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CNN Live At Daybreak
"Princeton Review" Releases Its List of Top Colleges
Aired August 21, 2001 - 08:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: All across the country, college students are getting ready to boast that school is the number one school. Well, number one in what exactly? The "Princeton Review" releases its list of top colleges this morning. Robert Franek compiled it. He's in New York to list the winners and give us a bit of a heads up on the story.
Thank you very much, Robert, for being here.
ROBERT FRANEK, AUTHOR, "PRINCETON REVIEW": Thanks for having me.
MCEDWARDS: Let's get right to your list. The best academic experience, which schools come out on top?
FRANEK: Best academic experience is Princeton University, then Amherst College, and then Harvard College.
MCEDWARDS: What are the criteria? I mean, how do you come up with this?
FRANEK: Well basically, we compile a list based on what we would consider the college experts. We go and we visit each of the 331 campuses ourselves, and we talk to what we consider the college experts, who are the students at this particular schools.
MCEDWARDS: How many students do you talk to? How scientific is this?
FRANEK: Well, it's not a scientific survey, but it certainly is a qualitative survey. We talk to a little over 200 students per campus. You know, some we get to survey the entire student body, and some 200, and a few, almost 2000.
MCEDWARDS: The "U.S. News & World Report" comes out with lists, others come out with their lists -- lists get criticized. What would you say about the criticisms?
FRANEK: Yes, it's definitely a good question, especially things that have been happening the last couple of days. Our ranking list is distinctly different from anyone out there, simply because we're ranking what we consider the college experts. We're talking to college experts, to students at these particular schools, and we're asking them to tell us about themselves, academics and administration at school, other students and social life on campus. MCEDWARDS: Another category, toughest college to get into. A lot of students interested in this. How does the list look there?
FRANEK: Cooper Union, which is a school right here in New York City, it's a wonderful gem of a school, and it certainly topped our list this year. so it's a great place. Then -- I'm sorry, go ahead.
MCEDWARDS: Sorry, after that, you're got Harvard College, Princeton, Stanford and the U.S. Air Force Academy, but I want to know how do you come up with that? Is that based on admissions requirements, or is this talking to students as well?
FRANEK: It's based specifically on admissions requirements, so that's an important distinction. We do talk to school administrators, and we get statistics from their admissions office and students about their current students, come up with the ratings ourselves.
MCEDWARDS: What about happiest students? Walk us through your list here.
FRANEK: Happiest students, number one is Pomona College, beautiful California. I really don't understand how a student couldn't be happy at this particular place?
MCEDWARDS: And what else?
FRANEK: St. Lawrence University, Bard College, Wabash College.
MCEDWARDS: All right, tell me it if I'm looking for something that isn't here, but none of these colleges that are on the list of happy students is on the list of best academic experience?
FRANEK: I don't think it's a -- it's probably just a coincidence, yes. There is no real scientific or qualitative data behind that. That's the way the students ranked it this year.
MCEDWARDS: What did you look at to determine how the students are happiest?
FRANEK: We simply ask them, how happy our they? Our survey is a little over 70 questions, and we're talking to students, again, everywhere from how happy they are with their academics, how happy they are with the professors that are teaching their classes, and those questions combine to form this particular list.
MCEDWARDS: All right, Robert Franek, thanks a lot for taking us through this morning, this list coming out today.
FRANEK: Thanks so much.
MCEDWARDS: Thank you.
FRANEK: Bye-bye.
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