Last week, the Princeton Review published its list of the Best 380 Colleges in America, with 12 Hudson Valley schools making the cut. The list includes Marist College and Vassar College in Poughkeepsie; Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy; Siena College and SUNY in Albany; and United States Military Academy at West Point, just to name a few.
The rankings are based on surveys from 136,000 students from across the country, who chimed in on which deserved the title of Most Beautiful Campus, Best Campus Food, and Happiest Students.
Click through the slideshow for all the details about the Hudson Valley’s top colleges, listed in alphabetical order, or click here to view the entire list (free account required). Congratulations, Hudson Valley!
Colleges listed in alphabetical order. Photograph courtesy of www.facebook.com/BardCollegeNY
By the numbers:
- $49,226 Tuition
- 2,059 Enrolled
- 660 Avg SAT Reading
- 620 Avg SAT Math
Students say: Bard College is private, liberal arts institution located in the Hudson Valley that boasts a strong arts focus and a dedication to civic engagement locally, nationally, and worldwide in ways that “are unheard of for an institution of this size.”
Voted: The Best 380 Colleges; Best Northeastern; Administrators Get Low Marks; Best Classroom Experience; Birkenstock-Wearing, Tree-Hugging, Clove-Smoking Vegetarians; Colleges That Pay You Back; Green Colleges; Least Religious Students; LGBTQ-Friendly; Most Accessible Professors; Most Liberal Students; Most Politically Active Students; Private Schools; Professors Get High Marks; There’s a Game?
Princeton Review profile: www.princetonreview.com/schools/1024046/college/bard-college
Colleges listed in alphabetical order. Photograph courtesy of www.facebook.com/Manhattanville/Candice Alcantara (’14)
By the numbers:
- $34,870 Tuition
- 1,798 Enrolled
- 540 Avg SAT Reading
- 530 Avg SAT Math
- 540 Avg SAT Writing
Students say: Located on a “beautiful, nature-filled campus,” the “small, but extremely diverse” Manhattanville College focuses on “building a community among all students.” Many students agree that “Manhattanville College is very good at playing to its strengths, which are primarily its international student program and its small class size.” Other students praise its “well-known and impressive writing program” and boast that the “music and theater department are very strong.” They are also quick to highlight that their school is “committed to raising awareness about various global issues” and that “there is always an opportunity to go abroad for study purposes or volunteering.”
Voted: The Best 380 Colleges; Best Northeastern; Administrators Get Low Marks; Best College Radio Station; Least Happy Students; Students Study the Least
Princeton Review profile: www.princetonreview.com/schools/1023907/college/manhattanville-college
Colleges listed in alphabetical order. Photograph courtesy of www.facebook.com/Marist
By the numbers:
- $33,250 Tuition
- 5,516 Enrolled
- 580 Avg SAT Reading
- 600 Avg SAT Math
- 590 Avg SAT Writing
Students say: Marist College is a comprehensive college with liberal arts tradition located “on the Hudson River” that is gaining a national reputation. The students enjoy the “small class sizes,” “Catholic underpinning” (the school was founded as a Catholic school but is no longer officially associated with the church), and “proximity to New York City.” Located in Poughkeepsie, NY, Marist is only “an hour and a half away from NYC,” providing plenty of opportunities for internships, jobs, and excursions to the greatest city in the world. Students also boast about the “excellent alumni network” and “very strong study abroad program.”
Voted: The Best 380 Colleges; Best Northeastern; Election? What Election?
Princeton Review profile: www.princetonreview.com/schools/1023920/college/marist-college
Colleges listed in alphabetical order. Photograph courtesy of www.facebook.com/RPI.EDU/Mark McCarty
By the numbers:
- $48,100 Tuition
- 5,618 Enrolled
- 670 Avg SAT Reading
- 720 Avg SAT Math
Students say: As the nation’s oldest technological university, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York has a rightfully deserved reputation in the science and engineering world, having led tens of thousands of bright minds to look at “innovation and the future.”
Voted: The Best 380 Colleges; Best Northeastern; Best Career Placement; Colleges That Pay You Back; Private Schools; Top Undergraduate Schools for Video Game Design
Princeton Review profile: www.princetonreview.com/schools/1023987/college/rensselaer-polytechnic-institute
Colleges listed in alphabetical order. Photograph courtesy of www.facebook.com/sarahlawrencecollege/Nadia Brent
By the numbers:
- $49,680 Tuition
- 1,437 Enrolled
- 660 Avg SAT Reading
- 610 Avg SAT Math
- 640 Avg SAT Writing
Students say: Nestled in a picturesque suburb of New York City, Sarah Lawrence College is a breath of fresh air for intellectually curious students who would chafe within the confines of a more traditional academic setting. The college prides itself on offering “a personal education” that’s “tailored to [each] student’s interests and needs.”
