26 colleges with the happiest freshmen

I got an anguished email recently from a mom whose daughter's freshmen year in college was hellish.

The daughter, let's call her Samantha, lived in California, but she decided to attend the University of Dayton in Ohio. The straight "A" student was assigned to a four-person freshmen dorm -- never a good idea in my opinion -- and her roommates appeared to take their cues from Animal House. Here's an excerpt from her mother's email:

The first week, they had boys staying the night, partying all night long, blaring the TV and music, and the final straw was a boy urinating on my daughters bed! Of which the roommates stated that it wasn't their problem! We were able to get an emergency move after much threatening and many, many phone calls...

Roommate problems continued even after she switched dorm rooms twice more before leaving the school after her first year.

When my daughter finally returned home to California, she was humiliated because she had a 4.5 GPA leaving high school and now her only option was to attend a junior college to get enough units to transfer, the mother wrote.

Of course, you never know what will happen when a child leaves for college. Some teenagers can handle tough situations better than others. One way to boost the odds of a successful transition, however, is to look at how happy a school's freshmen are. You can do that by checking an institution's freshmen retention rate. That is, how many freshmen return for their sophomore year.

How happy are the freshmen?
The federal government keeps statistics on freshmen retention rates and you can find the figure for any school by heading to the federal College Navigator. Of course, 100% freshmen retention is ideal, but most schools don't come close to that mark. The University of Dayton's freshmen retention rate is 88%, which is above average.

I used the college search engine over COLLEGEdata.com to search for schools strictly by freshmen satisfaction and came up with a list of 26 schools with the happiest freshmen. (I eliminated schools with less than 500 students.)

Colleges with the happiest freshmen

Columbia University 99%
University of Pennsylvania 99%
Yale University 99%
Brown University 98%
Cal Tech 98%
Carleton College 98%
Harvard University 98%
Harvey Mudd College 98%
Princeton University 98%
Stanford University 98%
U.S. Naval Academy 98%
University of Chicago 98%
University of Notre Dame 98%
Wesleyan University 98%
Dartmouth College 97%
Duke University 97%
Johns Hopkins University 97%
MIT 97%
Northwestern University 97%
Pomona College 97%
Tufts University 97%
UCLA 97%
University of S. California 97%
Vanderbilt University 97%
Washington U. St. Louis 97%
Williams College 97%

Do your homework
I'd urge students to always check freshmen retention rates when evaluating schools. I'd also stay away from four-person dorms, which is the type of housing where Samantha experienced her problems. I think a freshman's odds of surviving his or her first year is better if they only have to deal with one roommate. After your first year in college, you select your own roommate(s) so it's only freshman year where it's a real crap shoot.

Happy freshmen image courtesy of Flickr user Jason Hargrove.

[UDstudent]

As others have stated, this article puts down the University of Dayton for no reason. I just finished my freshman year there and loved it. Sure, roommates aren't perfect...but that's the same at every college. I have friends who picked their roommates before freshman year and ended up hating eachother. It's not even about being randomly placed with someone, it's just being able to live so closely with anyone at all. I feel strongly that UD is a place where everyone can enjoy their college experience while getting a high-quality education. It sounds to me that this case had a lot of drama. I have several friends that switched rooms throughout the year and it took nothing more than an email to the housing department. Nothing close to "much threatening and many, many phone calls."

This article wrongly singles out one university and creates an image of it that is, in my opinion, completely false. If the student's name could be changed in writing the article, why not the University? There is no benefit to including the specific University when writing this article. UD specifically is not relevant to the points made throughout.

Finally, just to comment on the schools included in the Top 26, I notice that many of them are top-tier academic schools. To me, it seems obvious that their students return. If you work hard enough to get into that school, I would imagine you'd take pride in being there and doing well. In my own opinion, the best way to find the "happiest" freshmen is not by retention rate. To do so would require visits to schools and talking to the students. The only thing the list of "highest freshmen retention rate" proves is the colleges with the highest freshmen retention rate. To turn that into "happiest" freshmen skips too steps. Again, that is just my opinion.

[lizzie1964]

Your article is all well and good, but why don't you list some schools that MOST kids can get into. You listed all top tier, if not Ivy League schools. You mean to tell me that kids who are not brilliant are not happy at college?

[flyer4life]

I just wanted to point out that in 2009 the Princeton Review ranked UD as number 13 for happiest overall students. My guess is that Samantha was one of the few students who attend UD and discover that it is not for them.

