It is ridiculous that Iowa has lost its crown as No.1 party school

What does Illinois have that we don’t?!

In 2012-2013, the Princeton Review had placed us second on their list of top party schools. The following year, Iowa was crowned number one in America. Then we were bumped back down.

The University of Iowa is notorious for our party image, supposedly more so than the University of Illinois, who currently holds the top title. We even defeated them in football as we became first in the Big Ten conference. So what’s the deal?

The Princeton Review is a company that offers test preparation services as well as college admission services. They also happen to be a main source of university rankings – USA Today, the Huffington Post, and Time Magazine have covered the best party schools using the Review’s annual rankings. But what necessarily determines who parties harder?

It turns out that the rankings are determined by surveys open to students. Princeton publicist Jeanne Krier stated that questions cover the popularity of drugs and alcohol on campus, the popularity of the frat and sorority scene, and the number of hours students say they study each day outside of class time. This means that the students at Illinois have statistically said there are more parties and drinking on their campus.

Although the Princeton Review offers concise and accessible information, I’m one-hundred percent sure we go harder than any other university. Seriously. Has anyone from the company been tailgating for a home football game? Have they experienced downtown Iowa City on a Friday night?

Supposedly at Illinois you can get into a bar if you’re 19+, but that means nothing here. 18 year old freshmen can be seen barhopping. And although I can’t confirm it, I’m pretty sure they don’t have Margarita Monday, Tipsy Tuesday, and Wet Wednesday on top of Thirsty Thursday and the weekend. There’s no elitism or a certain kind of student that goes out. We don’t even need an excuse to drink – we just do.

I don’t need to write an article to remind the students here how dedicated we are to carousing and having a good time. And although we aren’t number one (for now), we’ve been in the Review’s annual “Best Colleges book for over twenty years.

Here’s the kicker: University of Iowa students can participate in the surveys for the next edition of the Princeton Review’s Best 380 Colleges. That means we have the opportunity to let everyone know just how hard we party. The University of Iowa could possibly reclaim the title of  Number One Party School in America again.

Regardless of numbers and lists, unbelievers only need to visit Summit on a weekend to see what we mean.

More
University of Iowa