Wondering what these numbers are all about? The mystery ends here. Below we explain what factors each rating takes into account, what it measures, and how it is scaled.
But first, here's something you should keep in mind about ALL of our ratings:
Each individual rating places each college on a continuum for purposes of comparing all colleges within the 2006-2007 academic year only. Though similar, these ratings are not intended to be compared directly to those that appeared on PrincetonReview.com in any prior academic year or within any Princeton Review publication, except for Complete Book of Colleges: 2008 Edition, and the Best 366 Colleges: 2008 Edition, as our ratings computations are refined and change somewhat annually.
Admissions Selectivity Rating
Fire Safety Rating
Quality of Life Rating
Academic Rating
Financial Aid Rating
Professors Interesting Rating
Professors Accessible Rating
Ratings for All Colleges
Each college that has a listing on our website receives at least two ratings: an Admissions Selectivity Rating and a Fire Safety Rating.
Admissions Selectivity Rating
This rating measures how competitive admissions are at the school. This rating is determined by several institutionally-reported factors, including: the class rank, average standardized test scores, and average high school GPA of entering freshmen; the percentage of students who hail from out-of-state; and the percentage of applicants accepted. By incorporating all these factors, our Admissions Selectivity Rating adjusts for "self-selecting" applicant pools. University of Chicago, for example, has a very high rating, even though it admits a surprisingly large proportion of its applicants. Chicago's applicant pool is self-selecting; that is, nearly all the school's applicants are exceptional students. This rating is given on a scale of 60-99. Please note that if a school has an Admissions Selectivity Rating of 60*, it means that the school did not report to us enough of the statistics that go into the rating in order for us to accurately measure its admissions selectivity.
Fire Safety Rating
This rating measures how well prepared a school is to prevent or respond to campus fires, on a scale of 60-99.
We asked all the schools we annually collect data from to answer several questions about their efforts to ensure fire safety for campus residents. The questions were developed in consultation with the Center for Campus Fire Safety and cover:
1) The percentage of student housing sleeping rooms protected by an automatic fire sprinkler system with a fire sprinkler head located in the individual sleeping rooms
"There is no question that automatic fire sprinklers are effective tools in saving lives. A single sprinkler head can activate and control or extinguish the fire in much less time than it would take for the fire department to respond. This immediately reduces the danger to the occupants of the both the room where the fire broke out and the rest of the building, potentially saving lives."
2) The percentage of student housing sleeping rooms equipped with a smoke detector connected to a supervised fire alarm system
"Smoke alarms provide the critically needed early warning for the occupants of the room on fire. A smoke alarm that is connected to the building fire alarm system also warns the rest of the occupants to evacuate and it also sends a signal to a monitored location, such as security, who can notify the fire department to start responding immediately."
3) The number of malicious fire alarms that occur in student housing per year
"A malicious false alarm is one where someone deliberately activates the building fire alarm system, knowing that no emergency exists. This can create a "cry wolf" syndrome among the students and they can start to ignore the alarms, which can have a tragic outcome. Schools should act aggressively to eliminate these alarms."
4) The number of unwanted fire alarms that occur in student housing per year
"An unwanted fire alarm activation is one where the fire alarm system is activated by conditions such as a dirty smoke detector or a smoke detector located in a kitchen or next to a shower. As with the malicious false alarms, this can create a situation where the occupants will stop responding to the alarms. It is critical that the school identify the root cause of the alarm and fix the conditions and eliminate these alarm activations."
5) The banning of certain hazardous items and activities in residence halls, like candles, smoking, halogen lamps, etc.
"It is important to reduce the number of potential ignition sources in any student's room. By doing so, a school not only helps to safeguard the occupants of the residence hall, but also demonstrates its commitment to fire safety."
6) The percentage of student housing building fire alarm systems that, if activated, result in a local alarm only
"While it is important that the occupants of the building be alerted whenever there is a fire condition, it is also vital that this information be immediately communicated to a location outside of the building so the fire department can be notified and begin responding. It is critical that the time between ignition and suppression be as short as possible."
7) The percentage of student housing building fire alarm systems that, if activated, result in a signal being transmitted to a monitored location, where security investigates before notifying the fire department
"Whenever a fire breaks out, it is critically important to reduce the time between ignition and extinguishing the fire. Anything that extends the amount of time for the response of the fire department only places more people in danger and allows the fire to grow larger. Delaying the fire department's response to a fire can create an extremely dangerous situation."
8) The percentage of student housing building fire alarm systems that, if activated, result in a signal being transmitted immediately to a continuously monitored location which can then immediately notify the fire department to initiate a response
See the answer to Number 7.
9) How often fire safety rules-compliance inspections are conducted each year
"By conducting periodic inspections, a school can identify potential safety risks, correct them, and also use them as an opportunity to educate the students about fire safety awareness. It also demonstrates a school's commitment to fire safety."
Colleges that did not supply answers to a sufficient number of the nine fire safety questions for us to fairly compare them to other colleges receive a Fire Safety Rating of 60*. The schools have an opportunity to update their fire safety data every year and will have their fire safety ratings re-calculated and published annually.
All italicized quotations are from Ed Comeau, Director of the Center for Campus Fire Safety.
Ratings for schools featured in the Best 366 Colleges: 2008 Edition and the Best Colleges: Region by Region online feature
In addition to the Admissions Selectivity Rating and the Fire Safety Rating, those schools that appear in the Best 366 Colleges: 2008 Edition and/or in our Best Colleges: Region by Region online feature will also receive the following three ratings:
Quality of Life Rating
How happy students are with their lives outside the classroom, on a scale of 60-99. We weighed several factors, including students' assessments of their overall happiness; the beauty, safety, and location of the campus; the comfort of dorms; the quality of food; the ease of getting around campus and dealing with administrators; the friendliness of fellow students; the interaction of different student types; and the quality of the school's relationship with the local community.
Academic Rating
How hard students work and how much they get back for their efforts, on a scale of 60-99. This rating is calculated from student survey results and statistical information reported by administrators. Factors weighed include how many hours students study outside of the classroom and the quality of students the school attracts. We also considered students' assessments of their professors, class size, student-teacher ratio, use of teaching assistants, amount of class discussion, registration, and resources. Please note that if a school has an Academic Rating of 60*, it means that the school did not report to us a sufficient number of the statistics that go into the rating by our deadline. Please also note that a school with an Admissions Selectivity Rating of 60* will have an Academic Rating that is lower than it should be, since the Admissions Selectivity Rating is a factor in the calculation that produces the Academic Rating.
Financial Aid Rating
This rating measures how much financial aid a school awards and how satisfied students are with that aid, on a scale of 60-99. This rating is based on school-reported data on the percentage of students who were determined to have need and received aid, the percentage of need met for those students, and the percentage of students whose need was fully met. Student survey data that measures students' satisfaction with the financial aid they receive is also considered. Please note that if a school has a Financial Aid Rating of 60*, it means that the school did not report to us all of the statistics that go into the rating by our deadline.
Ratings for schools featured in the Best 366 Colleges: 2008 Edition and the Best Northeastern Colleges: 2008 Edition only
We do publish two additional ratings, which measure students' assessments of their professors, both on a scale of 60-99, in our bestselling guidebooks, the Best 366 Colleges: 2008 Edition and the Best Northeastern Colleges: 2008 Edition. Please note that these two ratings ARE NOT LISTED on PrincetonReview.com.
Professors Interesting Rating
This rating is based on the level of surveyed students' agreement with the statement, "Your instructors are good teachers."
Professors Accessible Rating
This rating is based on the level of surveyed students' agreement with the statement, "Your instructors are accessible outside the classroom."
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