The Princeton Review wants all prospective students to know that our library sucks. They would also like to get the word out about our excellent theater department and impressive pot consumption.

On Aug. 20, 2002, the newest edition of the Princeton Review’s The Best 345 Colleges – 2003 ed., a candid annual college guidebook, was released. With its publication, Guilford became the proud owner of the official seventh-best college radio station in the country. We’re also pegged as seventeenth on the “Least Happy students” list and a remarkable thirteenth for “Long lines and red tape.”

The 11 rankings Guilford College received not only raised some eyebrows, but also a few questions.

What is most important to understand about the Review is that we, as Guilford students, are solely responsible for its interpretation of us.

The results are based on student online surveys. In the press release, the Review said, “The survey, a grid-based questionnaire, asks students 70 questions about their own school’s academics, campus life and student body, as well as their study hours, politics, and opinions . . . a ranking reflects a high consensus of opinion among the college’s surveyed students about that topic. It means the college came in x out of 345 in the tallies for that list.”

However, some rankings, like our slot as third most politically active school, are a little difficult to believe. Eryn Heakin, a sophomore living in the Food Not Bombs house, said, “Okay, if Guilford is the third most politically active school, then I’m really worried about the rest of the country.”

“There are, like, two people at this school who are hardcore politically active, and everyone else is like, ‘Well, sometimes I recycle,’” says Catherine Lemaire Lozier, also a sophomore.

Our finish at eleventh for “Great college theater” also got its fair share of scrutiny, but Emily Stewart, a freshman, says, “While the department is small, the level of professionalism that I’ve witnessed so far with theater is really impressive.”

A few of the rankings, like our status as 13 for horrible on-campus food, are wholeheartedly agreed with. Brenda Welchel, supervisor for Guilford’s cafeteria says, “I think our cooks do a wonderful job, but the problem lies in that we have to satisfy all the vegetarians and vegans while trying to please the meat-eaters. It’s really difficult. I think the students need more outside options and we also need some changes.”

Our ranking as 13 for “Long lines and red tape” wasn’t met with much shock either. Sophomore Jessica Marshburn, said, “It should be at least fifth in that category. You’d be surprised.”

Since the Review begun the rankings in 1992, Guilford College has had an active role in many of the top twenties, actually more so than a lot of the bigger, more well-known school.

We have gone down on the “Reefer Madness” list, and completely lost some of the Guilford staples, such as the, “Birkenstock-Wearing, Tree-Hugging, Clove-Smoking Vegetarians” category, which was a personal favorite.

In order for Guilford to be adequately represented in the Princeton Review, a major deciding factor for many prospective students, every student should take the time to fill out the online survey that will be advertised for next year’s rankings. Visit www.review.com for more information.