Did U of I Deserve to Lose Its No. 1 Party School Ranking?

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. After being named the No. 1 party school in the country last year by the Princeton Review, the University of Illinois dropped to No. 3 in this year's ranking, knocked from its top spot by another Big Ten school — the University of Wisconsin-Madison — no less.

The college guide bases its rankings on surveys of 143,000 students at the 381 colleges that are published in its book (the newest edition came out Tuesday). The qualitative student assessments in those surveys are then converted into quantitative data.

So why isn't Urbana-Champaign the rockin' campus it used to be? The Princeton "We Have Nothing to Do With the Ivy League College" Review didn't include explanations for any school's ranking, so it's hard to know how U of I dropped the party ball that UW — and West Virginia University at No. 2 — was so eager to pick up and run with.

But the guide did provide comments from students' surveys, and those remarks make it sound like Illinois should still hold its (dubious) title.

RELATED: Check Out the Full List at the Princeton Review's Website

Here are some of the comments concerning UW that the Princeton Review included:

"[T]hese Badgers also know how to 'let loose,' and we're assured that 'there is always something fun to do on-campus or off-campus.' Indeed, no matter if they're 'eating Babcock Dairy ice cream, partying at clubs, sledding on Bascom Hill, going to concerts [or] visiting the free zoo,' students 'make time for fun.' … Athletics are quite popular in general and students especially love to support Badger football. One undergrad boasts, 'We have one of the best game experiences in the country…You won't find a more friendly place to be as attendees share brats, offer up beers, and join in singing some of our most memorable chants— all before the game even begins.' And, certainly, the city of Madison itself "has no shortage of fun.' As a marketing major explains, 'State Street which connects the campus to the Capitol, is filled with interesting shops, ethnic foods, and plenty of bars. If students are done with class, this is often a great place to walk around and explore'."

Now, here are the comments concerning U of I:

"Students call social life 'very exciting,' and say, 'The bars in downtown Champaign are great and super relaxed, plus there is an awesome music scene that most people don't expect from a college town.' 'People here like to party, but there are a lot of other fun things to do' … Students relish the 'nineteen-year-old bar age,' and U of I also has 'one of the largest Greek communities in the country.' The combination of these facts does mean that 'drinking culture is huge here' but 'there's also tons to do beyond the bars'."

Eating ice cream, sledding and going to the zoo beat out Urbana-Champaign's popular music and bar scenes? That's a questionable definition of what activities constitute a big-time party school. Granted, these were only selected comments and don't necessarily reflect all of the guide's gathered data in determining this truly important academic ranking. But on the surface, it sure looks like the Illini were robbed.

At least, there's always next year.

And for those residents uncomfortable with a state university ranked among the top 5 party schools in the nation, you can take comfort in the fact that Illinois also landed a school on one of the Princeton Review's more austere lists: Wheaton College ranked No. 3 on this year's Stone-Cold Sober Schools list.

Image via University of Illinois

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