As the academic year kicks back into gear, the Princeton Review has issued its latest edition… As the academic year kicks back into gear, the Princeton Review has issued its latest edition of rankings for the nation’s 361 best schools. The University of Pittsburgh sports solid ratings as usual for academics, but what about parties – that other archetypal mainstay of the college experience?

Pitt is nowhere to be seen among the Top 20 on the Princeton Review’s “Party Schools” ranking, while regional rivals Penn State and West Virginia University ranked second and third in the nation, respectively.

Should Pitt be concerned about a party gap? Not so, says its student body.

First of all, Pitt’s rankings are based on the submitted opinions from Pitt students.

Michael Palumbo, senior editor of the Review’s “Best 361 Colleges” rankings book, explained that the book’s statistics are based upon a vast pool of questionnaire results from students, gleaned from more than 2,000 colleges across the nation.

“Our rankings are based on the results of 115,000 student surveys from the best 361 colleges,” explained Palumbo. “Our choices for the best 361 aren’t based so much on mathematical data. We try to look for academically outstanding schools and we look at the feedback we get from those schools [through surveys]. We try to include a wide range of institutions from public to private schools and state colleges to liberal arts colleges.”

The surveys include questions about students’ social life, peers and academics.

“For the ‘party school’ listing,” Palumbo continued, “we looked at information about drug and alcohol use, prominence of the Greek scene and amount of time spent studying. When those first two factors are high and the last one is low, it sounds like a party school to us.”

Some students, though, don’t like the sound of a party school at all.

“I think it’s good that we’re not on the [party school] list. We don’t need that kind of rep,” Pitt student Karen Inquartano said.

There appears to be something of a consensus among Pitt students that the Pitt campus’s urban setting provides a more than adequate alternative to the party-hardy regimen that typifies undergraduate life in more isolated college towns.

“I’m kind of glad Pitt is not a party school, that can get tiring. I partied a little too much earlier on,” Pitt senior David Yake said. “I guess [Pitt] is like that because it’s in the city. Places like WVU are nothing but a college town.

“Here there’s more to do than just school and partying. I’m sure you’ll find parties here if you look for them, though,” Yake added.

A.J. Devito, a senior at Pitt, suggested that the urban environment makes for a less tight-knit community than isolated campuses have.

“We’re a city campus, it’s not as easy to have parties here,” Devito said. “We’re not as concentrated as a college town campus like Penn State.”

“There’s nothing to do at [places like] Penn State besides party,” Pitt sophomore Lauren Zelt said. “Students here don’t just party, there’s just other things to do.”

There are other lists in the college guide as well.

There are 62 different ranking lists altogether. The main premise of the “Best 361 Colleges” book is to provide a guide for prospective college students, based on information from present college students.

Any Pitt student can take part in the book’s survey process. To participate in the surveys that will determine Pitt’s rankings in next year’s “Best 361 Colleges” volume, visit http://survey.review.com.