

<h1>4 Dodgeball Targets</h1>

<h1>14 LGBT-Friendly</h1>

<h1>10 Intercollegiate Sports Unpopular or Nonexistent</h1>

<h1>9 Long Lines and Red Tape</h1>

<h1>12 Most Politically Active Students</h1>

<h1>12 Nobody Plays Intramural Sports</h1>

<h1>8 Reefer Madness</h1>

<h1>10 Least Religious Students</h1>

<h1>1 Most Liberal Students</h1>

<p>No big surprises there, and not much different from previous rankings. Of course, any survey-based ranking is subject to the respondents' view of a school's reputation, so I always wonder how accurate these lists are. At least they dropped a few spots in the 'Reefer Madness' category!</p>

2

<p>I got a private message from a user that corrected me - in fact Hampshire was #8 in ‘Reefer Madness’ last year too.</p>

3

<p>Here’s another fun list - Hampshire was ranked #10 in Sierra Magazine’s, “Top Cool Schools”, i.e colleges with strong environmental stewardship and greenhouse gas reduction programs; [Cool</a> Schools: Top 100 Schools - September/October 2010 - Sierra Magazine - Sierra Club](<a href=“http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201009/coolschools/top100.aspx]Cool”>http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201009/coolschools/top100.aspx)</p>

4

<p>…and two more from college website Uni-Go:</p>

<p>Best Kept Secrets
Top 10 Schools that fly under the academic radar - but shouldn’t
<a href=“http://■■■■■■■.com/2g8qo9y[/url]”>http://■■■■■■■.com/2g8qo9y&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Politicians & Pundits
Top 10 Schools Where Students Follow the Beltway as Closely as Their Studies
<a href=“http://■■■■■■■.com/2946lue[/url]”>http://■■■■■■■.com/2946lue&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>…and Huffington Post labeled Hampshire the #1 Top Hipster College:
[Top</a> 10 HIPSTER Schools](<a href=“Top 10 HIPSTER Schools | HuffPost College”>Top 10 HIPSTER Schools | HuffPost College)</p>

<p>Although, among most current Hampshire students I know, this is not considered a positive attribute.</p>

6

<p>…and #16 on the “Hot College Courses” List from The Daily Beast, “Making Media for Democracy”:
[Hot</a> College Courses - Galleries - The Daily Beast](<a href=“http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2049/1/]Hot”>http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2049/1/)</p>

7

<p>…and of course, in the Top 120 ranking of National Liberal Arts Colleges by US News & World Report (#119 :wink: )</p>

<p>[National</a> Liberal Arts Rankings - Best Colleges - Education - US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/liberal-arts-rankings/page+5]National”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/liberal-arts-rankings/page+5)</p>

8

<p>It was disappointing to see the 2011 Sierra Club list of the Coolest Colleges in America. Hampshire was #10 last year, but dropped all the way to #34 this year:</p>

<p>[Completed</a> Surveys - Cool Schools- September/October 2011 - Sierra Magazine - Sierra Club](<a href=“http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201109/coolschools/survey-index.aspx]Completed”>http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/201109/coolschools/survey-index.aspx)</p>

9

<p>The 2011 Princeton Review rankings came out recently as well:</p>

<h1>8 Class Discussions Encouraged</h1>

<h1>16 LGBT-Friendly</h1>

<h1>8 Long Lines and Red Tape</h1>

<h1>10 Most Politically Active Students</h1>

<h1>11 Least Religious Students</h1>

<h1>6 Most Liberal Students</h1>

<h1>8 This is a Library?</h1>

<p>Of particular note is that Hampshire fell off the, “Reefer Madness” list!</p>

10

<p>Here’s yet another list that I found hilarious. The title of the article is “Matrimonial Moneyball” and sets out an intricate ranking system for the elitism of a newly-married couple, based on NUPTIALS (Names, Universities, Parents, Tropes, Identifiers, Avocations, Locales, and Special Situations) metrics derived from the wedding announcement in the New York Times:</p>

<p>[Katie</a> Baker on the New York Times wedding section - Grantland](<a href=“http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6769919/matrimonial-moneyball]Katie”>» Matrimonial Moneyball)</p>

<p>In the ‘Universities’ section, points are awarded, depending in part on the institution attended:</p>

<p>"The Insufferables (+3): Cal Tech, Cambridge, Columbia, Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Princeton, Stanford, Yale</p>

<p>The Demi-Elite (+2): Amherst, Berkeley, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Georgetown, Penn, UNC, UVA, Williams</p>