Voted: The Best 380 Colleges; Best Northeastern; Best Classroom Experience; Best College Theater; Birkenstock-Wearing, Tree-Hugging, Clove-Smoking Vegetarians; Least Religious Students; LGBTQ-Friendly; Most Liberal Students; Most Politically Active Students; Nobody Plays Intramural Sports; Professors Get High Marks; There’s a Game?; Town-Gown Relations are Strained
Princeton Review profile: www.princetonreview.com/schools/1024167/college/sarah-lawrence-college
Colleges listed in alphabetical order. Photograph courtesy of www.facebook.com/sienacollege
By the numbers:
- $33,165 Tuition
- 3,139 Enrolled
- 550 Avg SAT Reading
- 570 Avg SAT Math
- 540 Avg SAT Writing
Students say: The Franciscan tradition “is all about community,” and, at Siena College, a small school with “a strong Franciscan atmosphere,” students benefit from a friendly community in which “there is always someone to lend a helping hand.”
Voted: The Best 380 Colleges; Best Northeastern
Princeton Review profile: www.princetonreview.com/schools/1023993/college/siena-college
Colleges listed in alphabetical order. Photograph courtesy of www.facebook.com/SkidmoreCollege/Catherine Heller (’17)
By the numbers:
- $48,024 Tuition
- 2,632 Enrolled
- 620 Avg SAT Reading
- 620 Avg SAT Math
- 620 Avg SAT Writing
From the school: Founded in 1903 and located in Saratoga Springs, NY, Skidmore is an independent, coeducational liberal arts college that prides itself on its creative approaches to just about everything. Hence, the college’s core belief that creative thought matters. With a diverse student body of 2,400 from 45 states and 60 countries and a faculty of 250 dedicated teacher-scholars, Skidmore offers more than 40 majors in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences, as well as in career-specific fields such as business, education, exercise science, and social work.
Skidmore is known for its interdisciplinary approach to learning, faculty-student collaborative research, off-campus study (60% of students study abroad), and the prominence of the performing and visual arts, enhanced by the unique Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery and award-winning Arthur Zankel Music Center. The college’s rigorous academic program begins with the foundational First-Year Experience, which integrates the curricular, cocurricular, and residential aspects of a student’s first year, and gets them connected and involved in the life of the community from day one. Students enjoy close relationships with talented faculty members who have earned recognition through Guggenheim, Pulitzer, and Emmy awards, and fellowships and grants from Fulbright, MacArthur, and the National Science Foundation, among others. At least half of students carry two majors or add a related minor to their major. More than half of Skidmore students pursue advanced degrees within five years of graduation.
Voted: The Best 380 Colleges; Best Northeastern; Best Campus Food; Best College Dorms; Best College Radio Station; Birkenstock-Wearing, Tree-Hugging, Clove-Smoking Vegetarians; Colleges That Pay You Back; Least Religious Students; Little Race/Class Interaction; Lots of Hard Liquor; Most Liberal Students; Private Schools; Reefer Madness
Princeton Review profile: www.princetonreview.com/schools/1023995/college/skidmore-college
Colleges listed in alphabetical order. Photograph courtesy ofwww.facebook.com/universityatalbany
By the numbers:
- $17,810 Tuition
- 12,929 Enrolled
- 540 Avg SAT Reading
- 560 Avg SAT Math
Students say: Is SUNY Albany (UAlbany to those in the know) the perfect-sized school? Many here think so. Students describe it as “a big school numbers-wise that feels small.” Notes one student, “It has a very broad range of quality academic programs, which is very important for an undecided senior in high school.” Another adds, “If you know what you want and are motivated, the sky is the limit.” The school exploits its location in the state capital to bolster programs in political science, criminal justice, and business, and it “offers internship opportunities to college students that very few schools can.”
