In August, the Princeton Review came out with its annual 62 top-20 lists for colleges, and of course the one that gets the most attention is its party-school ranking. This year the University of Wisconsin-Madison placed 12th, which in my memory seemed pretty low, especially compared to previous years. So I contacted the Princeton Review, and the staff graciously provided rankings through 1992.

It turns out my hunch was (mostly) correct. The No. 12 slot is the lowest since UW was ranked the same in 1995. If history holds, UW could be looking at low rankings for the next couple of years before it climbs again. I guess that makes sense: each “block” of grades matches one graduating class (four years).

From 1992 to 1995, UW was 14th, 12th, 12th and 12th, respectively. Then it jumped to sixth, second and second from 1996 to 1998. The next four years see listings of unranked, ninth, unranked and 10th, then Nos. 2, 3, 1 and 4 from 2003 to 2006.

Last year UW took eighth, which appeared to be the start of another “slump” when paired with this year’s No. 12 ranking. (However, if you count 2007’s and 2008’s no ranking, then UW just ended  a block and will start another one next year.)

By the way, the Princeton Review bases the rankings of colleges on “the use of alcohol and drugs on their campus, the number of hours (the surveyed students) study each day outside class, and the popularity of the Greek scene on their campuses.” As with all surveys, you can probably these results with a grain of salt.

YEAR – RANK*
2010 – 12
2009 – 8
2008 – UR
2007 – UR
2006 – 4
2005 – 1
2004 – 3
2003 – 2
2002 – 10
2001 – UR
2000 – 9
1999 – UR
1998 – 2
1997 – 2
1996 – 6
1995 – 12
1994 – 12
1993 – 12
1992 – 14

*source: the Princeton Review