What is the perception of SMU?
Is it about drinking, hot people, fun parties and — ohyeah, class? Is the school academically underrated? Are studentssocially, fashionably, politically and academically conscious? Oris it just Louis Vuitton bags adorned with sorority pins,Daddy’s credit card and bronzed tans year-round?
Furthermore, can you sum up these perceptions, or classify thetruth with a numerical ranking?
The Princeton Review recently ranked SMU No. 4 MajorFraternity/Sorority Scene in its 2005 Best 357 Colleges list. Theabove comments about SMU came from more than 110,000 collegestudents surveyed about their universities.
The Princeton Review Web site details the process used to rankthe universities. The organization continuously monitors more than2,000 schools, gathering information from their administration,educators, students and parents.
Categories ranked include academics, demographics, parties andpolitics, with witty sub-categories covering both ends of thespectrum, such as “Gay community accepted/Alternativelifestyles not an alternative” or “Lots of hardliquor/Scotch and soda, hold the scotch.”
Another noteworthy ranking system is the U.S. News and WorldReport’s America’s Best Colleges 2005, in which SMUranked No. 71 of National Universities. Last year, SMU placed No.72. These ranks are based on many factors, including acceptance,retention, graduation rates, test scores and the schools’selectivity rank.
How does SMU feel about its rankings?
“I would assume that most administrations like ratingsthat make them look good and don’t care so much for thosethat don’t,” said John Kalb, director of institutionalresearch at SMU. He said that the U.S. News rankings are generallymore respected than those by Princeton Review because they arebased on data rather than possibly invalid samples of studentopinion.
Senior theatre major Weston Davis said he expected SMU’sU.S. News rank to be lower. “But then I’m sure theremust be a core of hardworking students in each department that Idon’t know about,” he said.
As a private university, Davis thinks SMU should strive to workits way toward the top. “For what our students pay, we shouldbe able to manage better than No. 71.”
Kalb pointed out that it is difficult for schools to move inrank every year. “You can improve your quantifiable scoreseach year and not improve, because everyone else is trying to dothe same.”
Kalb also noted that while rankings are influential, there aremore important aspects to consider when choosing a university.”Students should select a school on the basis of its programsand the type of experience a student is looking for; whatever isimportant to the students, not a ranking in some book.”
Senior business management major Rachel Ross agreed.”Rankings only influenced my decision to come to SMU to asmall extent,” she said. “While I would have preferredattending a top tier school, there are many other factors thatplayed into my decision to attend SMU rather than a simplenumerical ranking,” including SMU’s location,population, networking opportunities and scholarshipavailability.”
It was the same for junior public policy and political sciencemajor Mike Whaley; “I do not think that the U.S. News rankingtruly reflects the academic and campus experience atSMU.”
“What makes this school unique — the smallchallenging classes, the hundreds of campus organizations andthe close-knit community make SMU, in my opinion, a top tieruniversity.”
And as for potentially being known as a “partyschool”?
Kalb asks the question, “What constitutes a party school,a party every night somewhere, fifty percent of the students beingcard-carrying party animals, a high arrest record for disturbingthe peace? Most likely, it is how many students the PrincetonReview finds to complete their survey, and how many of these saythey party, or that other students do.”
Davis thinks the characterization is accurate. “Based onthe number of good students I know and the number of bad students Isee coming to class hung-over or not at all, I’d say that itis justified. Hard-core partying is the social structure at thisschool,” he said.
To Ross and Whaley, a party school rep isn’t necessarily abad thing. “It is important for a school to be known forsomething — hopefully something positive,” Ross said.”As much as I would prefer our school to be known as a toptier institution; I suppose I enjoy the fact that we can be knownfor something — our fraternity/sorority party scene.”
“While SMU was not mentioned in the Top 5 of PrincetonReview’s list of universities with a ‘Great CollegeLibrary’ or where ‘Students Pack the Stadiums,’I’ll take being No. 4 on the ‘Major Fraternity andSorority Scene’ list,” Whaley said. “It’snice to get a little recognition for all the partying, among theother things we do.”
For Davis, however, there is always room for improvement.”I think we can do a little better than No. 4,” hesaid. “With just two more drinks per person per party,I’ve no doubt we can be No. 1. Keep reaching for thatrainbow, Mustangs!”
For more information about the rankings, visithttp://www.usnews.com and http://www.princetonreview.com.
“We should be lower than our benchmark schools, or theywouldn’t be very good benchmarks, would they?” saidJohn Kalb, director of institutional research.
