Parties may not be UNLV’s strong suit

Tuesday, Oct. 5, 1999 | 10:38 a.m.

You have to be suspicious when a university located in the "Entertainment Capital of the World" fails to make it among the top 10 party schools in the country.

The Princeton Review annually publishes its list of the best American colleges, with the list including those campuses where "revelry" is among the three Rs.

The year 2000 edition of the publication is available now, and for the first time in the nine-year history of the review UNLV broke into the top 331, but not because it is a party-school such as No. 1 Florida State University, No. 5 University of Mississippi or No. 10 University of Georgia.

UNLV made it on, among other things, academic merit.

The "among other things" includes the fact that this year the review, which is not published by Princeton University but by New York-based Princeton Review Publishing, made sure every state was represented on the list of "331 Best Colleges."

"This year what we've done is make sure every major state university is represented," Vice President and Publisher Evan Schnittman said. "UNLV is the flagship of Nevada."

UNLV was selected as the flagship of the system over the University of Nevada, Reno because of a number of factors including the diversity of its student base and the size of its enrollment.

While UNLV may not be ranked among the top party schools, neither is it among the top nonparty schools such as No. 1 Brigham Young University, No. 5 U.S. Naval Academy and No. 10 University of the Ozarks.

Academically, UNLV is rated at "70" compared to Yale, whose academic rating is listed at 93 and Harvard, rated 96.

The ratings are not based on scientific numbers, Schnittman notes, but are a compilation of surveys taken of students at various campuses.

In essence the list of best colleges is a compilation based upon students' opinions, although the review does report SAT and ACT scores of in-coming freshmen.

The survey rates quality of life (UNLV's is 88), difficulty of admissions (80) and financial aid (83).

"One key to our publication is that every kid has their own opinion of which is the best college," Schnittman said. "We use an index of competitiveness."

Schnittman said the importance of the publication, besides selling for $20 at your local book stores, is that it gives students a starting point from which to begin searching for the college they want to attend.

"With the competitiveness of college admission gone crazy, kids need to apply to 10 or 15 colleges," he said.

"It's a tool," Schnittman said. "UNLV has a certain atmosphere that is not the same kind of atmosphere best suited for say a Brigham Young student."