In keeping with the spirit of publishing college rankings, the Princeton Review recently released their book The Best 379 Colleges-2015 Edition. Included in the Princeton Review rankings are the top 20 schools in dozens of different categories ranging from “Students who Study the Most” to “Biggest Party School.” We went through and found all Illinois schools that made one of the top 20 lists along with their accompanying category. Some schools, such as Wheaton College and Illinois Institute of Technology, show up often. Other schools, such as DePaul University, made just one appearance.The rankings are based on a student survey. More on the survey from the Princeton Review:
The rankings are based on surveys of 130,000 students (average 343 per campus) at the colleges in the book in 2013-14 and/or the previous two school years. The surveyasks students 80 questions about their school’s academics, administration, student body, and themselves. The ranking methodology uses a five-point Likert scale to convert qualitative student assessments into quantitative data for school-to-school comparisons.
To find descriptions of all 62 categories the Princeton Review ranked, along with the 20 schools in each of those categories, you can check out the Princeton Review’s 2015 rankings here.
If you just want to know where the Illinois schools ranked, those findings are below. The number preceding the school name represents its rank in that respective category.
Academics/Administration
Students Study the Most
16. University of Chicago
Best College Library
1. University of Chicago
19. Illinois Wesleyan University
Best-run colleges
7. Wheaton College
Best Science Lab Facilities
13. Wheaton College
17. University of Chicago
Best Classroom Experience
18. University of Chicago
Professors Got Low Marks
10. Illinois Institute of Technology
Students Study the Least
8. DePaul University
This is a Library?
3. Bradley University
Financial Aid Not So Great
14. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Administrators Get Low Marks
14. Illinois Institute of Technology
Campus Life
Lots of Race/Class Interaction
18. Knox College
Most Religious Students
3. Wheaton College
Little Class/Race Interaction
7. Illinois Wesleyan University
LGBT-Unfriendly
3. Wheaton College
Town Life
Town-Gown Relations are Great
18. Wheaton College
College City Gets High Marks
3. DePaul University
20. Illinois Institute of Technology
Schools by Type
Party Schools
5. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Stone-Cold Sober Schools
2. Wheaton College
Future Rotarians and Daughters of the American Revolution
5. Wheaton College
Politics
Most Politically Active Students
12. University of Chicago
Most Conservative Students
14. Wheaton College
Quality of Life
Happiest Students
15. Wheaton College
Least Happy Students
6. Illinois Institute of Technology
Best Campus Food
12. Wheaton College
Best College Dorms
14. University of Chicago
Least Beautiful Campus
10. Illinois Institute of Technology
Best Quality of Life
13. Wheaton College
Extracurriculars
Best College Radio Station
11. Knox College
18. Illinois Wesleyan University
Best College Theatre
10. Northwestern University
18. Knox College
Best Athletic Facilities
1. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Social Scene
Don’t Inhale
8. Wheaton College
Lots of Hard Liquor
11. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Scotch and Soda, Hold the Scotch
3. Wheaton College
Lots of Beer
8. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Got Milk?
4. Wheaton College
Lots of Greek Life
9. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Regardless of whether your school has the least beautiful campus or the best food among schools in Illinois, college really is about what you do with the experiences and opportunities you are given. That’s why you should read our 15 college hacks to make this school year your best one yet.
NEXT ARTICLE: The 15 best Illinois colleges, according to Forbes
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- Want to tell your elected officials what you think of the state of government in Illinois? Use our Sound Off tool. Brendan Bond is a staff writer at Reboot Illinois. He is a graduate of Loyola University, where he majored in journalism. Brendan takes a look each day at the Land of Lincoln Lowdown and it’s often pretty low. He examines the property tax rates that drive Illinoisans insane. You can find Reboot on Facebook and on Twitter @rebootillinois.