Princeton Review's Best Mid-Atlantic Colleges Guide To Feature Washington College

Chestertown, MD, August 25, 2003 — Washington College has been selected for The Princeton Review's new college guide, The Best Mid-Atlantic Colleges, just released this August. Based on both statistical information and surveys of college students and recent college graduates, the guide showcases the top schools in five states—Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia—and Washington, DC.

Washington College particularly was recognized for great teaching and a small student-teacher ratio that fosters a close, supportive atmosphere for learning. “Each professor cares deeply about each individual student,” said one student in the survey. Another said that Washington College professors “encouraged me to push my limits and try new things.”

The Princeton Review launched its new regional college guides in response to a growing trend for students to attend colleges and universities with two- to five-hour drives of their homes. For all to whom locale is key in their college searches, The Princeton Review created this new line of five regional college guides which feature two-page school profiles with information and data on admissions, financial aid, student body demographics and academics. The profiles also include The Princeton Review's ratings of the schools' academics, admissions, financial aid, and quality of life, plus an “Inside Word” on the schools' admission patterns. The regional guides, like the national one, also present an inclusive cross-section of academically outstanding colleges. Overall, the 604 colleges represented in the five guides comprise only 17% of the nation's 3,500 colleges. Says Robert Franek, Princeton Review's lead author of the guides, “Each college had to meet two criteria. First, it had to meet our criteria for academic excellence within its region. Second, we had to be able to survey its students anonymously, either through our online survey or our paper survey which we distribute and collect on campuses.” Input from students attending the colleges uniquely informs all Princeton Review Best Colleges guides, published and distributed by Random House.

Washington College has been recognized as one of the top 100 Best Liberal Arts Colleges-Nationally by U. S. News & World Report; as one of the “Hidden Gems” in higher education by Washington Post education columnist Jay Matthews; and as one of the nation's Top 120 colleges in the forthcoming Colleges of Distinction, to be released this fall.