NY's school dispirit (New York is home to 7 of the top 20 saddest colleges in America)

New York Post ^ | 08/03/2010 | Yoav Gonen

[SeekAndFind]

They're singing the higher-ed blues.

New York state is home to seven of the top 20 colleges nationwide where students report feeling the unhappiest, according to the latest edition of the Princeton Review's "Best Colleges" survey.

Among the leaders of the mopey brigade was the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, Long Island, which ranked second nationally behind Tennessee's Fisk University.

The New School's Eugene Lang College and New York University were ranked 12th and 16th, respectively, on the dour list.

SUNY's Albany and Stony Brook campuses also made the list.

Meanwhile, Brown University in Providence, RI, was found to have the happiest students.

It wasn't all bad news for local schools, with Columbia University ranking first in the "Great College Towns" category, The New School taking the top spot for encouraging class discussions, and Barnard College ranking eighth for "Best Quality of Life."

Those results were based on surveys of about 122,000 students at the 373 schools.

The annual rankings showed that student opinions have shifted relatively little in recent years -- keeping Hunter College near the top of the ugly-campus list, Brooklyn College and Queens College near the top of the sober list, and The New School and Fordham University among those with poorly rated food.

Similarly, NYU has gotten consistently low ratings for its financial aid and administrative services in recent years.

Among the Princeton Review's other findings:

* University of North Dakota students study the least.

* Students at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville are the least religious.

* University of Georgia students party the hardest.

* Students at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson are the biggest tree huggers.

[jessduntno]

“Meanwhile, Brown University in Providence, RI, was found to have the happiest students.”

And the richest? Highest per capita trust funds?

[SeekAndFind]

AMERICA’s HAPPIEST COLLEGES :

Brown University
Providence, RI

Claremont McKenna College
Claremont, CA

Stanford University
Stanford, CA

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Needham, MA

Clemson University
Clemson, SC

Yale University
New Haven, CT

University of Pittsburgh—Pittsburgh Campus

Bowdoin College
Brunswick, ME

Rice University
Houston, TX

Saint Michael’s College
Colchester, VT

College of William and Mary

Colorado College
Colorado Springs, CO

Tufts University
Medford, MA

Prescott College
Prescott, AZ

University of Dayton
Dayton, OH

Pennsylvania State University—University Park

Pitzer College
Claremont, CA

St. Mary’s College of Maryland
St Marys City, MD

Webb Institute
Glen Cove, NY

[SeekAndFind]

PRINCETON REVIEW’s AMEIRCA’s SADDEST COLLEGES

http://www.princetonreview.com/schoollist.aspx?type=r&id=717

United States Merchant Marine Academy
Kings Point, NY

United States Coast Guard Academy
New London, CT

Tuskegee University
Tuskegee, AL

New Jersey Institute of Technology
Newark, NJ

University of California—Riverside

United States Naval Academy
Annapolis, MD

State University of New York at Albany
Albany, NY

Marywood University
Scranton, PA

Clarkson University
Potsdam, NY

State University of New York—Stony Brook University

Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts

United States Air Force Academy
USAF Academy, CO

Whittier College
Whittier, CA

Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, IL

New York University
New York, NY

University of Toronto
Toronto, ON

Alfred University
Alfred, NY

Rider University
Lawrenceville, NJ

University of Rhode Island
Kingston, RI

[SeekAndFind]

BTW, for those who don’t know...

New York University has had one suicide every year for the past nine years.

A lot of these suicides were students jumping on top of the school’s buildings to their deaths.

[jessduntno]

“A lot of these suicides were students jumping on top of the school’s buildings to their deaths.”

Good grief ... they must have a hellacious track team ... especially in the high jump ...

[equalitybeforethelaw]

“Among the leaders of the mopey brigade was the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, Long Island, which ranked second nationally behind Tennessee’s Fisk University.”

Wait until the find out how mopey they become turning circles in the Indian Ocean on an ammo ship. There is a reason sailors drink heavily.

[Tax-chick]

LOL! I wonder why the students at the military academies (except West Point?) are so sad. Pressure of having complete their courses adequately and on time?

[Oshkalaboomboom]

* University of Georgia students party the hardest.

Go Dawgs!

[Rockingham]

My father graduated from Kings Point some decades ago and I have no doubt that it deserves its high rating for unhappiness -- and its reputation as a great and defining experience for its graduates.

Kings Point is a tough place that weeds out those who are not suitable as merchant marine and US Navy officers. There is no room for the easy excuses and weak effort that are the norm in most of American education. At Kings Point, even the best students find that they must work harder than they ever have.

Moreover, the ethic and discipline of Kings Point are similar to that of the military academies: heavily male, with uniforms, strenuous physical training, mandatory dormitory living, and little free time or liberty from campus. The curriculum revolves around analytical skills using math, science, and engineering.

Kings Point graduates who go into the merchant marine or Navy will, at a young age, be responsible for expensive, unwieldy vessels at sea -- a place where simple mistakes can get you and others killed. Because of the hardness of King Point, its graduates are fully ready for the challenge.

[Slings and Arrows]

Best illegal drugs, probably.

[jessduntno]

“Best illegal drugs, probably.”

Most expensive, definitely.

[Gay State Conservative]

Admission to Brown..Yale...Stanford...Tufts pretty much guarantees you a *very* prosperous life.And most of those admitted *know* that.No wonder they’re happy.

[Gay State Conservative]

New York University has had one suicide every year for the past nine years.

I'm surprised to see NYU on the "unhappiest" list.A degree from NYU is worth serious $$$ in the job market and that's well known.Perhaps it's the pressure of the curriculum.

[Chode]

sh!t, so many Cornell kids jump off roofs and bridges they could open a flight school...

that they all have razor wire around the rooftops and fences on all the bridges now

[JerseyHighlander]

I was at the cusp of the explosion of applicants to NYU back in the mid to late 1990’s.
Up until then, the Uni did not get many applicants from outside other world class metropolitan regions.
Jokingly called the Friends and Seinfeld effect, the student body of NYU switched rapidly to suburbanites and foreign students from families without connections in NYC.

Growing up just outside NYC and having been roaming arond the city since I was in high school, NYU is a great Uni,.. of course I could retreat ut of the city for spells to get out of the grind.

Also, this list is ridiculous, it’s a list of trustafarian reality, where reality is whatever you need to believe in to bring value to your personhood.

P.S. Hunter College still has ugliest campus I’ve ever seen, outside of a Biblical college in remote Queensland AU.

[SeekAndFind]

Even Wikipedia knows the fame of NYU's Bobt Library, where suicides have occured many times before.

Here is the Wiki entry :

---

"Bobst is also infamous for the several suicides that occurred inside the building, in which students jumped from the corridors of the higher floors down to the lobby below. In response, NYU created plexiglass barriers around these corridors to prevent students from jumping, and expanded an initiative to reach out to students regarding mental health."

Here's a picture of the library :

[Slings and Arrows]

Damn Blue States make everything more expensive.