Olin College Featured in The Princeton Review’s “Best 387 Colleges” Guide for 2022

September 9, 2021

Olin College is one of the nation's best undergraduate colleges according to The Princeton Review’s 2022 edition of its annual college guide, The Best 387 Colleges.

“We are delighted to be recognized by the Princeton Review,” said Mark Somerville, Olin Provost and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics. “We're particularly proud that Olin is listed both on the 'Students work hardest' list and the 'Happiest students' list: engineering is hard, but it also is deeply rewarding and fun, and we try hard to create an educational experience that is true to both the challenge and the joy of learning.”

The annual “Best Colleges” list generally includes unique ranking lists that highlight specific ways in which schools stand out. For the 2022 Edition, because COVID-19 limited student access to on-campus offerings, The Princeton Review chose instead to include a special "Great Lists" of colleges in 26 categories. The lists name the colleges that have had a distinctive history of appearances on the ranking lists in past editions of the book over the years.

In the 2022 edition, the 30th anniversary of the publication, Olin appears in the following “Great Lists”:

  • Students Study the Most
  • Great Career Services
  • Great Classroom Experience
  • Great College Dorms
  • Great Financial Aid
  • Great Professors
  • Great Quality of Life
  • Great Race/Class Interaction
  • Happy Students
  • LGBTQ- Friendly
  • Students Love These Colleges

In Olin’s profile, The Princeton Review editors note that there is “uniqueness everywhere” and praise the College for its “incredibly intelligent and very motivated” body of individuals that are “not your typical engineer.”

Olin consistently ranks high in many “Best Colleges” categories; in 2021, Olin ranked as #1 for Students Study the Most, #3 for Best Classroom Experience, #4 for Professors Get High Marks and #20 for Great Financial Aid. (Read more here).

Olin College Highlighted on The TODAY Show for Great Professors

Olin College is highlighted on The TODAY Show for "Great Professors" on Tuesday, September 7, 2021.

"We salute Olin College for its outstanding academics and we are genuinely pleased to recommend it to prospective applicants searching for their ‘best-fit’ college,” said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review's Editor-in-Chief and lead author of The Best 387 Colleges.

Only about 14% of America’s 2,700 four-year colleges are profiled in the book. The Princeton Review chooses the colleges based on data it annually collects from administrators at hundreds of colleges about their institutions’ academic offerings. The Princeton Review also considers data it gathers from its surveys of college students at the colleges who rate and report on various aspects of their campus and community experiences.

*On Tuesday, September 7, The TODAY Show had on Rob Franek, editor-in-chief of “The Princeton Review,” to answer questions about college and to talk about The Best 387 Colleges guide. During the television segement, Olin College was highlighted for appearing on the "Great Professors" list.

Watch the mention here, starting at the 4:24 mark

Founded in 1997, Olin instills passion and ignites innovation in its students and prepares them to envision, create and deliver products, services, and systems that transform and improve people’s lives around the world. Olin teaches students to be explorers and creators who design their own path forward. By challenging norms and sharing its unique approach to education, Olin is revolutionizing the way engineers, and all undergraduates, learn and create knowledge. Located in Needham Massachusetts, Olin is ranked among the top-three undergraduate engineering programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report.