The 50 Most Stressful Colleges
April 5, 2010 12:36 PM Subscribe
The 50 Most Stressful Colleges. Because everyone loves a ranked list {click view all at the bottom to switch out of slideshow view}. From the Daily Beast:
"To determine the most stressful American colleges, we put our lens to the top 50 universities in the U.S. News and World Report rankings, using methodology informed by Anderson. Five criteria were taken into account:
• The cost: Financial pressure is a huge stress-inducer. Tuition plus room and board, weighted at 35 percent. With 2009-2010 data from the National Center on Education Statistics.
• Competitiveness: How academically rigorous is the school? Weighted at 35 percent, with 2010 data from US News & World Report.
• Acceptance rate: More competitive schools generally produce a more competitive student body. Weighted at 10 percent, with 2010 data from US News & World Report.
• Engineering: Is the school known for its particularly rigorous graduate engineering program? Weighted at 10 percent, with 2010 data from US News & World Report.
• Crime on campus: Adapted from The Daily Beast’s analysis of college crime, weighted at 10 percent and ranked relative to this particular group of colleges. With data from the US Department of Education."
The article cites data from a 2009 article in Professional Psychology that says that 6% of participating undergraduates and 4% of graduate students in four-year colleges said they had “seriously considered attempting suicide” in the past year.
"To determine the most stressful American colleges, we put our lens to the top 50 universities in the U.S. News and World Report rankings, using methodology informed by Anderson. Five criteria were taken into account:
• The cost: Financial pressure is a huge stress-inducer. Tuition plus room and board, weighted at 35 percent. With 2009-2010 data from the National Center on Education Statistics.
• Competitiveness: How academically rigorous is the school? Weighted at 35 percent, with 2010 data from US News & World Report.
• Acceptance rate: More competitive schools generally produce a more competitive student body. Weighted at 10 percent, with 2010 data from US News & World Report.
• Engineering: Is the school known for its particularly rigorous graduate engineering program? Weighted at 10 percent, with 2010 data from US News & World Report.
• Crime on campus: Adapted from The Daily Beast’s analysis of college crime, weighted at 10 percent and ranked relative to this particular group of colleges. With data from the US Department of Education."
The article cites data from a 2009 article in Professional Psychology that says that 6% of participating undergraduates and 4% of graduate students in four-year colleges said they had “seriously considered attempting suicide” in the past year.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Eh, people don't seem to like this much, and it is pretty linkbaity stuff. -- cortex
The Daily Beast article starts out talking about suicides on campus, but then somehow makes up a methodology for "stress" using seemingly random criteria. Why don't they just report the suicide rate per capita, instead of telling me such "stressful criteria" like how much the school costs?
posted by meowzilla at 12:43 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by meowzilla at 12:43 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
They managed to get the cost of Penn State wrong.
In-State 2009-2010: $24,626.00
Out-of-State 2009-2010: $36,220.00
posted by Loto at 12:45 PM on April 5, 2010
In-State 2009-2010: $24,626.00
Out-of-State 2009-2010: $36,220.00
posted by Loto at 12:45 PM on April 5, 2010
Turns out college costs a lot of money! Thank Zuul all my children are seven feet tall and athletic.
posted by Mister_A at 12:45 PM on April 5, 2010
posted by Mister_A at 12:45 PM on April 5, 2010
Isn't this just re-ranking the US News top 50 according to some new methodology?
posted by ghharr at 12:46 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by ghharr at 12:46 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Is William & Mary really that cheap? Man even shorty (6'2") could afford to go there.
posted by Mister_A at 12:48 PM on April 5, 2010
posted by Mister_A at 12:48 PM on April 5, 2010
Well, you could just measure the suicide rate, but it's probably also affected by other factors. A school might be very high-stress, but have a good support & therapy network in place to prevent suicides.
posted by echo target at 12:50 PM on April 5, 2010
posted by echo target at 12:50 PM on April 5, 2010
Suicide rates aren't very indicative, because these days many colleges have EXTREMELY aggressive suicide-prevention programs. Any person who shows what are considered to be suicidal characteristics is frequently put on "medical leave"-- i.e., suspended. If you kill yourself while suspended, it doesn't go into the college's statistics, and voila! no bad press.
posted by Electrius at 12:53 PM on April 5, 2010
posted by Electrius at 12:53 PM on April 5, 2010
A school might be very high-stress, but have a good support & therapy network in place to prevent suicides.