Voted: The Best 380 Colleges; Best Northeastern; Colleges That Pay You Back; Financial Aid Not So Great; Green Colleges; Public Schools
Princeton Review profile: www.princetonreview.com/schools/1024010/college/state-university-new-york-at-albany
Colleges listed in alphabetical order. Photograph courtesy of www.facebook.com/SUNYPurchaseCollege/Isaac Campbell
By the numbers:
- $15,820 Tuition
- 4,188 Enrolled
- 560 Avg SAT Reading
- 540 Avg SAT Math
Students say: In urging its students to “Think Wide Open,” SUNY Purchase features “unique and artistic minds” within its “wonderfully diverse community of people.” Boasting both great value and close proximity to New York City, SUNY Purchase is well known for its outstanding curricula in the arts, and its “very creative, often artistic” students cite its film, music, creative writing, and graphic design programs, and generally “artsy atmosphere” as major draws: “The School of the Arts is very rigorous and has a reputation of being one of the best in the country.”
Voted: The Best 380 Colleges; Best Northeastern; Administrators Get Low Marks; Best College Theater; Financial Aid Not So Great; Green Colleges; Is That a Dorm?; Least Beautiful Campus; Least Religious Students; There’s a Game?
Princeton Review profile: www.princetonreview.com/schools/1024042/college/state-university-new-york–purchase-college
Colleges listed in alphabetical order. Photograph courtesy of www.facebook.com/unioncollege
By the numbers:
- 2,242 Enrolled
- 640 Avg SAT Reading
- 670 Avg SAT Math
- 630 Avg SAT Writing
From the school: Union College, chartered by the state of New York in 1795, is one of the nation’s oldest and most distinguished liberal arts colleges. Union is a leader in educating students to be engaged, innovative and ethical contributors to a diverse, global and technologically complex society. The Union curriculum emphasizes collaboration with students and faculty through small classes and undergraduate research, international study and service learning. The approximately 2,200 full-time undergraduates come from 41 U.S. states and territories and 35 other countries. Some 19 percent of students identify themselves as members of a multicultural group.
Voted: The Best 380 Colleges; Best Northeastern; Best College Radio Station; Best Science Lab Facilities; Colleges That Pay You Back; Green Colleges; Impact Schools; Most Popular Study Abroad Program; Private Schools
Princeton Review profile: www.princetonreview.com/schools/1023911/college/union-college-ny
Colleges listed in alphabetical order. Photograph courtesy of www.facebook.com/WestPointUSMA
By the numbers:
- $0 Tuition
- 4,414 Enrolled
- 630 Avg SAT Reading
- 640 Avg SAT Math
- 600 Avg SAT Writing
From the school: Students who are ready to change the world through their leadership, vision, and duty to country could find that the United States Military Academy at West Point is their best college choice. Established by President Thomas Jefferson in 1802, West Point was the first service academy, and its storied tradition is filled with accomplishments of men and women of character who didn’t wait to be told how to change the world, but looked for ways to change it from the moment they graduated. West Point is consistently ranked in the top five colleges in the country by well-respected publications and institutions, and if you look more closely at West Point, it won’t be difficult to see why.
Voted: The Best 380 Colleges; Best Northeastern; Administrators Get Low Marks; Colleges That Pay You Back; Don’t Inhale; Future Rotarians and Daughters of the American Revolution; Is It Food?; Is That a Dorm?; Least Accessible Professors; Least Beautiful Campus; Least Happy Students; Most Conservative Students; Professors Get Low Marks; Public Schools; This is a Library?; Town-Gown Relations Are Strained; Tuition-Free Schools; Tuition-Free Schools
Princeton Review profile: www.princetonreview.com/schools/1023919/college/united-states-military-academy
Colleges listed in alphabetical order. Photograph courtesy of www.facebook.com/vassarcollege
By the numbers:
- $48,840 Tuition
- 2,418 Enrolled
- 710 Avg SAT Reading
- 700 Avg SAT Math
- 700 Avg SAT Writing
Students say: Vassar College is a small “academically challenging” school that offers a “perfect liberal arts feel” and seeks to broaden students’ perspectives. The “strong sense of community” is apparent both in and out of the classroom, where the school drums home the idea that “it’s all about being unique and letting your quirky characteristics shine.”
Voted: The Best 380 Colleges; Best Northeastern; Best College Library; Best College Theater; Best Financial Aid; Birkenstock-Wearing, Tree-Hugging, Clove-Smoking Vegetarians; College City Gets Low Marks; Colleges That Pay You Back; Great Financial Aid; Green Colleges; Least Religious Students; Most Liberal Students; Most Politically Active Students; Private Schools; Reefer Madness; Town-Gown Relations Are Strained
Princeton Review profile: www.princetonreview.com/schools/1023821/college/vassar-college
