Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 17, 1993 TAG: 9309170027
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It differs from other consumer-targeted college guides that base rankings on information from college admissions departments.
Princeton Review's guide relies on information from students, some of it so candid it could send institutions into damage control.
What institution wants to be first in the "professors suck all the life from material" category? (State University of New York at Stony Brook topped the list.)
Yet Hollins College is celebrating the guide's release this week. It came out on top or near the top of several categories.
The private, all-women institution in Roanoke County was first in "the best quality of life," first in "professors bring material to life," first in "things run smoothly," first in "happy students," second in "professors making themselves accessible" and third in "beautiful campus."
"It's a real tribute to the quality of our academic program and to the campus-life experience," Hollins President Maggie O'Brien said Thursday. "We're elated. When the people you've worked with to provide a good education are doing it in a way that makes students happy, that's exciting."
Some 40,000 students from 286 of what the Princeton Review deemed the best U.S. colleges and universities were asked about things like social life, food and campus attitudes.
Student responses included, "We are completely submerged in the process of self-expression" and, "Professors often remember my paper better than I do."
Which was a lot kinder than what some students had to say about their college.
Said one, "This is the level of hell that Dante missed."
by CNB