True. Even numbers that report how much money the school has invested in counseling would be more useful and interesting than telling me the school is ranked #5 in Engineering.
posted by meowzilla at 12:54 PM on April 5, 2010
True. Even numbers that report how much money the school has invested in counseling would be more useful and interesting than telling me the school is ranked #5 in Engineering.
posted by meowzilla at 12:54 PM on April 5, 2010
This is stupid linkbait and the methodology is ridiculous.
Seriously, if there was a high-quality peer-reviewed article on this problem it might not make it onto Metafilter. Why does this garbage, which was obviously just thrown together from easily obtained numbers and arbitrary weights, rate our attention?
posted by grobstein at 12:55 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Seriously, if there was a high-quality peer-reviewed article on this problem it might not make it onto Metafilter. Why does this garbage, which was obviously just thrown together from easily obtained numbers and arbitrary weights, rate our attention?
posted by grobstein at 12:55 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Flagged as awful clickbait
Mister_A, somehow unknown to most people is that W&M, despite its fancypants-sounding name, is a public school. And with a campus as beautiful as W&M's, where do they get off using a pic of a crappy dining hall for their visual? Double-flagged.
posted by NolanRyanHatesMatches at 12:55 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Mister_A, somehow unknown to most people is that W&M, despite its fancypants-sounding name, is a public school. And with a campus as beautiful as W&M's, where do they get off using a pic of a crappy dining hall for their visual? Double-flagged.
posted by NolanRyanHatesMatches at 12:55 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
The article cites data from a 2009 article in Professional Psychology that says that 6% of participating undergraduates and 4% of graduate students in four-year colleges said they had “seriously considered attempting suicide” in the past year.
Then again, "college students are far less likely to kill themselves than are nonstudent peers," at least in the Big Ten.
posted by Iridic at 12:56 PM on April 5, 2010
Then again, "college students are far less likely to kill themselves than are nonstudent peers," at least in the Big Ten.
posted by Iridic at 12:56 PM on April 5, 2010
Well, didn't some of those schools (like Stanford, Harvard etc) recently decide to give large amounts of financial aid to students who couldn't afford tuition? This list should really take that into account.
posted by movicont at 12:56 PM on April 5, 2010
posted by movicont at 12:56 PM on April 5, 2010
Rule of thumb: If something is "psuedoscience" [sic] (per the tag), you should probably not post it.
posted by grobstein at 12:56 PM on April 5, 2010
posted by grobstein at 12:56 PM on April 5, 2010
The reason there are no service academies, Canadian school, chicken farms or whatever on the list is that the list is about COLLEGES IN THE USA.
Also, this read to me more like" 50 colleges where you're expected to do some work and make something of yourself, you lazy fuck."
posted by GuyZero at 12:59 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Also, this read to me more like" 50 colleges where you're expected to do some work and make something of yourself, you lazy fuck."
posted by GuyZero at 12:59 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Is this where I get to say "#16 Duke Sucks"?
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:00 PM on April 5, 2010
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:00 PM on April 5, 2010
More useful, I think, would be a list of the least-stressful colleges.
posted by box at 1:07 PM on April 5, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by box at 1:07 PM on April 5, 2010 [3 favorites]
MIT and CalTech are there but Harvey Mudd isn't?
Shenanigans. Is it only because HMC is undergrad only?
posted by flaterik at 1:08 PM on April 5, 2010
Shenanigans. Is it only because HMC is undergrad only?
posted by flaterik at 1:08 PM on April 5, 2010
Yeah, starting out with the Top 50 colleges and then assuming those are the most stressful is a dubious assumption. And it goes down from there...
