UGA students still party, but a little less so

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — For years, the higher-ups at the University of Georgia have tried to suppress the school's image as a booze fueled party school -- but from the looks of things, students just aren't buying it.

For the second year in a row, the state's flagship institution landed in the famous -- or infamous -- top ten on the princeton review's annual top party schools, although it slipped a couple notches from No. 5 to No. 7 for the 2009 edition. UGA also ranked third on the list for "students who (almost) never study."

But UGA brass shouldn't despair. Football rival the university of florida came in No. 1 on the party school ranking for the first time ever, yanking the beer guzzling, kegger inducing title away from west virginia university.

The princeton review surveys nearly 120,000 students for its annual college guide, ranking 62 categories from most conservative students (Texas A&M University) to Great College Town (Chicago, for depaul university).

For the first time, the review looked at the greenest and most environmentally friendly campuses, and Atlanta's own emory university made the top of the list. Emory was one of 11 colleges around the country that earned the highest rating for its environmentally related practices, policies and courses.

Meanwhile, wesleyan college in Macon was first on the list for lots of race and class interaction and diverse student population.

georgia tech ranked third for "class discussions rare," and fourth for least accessible professors. But Tech students ranked their athletic facilities high.

spelman college students put the atlanta school high on a list of campuses dissatisfied with their library and financial aid. They're also near the top of the list for stone-cold sober schools. Coincidence?

Florida has made the top 20 party school list for the past 15 years, but has never been No. 1.

Freshman Allison belanger, a journalism and political science major, said she's only been on campus for a few weeks but already has had no problem finding a party.

"All I have to do is leave the dorm," said belanger, 17. "A lot of people study hard and party hard."

A university spokesman said the party school reputation comes from the school's athletic successes. The Gators won two national basketball championships in 2006 and 2007 and one national football title at the end of the 2006 season.

"The fact that we have three national championships in two years is probably a major contributing factor," Orlando said. "We know our students like to have a good time."

He defended the school's academic climate, noting Florida's incoming students have a weighted grade-point average of 4.1 and an average SAT score of 1,300.

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Monday, July 28, 2008 |

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