Troy rated “Not-so-great” on Princeton Review List
Well, it’s that time of the year. College rankings are making headlines and rising high school seniors are probably buying the only copy of U.S. News and World Reports they’ll ever own. The 2010 U.S. News rankings put RPI at 42nd in the nation (not too shabby), but it’s interesting to note that the Princeton Review puts RPI as #12 in “College Town Not So Great,” barely worse than Union College at #13. We happen to think that Troy is much nicer than Schenectady (and even if it isn’t, our hockey team more than makes up for Union’s allegedly better ranking).
I have to personally disagree with the ranking, which is based on student assessment. Most RPI students rarely venture off campus to see what Troy really has to offer, and so they buy into the stereotype that Troy is some terrible place to live. I’d wager that most students would change their mind if they just spent a Saturday or a Troy Night Out enjoying the downtown area, which is not to mention the endless possibilities that exist within an hour’s drive for a fun Saturday afternoon hangover-beater.
We did a little exploring and found some other interesting rankings that feed well into RPI stereotypes. For example, we rate #18 in political inactivity, and #13 in “professors get low marks”. Hmm…. thoughts?
Share
I agree with the Troy assessment. The streets are in poor condition so walking/biking/driving isn’t fun. A lot of the buildings and houses are also in poor condition so the area isn’t easy on the eyes until winter when snow covers all the ugly. The place isn’t very safe considering I have a friend who has been mugged and my apartment has been robbed twice. I do agree with you that RPI students rarely venture off campus but I’ve personally think that is because people have looked around and found that there is nothing that interests them enough to go out. I mean there are a few nice restaurants and bars in troy but nothing special in my opinion. Although i haven’t gone to troy night out since orientation so I guess it depends what you’re into and how determined u are to find it.
Yeah, those seem pretty accurate. Troy is shitty. A lot of our professors are pretty bad, and very few are exciting and awesome. And the only political views at RPI are “don’t use so much energy” and “stop with the software patents”).