You could make the argument that places like Harvard are the least stressful because, hey, you've made it to Harvard, grade inflation is rampant and, anyways, your uncle at Goldman Sachs has a job waiting for you...
posted by vacapinta at 1:08 PM on April 5, 2010
You could make the argument that places like Harvard are the least stressful because, hey, you've made it to Harvard, grade inflation is rampant and, anyways, your uncle at Goldman Sachs has a job waiting for you...
posted by vacapinta at 1:08 PM on April 5, 2010
W&M tuition is about $31k a year out of state and about $11k in state
posted by ghharr at 1:09 PM on April 5, 2010
posted by ghharr at 1:09 PM on April 5, 2010
More useful, I think, would be a list of the least-stressful colleges.
posted by box at 4:07 PM on April 5 [+] [!]
Ask and ye shall receive
posted by Comrade_robot at 1:09 PM on April 5, 2010
posted by box at 4:07 PM on April 5 [+] [!]
Ask and ye shall receive
posted by Comrade_robot at 1:09 PM on April 5, 2010
Dear The Daily Beast:
"View All" is generally used in the way that you have used it. Some more appropriate alternatives you could use are "View Some" , "View 20%" , or "View 10 At a Time".
Just, y'know, FYI.
Your humble & obedient servant,
N... &
posted by Nothing... and like it at 1:13 PM on April 5, 2010 [2 favorites]
"View All" is generally used in the way that you have used it. Some more appropriate alternatives you could use are "View Some" , "View 20%" , or "View 10 At a Time".
Just, y'know, FYI.
Your humble & obedient servant,
N... &
posted by Nothing... and like it at 1:13 PM on April 5, 2010 [2 favorites]
God damn it. "...is NOT generally used in the way that you have used it." Grr.
posted by Nothing... and like it at 1:15 PM on April 5, 2010
posted by Nothing... and like it at 1:15 PM on April 5, 2010
Well, I'm heading from #21 to #2. Movin' on up?
posted by oinopaponton at 1:16 PM on April 5, 2010
posted by oinopaponton at 1:16 PM on April 5, 2010
I think no one assumes that The Daily Beast's take on the matter produces the whole picture by any means. Indeed, there is a lack of peer-reviewed research comparing colleges to each other in terms of stress, though some say that American students report higher self-imposed stressors and greater behavioral reactions to stressors than international students and that the top five sources of stress in college are change in sleeping habits, vacations/breaks, change in eating habits, increased work load, and new responsibilities. Anyhow little such research would be linkable unless you want to submit your credit card information.
posted by The Biggest Dreamer at 1:17 PM on April 5, 2010
posted by The Biggest Dreamer at 1:17 PM on April 5, 2010
W&M tuition is about $31k a year out of state and about $11k in state.
Oh no, William and Mary won't do.
posted by hal9k at 1:20 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh no, William and Mary won't do.
posted by hal9k at 1:20 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Ask and ye shall receive
posted by Comrade_robot at 1:09 PM on April 5 [+] [!]
It is interesting to note that UC Santa Barbara is on BOTH lists.
Make of this what you will.
Rule of thumb: If something is "psuedoscience" [sic] (per the tag), you should probably not post it.
Nonsense. Pseudo science is way more fun than real science
posted by SLC Mom at 1:20 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Comrade_robot at 1:09 PM on April 5 [+] [!]
It is interesting to note that UC Santa Barbara is on BOTH lists.
Make of this what you will.
Rule of thumb: If something is "psuedoscience" [sic] (per the tag), you should probably not post it.
Nonsense. Pseudo science is way more fun than real science
posted by SLC Mom at 1:20 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]
Shenanigans. Is it only because HMC is undergrad only?
Yeah, I think so – there's no colleges-in-the-undergraduate-only-sense on the list.
posted by The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal at 1:20 PM on April 5, 2010
Yeah, I think so – there's no colleges-in-the-undergraduate-only-sense on the list.
posted by The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal at 1:20 PM on April 5, 2010
Huh. Emory outranking GA Tech on this list kills it for me.