<p>The Boarding School Crowd (+1): Bowdoin, Charleston, Colgate, Colorado College, Davidson, Hamilton, Hobart, Middlebury, Pepperdine, Rollins, SMU, Ole Miss, Trinity, Vanderbilt, Washington & Lee</p>

<p>The Power-Hippies (+1 if relevant to the couple’s “vibe” or “agenda” as pushed forth by the Times): Bard, Berkeley, Hampshire, Oberlin, Pomona, RISD, Swarthmore, Vassar (if it was the groom), Wesleyan</p>

<p>Other Notable Niches (+1, same as above): Army, Howard, Julliard, Morehouse, Navy, Smith, Spelman, St. Andrews, UCLA, USC, Wellesley"</p>

11

<p>ALF, that article is a real kick! It’s amazing how she really gets into this; it must take her all day to go through all the notices! Not only does Hampshire have the dubious honor of being included, but I saw that both my kids’ colleges are as well (Smith and Hobart). Thanks for the link; it was definitely worth a chuckle.</p>

12

<p>The ‘Universities’ section was funny, but I thought that the ‘Names’ was even better!</p>

<p>If you go over to the Parent’s Forum and read the “OK: An Excellent College Ranking” thread, which discusses the same article, you will get a further chuckle from reading some of the posters who took it seriously and questioned why certain colleges were not ranked higher!</p>

13

<p>Hampshire had the #4 class in MentalFloss.com’s list of 22 fascinating and bizarre college classes offered this semester:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/98411[/url]”>http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/98411&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<ol>
<li>Things That Go Bump in the Night</li>
</ol>

<p>Great course title, and fascinating topic. It looks at “experimental topics in the philosophy of mind,” including phantom limb phenomena, ambiguous figures and “split-brain syndrome,” when the two brain hemispheres seem to be occupied by two independent consciousnesses.</p>

14

<p>Thanks for the tip, ALF, I think I will just stroll over to the Parents’ Forum and have a chuckle.</p>

15

<p>ALF, thanks! It was delightful! I’m amazed at how many CC posters were self-confessed NY Times nuptials readers! You know, in reading all the details provided in these announcements, it reminded me of the Katherine Hepburn movie, “The Philadelphia Story.” I love that movie!</p>

16

<p>I was impressed by new President Jonathan Lash’s Convocation speech, particularly when he advocated for a new initiative to ‘green’ the campus and improve the energy-efficiency of the 70s-era buildings:</p>

<p>[Hampshire</a> College Convocation 2011 Jonathan Lash by hampshirecollege on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free](<a href=“http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/hampshirecollege/hampshire-college]Hampshire”>Stream Hampshire College Convocation 2011 Jonathan Lash by hampshirecollege | Listen online for free on SoundCloud)</p>

<p>I’m hoping that these initiatives will restore Hampshire’s top-10 ranking as one of the Sierra Club’s ‘cool schools’.</p>

17

<p>The college search site, U-ni-go, listed Hampshire among the, “Top 10 Most Intellectually Endowed” schools; “Schools where Nietzsche is a hot topic in the dining hall”:</p>

<p><a href=“http://■■■■■■■.com/3mtkjph[/url]”>http://■■■■■■■.com/3mtkjph&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Hampshire has also rocketed up the ever-coveted and completely reliable US News & World Report National Liberal Arts College rankings, a full 10 places from #120 last year to #110 this year!
[National</a> Liberal Arts College Rankings | Top Liberal Arts Colleges | US News Best Colleges](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges/page+11]National”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges/page+11)</p>

<p>At this rate, Hampshire will be #1 in only 11 more years!</p>

19

<p>I never would have predicted that Hampshire would make any college list published in Forbes magazine, but Hampshire was ranked #20 in [The</a> Most Entrepreneurial Colleges - Forbes](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelnoer/2012/08/01/the-most-entrepreneurial-colleges/]The”>The Most Entrepreneurial Colleges)</p>

20

<p>Unsurprisingly, Hampshire was ranked the #4 Most Liberal College by Newsweek and the Daily Beast:
[College</a> Rankings 2012: Most Liberal Schools (Photos) - Newsweek and The Daily Beast](<a href=“http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/galleries/2012/08/05/college-rankings-2012-most-liberal-schools-photos.html#slide23]College”>http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/galleries/2012/08/05/college-rankings-2012-most-liberal-schools-photos.html#slide23)</p>