The Princeton Review on Monday released its annual package of mostly arbitrary lists about colleges that are fun to talk about but don't really mean anything. The rankings feature categories such as "Birkenstock-Wearing, Tree-Hugging, Clove-Smoking Vegetarians," "Stone-Cold-Sober Schools" and "Is It Food."
So, when local schools show up on the lists, it's probably best not to take things too seriously. That being said, they did pop up quite a few times, in some pretty interesting spots.
In addition to being deemed "least beautiful," University of Dallas, the Irving-based Catholic private school, was deemed to have the fifth-most politically conservative student body in the country, the sixth-most "Future Rotarians and Daughters of the American Revolution," seventh-most religious students, eighth-most popular study abroad program, ninth-most "This a Library?" -- which we assume means the Princeton Review finds U of D's library aesthetically unpleasing -- and the 20th-most "Stone-Cold-Sober" school. Civic-minded, teetotaling and ugly? Unfair Park knows where we're telling our least favorite younger relative to head for college.
Besides being ranked as the No. 15 school for "Little Race/Class" interaction, Southern Methodist University actually comes out of the rankings looking pretty good. It's No. 3 for "Lots of Greek Life" (duh), No. 6 for "College City Gets High Marks," and No. 7 for "Most Beautiful Campus," "Best Quality of Life" and "Best Athletic Facilites." The school also has the country's 12th-best career services, according to the rankings.
Rounding out the local contingent in the annual report were the University of Texas at Dallas and Texas Christian University. UTD was, like the University of Dallas, lauded for its temperance, finishing as the No. 15 "Scotch and Soda, Hold the Scotch" school and homely nature, coming in as the No. 17 "Least Beautiful Campus." TCU failed to make any of the fun lists, but does have the No. 22 "Top Entrepreneurial Program: Undergraduate."