Tech has students regularly car jacked and killed on campus or near campus recently (last two years have had multiple instances). Wheres THAT in your crime statistics?
Emory has a beautiful campus, decent people, and even though selection is rigorous, its more because its a much smaller school than it seems like.
What about the flunk out rate? What about the number of international students? What about the number of students on academic merit scholarships?
tealdear - clickbait rubbish, with poor methodology and crap page design to boot.
posted by strixus at 1:21 PM on April 5, 2010
Tech has students regularly car jacked and killed on campus or near campus recently (last two years have had multiple instances). Wheres THAT in your crime statistics?
Emory has a beautiful campus, decent people, and even though selection is rigorous, its more because its a much smaller school than it seems like.
What about the flunk out rate? What about the number of international students? What about the number of students on academic merit scholarships?
tealdear - clickbait rubbish, with poor methodology and crap page design to boot.
posted by strixus at 1:21 PM on April 5, 2010
I was wondering the same thing, St. Alia. GuyZero, the service academies are colleges in the USA. They might not be universities (as they don't have the graduate school as part of them—those are elsewhere), but they are definitely colleges (unless a chicken farm gave me a bachelors of science in English).
Of course, the stress of a service academy is totally different from the methodology from that used. Obviously, you don't have tuition for the federal service academies (though some other military schools like VMI and the Citadel you pay quite a bit for), you tend not to have to worry about on campus crime as much, you don't have to worry about having a job after graduation, and we don't have the grad school component right there (though some of our students do pursue masters degrees at near by colleges during their senior year). However, there are plenty of other stressors, including the high level engineering programs, the lack of free time (I had less than ten hours to be away from school when I was a first year), the authority system, worrying about inspections, worrying about your future in the armed forces (Do I want to be a marine? Do I want to be a submariner?), worrying about passing your physical standards, etc.
Back on this link though: seems somewhat unreliable as far as their methods go and doesn't really tell me much.
(I used way too many parentheses during this post.)
posted by Lord Chancellor at 1:28 PM on April 5, 2010
Of course, the stress of a service academy is totally different from the methodology from that used. Obviously, you don't have tuition for the federal service academies (though some other military schools like VMI and the Citadel you pay quite a bit for), you tend not to have to worry about on campus crime as much, you don't have to worry about having a job after graduation, and we don't have the grad school component right there (though some of our students do pursue masters degrees at near by colleges during their senior year). However, there are plenty of other stressors, including the high level engineering programs, the lack of free time (I had less than ten hours to be away from school when I was a first year), the authority system, worrying about inspections, worrying about your future in the armed forces (Do I want to be a marine? Do I want to be a submariner?), worrying about passing your physical standards, etc.
Back on this link though: seems somewhat unreliable as far as their methods go and doesn't really tell me much.
(I used way too many parentheses during this post.)
posted by Lord Chancellor at 1:28 PM on April 5, 2010
I notice they didn't list any service academies. Granted tuition is not a factor at one of those, I still think the stress there would blow the schools on this list out of the water.
I wouldn't think so. They keep you busy and tired, but I don't know that they keep you any busier than any good engineering program, and the fact that the experience is so highly structured probably serves to reduce stress.
I don't see how Chicago isn't on the top of any most stressful college list.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:31 PM on April 5, 2010
I wouldn't think so. They keep you busy and tired, but I don't know that they keep you any busier than any good engineering program, and the fact that the experience is so highly structured probably serves to reduce stress.
I don't see how Chicago isn't on the top of any most stressful college list.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:31 PM on April 5, 2010
#firstworldproblems
posted by hamida2242 at 1:39 PM on April 5, 2010
posted by hamida2242 at 1:39 PM on April 5, 2010
I guess liberal arts colleges don't count as colleges. This list is stupid(er than most lists).
posted by drpynchon at 1:42 PM on April 5, 2010
posted by drpynchon at 1:42 PM on April 5, 2010
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posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 12:41 PM on April 5, 2010 [1 favorite]