<p>rodney,
Not entirely sure I understand your question, but my rankings at least were based on a combination of the things in that list of 10. I do think that the welcoming (or not) nature of the environment will set the tone for so much of undergraduate life, but things like music scene, athletic scene, Greek life are certainly more influenced by individual preferences. But there are differences between campuses on all of these ten factors and I strongly recommend that students inspect, understand, and compare the prospective undergraduate environments. Those ten factors were:</p>
<p>*Welcoming nature and friendliness of the students
*Musical scene (both locally and for bands that come through)
*Athletic scene for entertainment purposes, ie, sports teams
*Greek life (good or bad)
*Strength of party scene
*Size, diversity and cohesiveness of the student body and how this impacts social life
*Weather and its impact on social activities
*Proximity to urban life/arts
*Student activities including community service, club activities, intramural sports, etc.
*Alcohol and drug scene</p>
<p>The only factor that I might now add to this would be student safety/safety of neighborhood. </p>
<p>As noted later in the thread, my “ranking” was hardly scientific, so please don’t misinterpret it. I was originally just trying to generate discussion so that we could all learn more about the nature and quality and importance of non-academic life at America’s premier colleges. However, since originally creating and posting in this thread, and after reading, thinking, talking with others, and reading, thinking and talking with others some more, I’m actually more comfortable than ever with my “ranking.” </p>
<p>Different people will undoubtedly have their own take, but in answer to your question about Vanderbilt, I think its social life would rank highly by almost anyone’s standards. Probably the major exception would be a student who either hated Greek life (it is still an important aspect of undergraduate life, but as midmo regularly posts, there is plenty of non-Greek social life as well) or cared little about the athletic scene (I personally value athletic life and consider it a major differentiator with a college like Wash U. Rice is a bit of a cross between these two with a terrific baseball team, but not much else, at least not right now). </p>
<p>Finally re the non-academic life of these three colleges, it is more a case of good-better-best rather than a student not being able to have a good experience. I think you will find the student happiness factor to be high on all three campuses and not the large numbers of stressed out students that you often encounter and hear about at their northeastern competitors.</p>