21 Virginia, DC Schools On Princeton Review's 'Best 385' List
The new Princeton Review list of the 385 best colleges for 2020 was released in August and includes 21 schools in Virginia and DC.
By Deb Belt, Patch Staff
Aug 12, 2019 1:50 pm ET
WASHINGTON, DC The Princeton Review has released its annual list of the 385 best colleges, which includes 16 schools in Virginia and five in Washington, D.C. Along with the list of the best 385 colleges, the Princeton Review ranks colleges in categories like academics and administration, politics, quality of life and more.
"We chose the 385 colleges for this edition as our 'best' overall, academically, based on data we gathered in 201819 from more than a thousand school administrators about their schools' academic programs and offerings," Robert Franek, Princeton Review's editor-in-chief and the lead author of the book, said in a press release.
"We are well aware, however, that applicants need more than an academic assessment to choose the colleges best for them," Franek said. "We created our dozens of ranking lists specifically to facilitate that search. We tally our lists using data we gather directly from our surveys of students attending these colleges. Our survey asks the students about their professors, administrators, school services, campus culture, and other facets of life at their schools."
Some colleges found themselves high on lists that are not so flattering. For example: Hampden-Sydney College places first in the nation on the list entitled: "Is It Food?" and the University of Virginia ranks 20th for "Lots of Beer." On the upside: American University in DC finished fifth in America on the list entitled: "Most Politically Active Students," Virginia Tech ranked No. 5 for "Best Campus Food" and College of William and Mary was No. 6 for "Happiest Students."
On the overall list of the best 385 colleges, the Princeton Review says the colleges aren't ranked in order from No. 1 to No. 385. Colleges are ranked on the more specific lists like "best campus food," "best college newspaper" and "party schools."
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Read the full
Princeton Review methodology and see the
schools ranked in each of the 62 lists.