University of Miami Returns to Playboy's Top Party School Glory

via Wikimedia Commons

University of Miami used to be a "Top Party Schools" mainstay back in the 80's, coming in at #2 on Playboy's first 1987 list, but with a rise on academic lists came a fall on the party lists. UM didn't even make Playboy's list last year (the top spot went to University of Florida), but it appears the Hurricanes have regains their party prestige: Playboy's ranked them the number one party school in America this year, thanks in part to some recalibrated standards.

School officials have worked hard to loose the party school reputation, but they may be pleased that Playboy actually included a "brains" criteria this time around. The mag also took campus life, sports, and the "bikini factor" (a weird mix of weather and ratio of girls to guys).
<br>Oddly, the mag didn't take off-campus partying into account this year. If anyone's ever been to Coral Gables on a Saturday night you know except for certain floors in the Freshmen dorms it's a dead zone, as most undergrads with a penchant for partying are off in South Beach. 

"In order to make the list, you had to be a school where fun happens, so we threw [college bar scenes] out and went to other criteria," said Playboy Assistant Editor Rocky Rakovic to Reuters.

Seriously, walk through campus on a weekend after dark and you might see kids fishing in the pond, quiet hookah gatherings or small barbecuing, but of the fun actually happens off campus. But, hey, maybe on-campus partying will actually increase thanks to the cancellation of drunk bus services.

Any student thinking about coming to Miami just to get Patrick Schwasted all the time might want to think twice, and take a look at this little wisdom from a college message board:

Miami certainly has the reputation of a Sunshine Party School, which was probably true 20 years ago, (I don't have a clue)....but now... It's reputation and the truth are two different things. I've been told of a young man who went down there this past fall as a freshman buying into the hype. He began not studying, partying, thinking that he could breeze through academically. You know where he is now? Not in Miami... He's probably taking classes at his local community college trying to get his GPA back up to a place that he can transfer to his state U.

Quite true. The hardest partiers usually don't make it back for their Sophomore year.