Keeping in the spirit of all things PARTY around here, I would, as a dyed-in-the-wool, true-blue, fully-indoctrinated University of Florida alumni and Gator Fan, be remiss not to mention the latest news from The Princeton Review. UF has been named the #1 Party School in the Nation.
The Associated Press reports:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida can raise a glass to another national title - Best Party School in the country.The Gators, known for wild celebrations following national championships in football and basketball, wrestled the party title away from West Virginia University and beat out the University of Mississippi and Penn State University, in the Princeton Review survey of 120,000 students released Monday.(via The Huffington Post)
Obviously, news of this announcement causes UF alum everywhere to immediately respond with an air of defensiveness, as if to clutch our collective diplomas and indignantly declare our hard work and intelligence despite our knack for having a good time. Anyone who is familiar with the current collegiate admissions programs in this country is fully aware that UF is NOT for dummies.
According to a report from CollegeAdmissionEssay.com:
Admission to the school is surprisingly competitive for the large student population; last year, over 22,973 students applied and 12,029 were admitted. Eventually, only 6,596 were admitted. The students had a combined average SAT score ranging from 1140 to 1340 and a comprehensive ACT score ranging 24 to 29. Over 79% of admitted students were ranked in the top 10% of their high school graduating class with an average high school GPA of about 3.9. These high statistics may be surprising for a large state school, however, U Florida has constantly been attempting to up their standards for admission and draw more out of state students, which has been remarkably successful.
That said, I am not the slightest bit defensive of this “award”. In fact, I am thrilled! I am still proud to be a graduate of the University of Florida, I am extremely relieved to not have to compete for admission today (pretty sure I wouldn’t get in!), and I even raise my glass to the Gator Nation with gratitude for helping me become what I am today: A top-notch, rock star PARTY PLANNER! Seriously, is there a better letter of recommendation than a copy of this report for someone with my job??
See the entire list below:
1. University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
2. University of Mississippi, University, Miss.
3. Penn State University, University Park, Pa.
4. West Virginia University, Morgantown, W.Va.
5. Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.
6. Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Va.
7. University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.
8. University of Texas, Austin, Texas.
9. University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, Calif.
10. Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla.
11. University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H.
12. University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
13. University of Colorado, Boulder, Co.
14. Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind.
15. Tulane University, New Orleans, La.
16. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Ill.
17. Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.
18. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn.
19. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
20. Loyola University-New Orleans, New Orleans, La.
Lance Armstrong(I don’t have a link for this but can give a first hand account of the day he gave my children Livestrong Bands while we were out on a morning walk!)
Faith Hill
Tim McGraw
Amy Grant
Vince Gill (along with the fact that he and wife Amy Grant own a home here, my friend also was on a treadmill right next to Vince one early morning at Gold’s Gym)
Bette Midler
Jessica Simpson
Goldie Hawn (a friend saw her eating at 
Michael Jordan
Rosie O’Donnell
Tiger Woods
Tim Allen
