As Indiana University continues to refute its distinction as the nation's No. 1 "party school," Ball State has found itself with nothing to contest.
Not only was the university missing from the Princeton Review's list of top 20 party schools, it failed to qualify for any of the organization's listings published in its ""The 345 Best Colleges - 2002 Edition" guidebook.
The Princeton Review, a test-preparation and college admissions company with no ties to Princeton University, annually publishes its lists, compiled this year by surveying more than 100,000 students from half of the 345.
And though Indiana University may have to live with the stigma of No. 1 "party school," it can also tout that it ranks as one of the best, according to this survey. Purdue and Ball State were the only four-year public institutions that didn't make the cut.
He also said many factors determine the quality of a school, too many to create a definitive criteria. "I always thought it was of very little, if any, value," McConkey said. "Frankly, I don't pay much attention to them. I don't think it will have any impact (on enrollment) whatsoever, and it shouldn't." To garner student feedback, Princeton Review either set out tables in high-traffic campus areas or asked administrators to e-mail students, inviting them to take in the survey. Either way, students decided whether or not to participate, an unreliable method to gather data, according to the textbook "Research Methods in Political Science," authored by the late Ball State Professor Michael Corbett. "By and large, most are favorable about it and are glad to be in he book," Soto said. "But when the rankings are less favorable, they say the rankings are less valuable. "It's an accurate snapshot of what's going on in colleges around the nation." The surveys' organizer, Robert Franek, said Princeton Review college experts are now responsible for selecting the schools included. The guidebook which lists all the rankings, is sold on Barnes and Noble's Web site. Only nine people have reviewed it. Most are written by high school students, and most recommend the book. Among the reviewers, though, is Paula Rohrlick, an editor for KLIATT, a bimonthly magazine with reviews more than 1,200 books and over 300 audiobooks recommended for classrooms. "This annual publication stands out among college guidebooks because it includes frank student opinions on the colleges profiled. (It is) a handy resource for the college-bound," Rohrlick wrote. Regardless of its legitimacy, Al Rent - Ball State's director of marketing - said such surveys mean little to potential students. "We've never seen an impact from being on a list, per se," said Rent, who also said the school will sometimes tout individual programs that received high marks. Rent, citing research from Ball State freshmen surveys, said students first look at the programs offered, followed by the cost and location. The only other list McConkey can recall Ball State making is the now-infamous Play Boy list, which designated Ball State as a party school, though what rank it achieved is debated today.
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