As a recent graduate of the University of Dayton, I am thankful to the school for providing me with a great education, lifelong friends, and so many fond memories. I can already say that I will be a proud alum for the rest of my life, hopefully making many return visits and donations to the university.

When I saw this article, I was completely dismayed to see the University of Dayton used as an example of the "bad" college choice. Please do not let one girl's bad experience be a guiding factor in making a decision about UD. I have heard many say that they came to tour UD and "fell in love with the school". I had the same experience and I wouldn't trade the past 4 years for anything.

[flyer4life]

I just wanted to point out that in 2009 the Princeton Review ranked UD as number 13 for happiest overall students. My guess is that Samantha was one of the few students who attend UD and discover that it is not for them.

As a recent graduate of the University of Dayton, I am thankful to the school for providing me with a great education, lifelong friends, and so many fond memories. I can already say that I will be a proud alum for the rest of my life, hopefully making many return visits and donations to the university.

When I saw this article, I was completely dismayed to see the University of Dayton used as an example of the "bad" college choice. Please do not let one girl's bad experience be a guiding factor in making a decision about UD. I have heard many say that they came to tour UD and "fell in love with the school". I had the same experience and I wouldn't trade the past 4 years for anything.

[udalum]

My name is John Spellman. I am an alumnus of the University of Dayton. My daughter Kathie is an alumna.

Dear Lynn,

Let me get this straight.

The major indicator posited in this article for determining whether a university has "happy freshmen" is the retention rate for returning freshmen. The University of Dayton has an 88% ("above average") retention rate. Doesn't that make the case?

It seems disingenuous to set a standard, to admit that the University of Dayton meets that standard ("above average"), to present a single case of a person in the 12% minority who had an "unhappy" freshman year, to fail to present a single conter-balancing opinion from one of the 88% of students who (by the standard set) had a "happy" freshman year and to expect that the article would have any journalistic respectability.

While I take issue with the standard (there are so many intangibles to consider, including social relationships which last a lifetime), once it is posited and met it does not seem honest to lead a reader through a single case study to a point of predictable incorrect extrapolation.

My daughter and I loved (and still do) our university. We would recommend it to anyone. Go visit. Make your own decision. Don't be dissuaded by a single complaint email of an obviously disappointed parent. I'm a happy one.

[collegedirection]

I agree that the University of Dayton was not a good example. As a private college counselor, I have sent quite a few kids to school there and they have loved it. One of my daughters also went to Dayton and had a wonderful experience. She was the only one of my five children who was never homesick and fell in love with the school from the first day. I know there are other schools that you could have used, but Dayton should not have been one of them. I have had a relationship with the university for more than twenty years and have never heard of anything even close to what this mother is reporting. It sounds like "Samantha" had some issues of her own if she had to switch dorm rooms two more times and things still didn't work out. This is a good example of how one student can ruin the reputation of a school. All parents need to read is that anecdote and they cross the school off a a potential college choice.

[collegedirection]

I agree the the University of Dayton was not a good example. As a private college counselor, I have sent quite a few kids to school there and they have loved it. One of my daughters also went to Dayton and had a wonderful experience. She was the only one of my five children who was never homesick and fell in love with the school from the first day. I know there are other schools that you could have used, but Dayton should not have been one of them. I have had a relationship with the university for more than twenty years and have never heard of anything even close to what this mother is reporting. It sounds like "Samantha" had some issues of her own if she had to switch dorm rooms two more times and things still didn't work out. This is a good example of how one student can ruin the reputation of a school. All parents need to read is that anecdote and they cross the school off a a potential college choice.

[trixie00]

This is a pretty ridiculous list of schools. As noted above, the schools are very selective top tier schools. I doubt that most students who have worked so hard to get into these schools are going to throw in the towel after just a year, no matter how miserable they may be. Better to go to a college rating site where you can read comments from real students. The respondents may be self selected but at least you will get a wide variety of comments, even from those who were miserable for four years but stuck it out.

[trixie00]

This is a pretty ridiculous list of schools. As noted above, the schools are very selective top tier schools. I doubt that most students who have worked so hard to get into these schools are going to throw in the towel after just a year, no matter how miserable they may be. Better to go to a college rating site where you can read comments from real students. The respondents may be self selected but at least you will get a wide variety of comments, even from those who were miserable for four years but stuck it out.

[ArchieMcNally]

Did no one no else notice that the student switched dorm rooms THREE times. While I don't condone the behavior the student told Mama occurred, it appears that the daughter may have issues. Four sets of room mates and none were acceptable? I suggest a private room at her next college.

[jsterling716]

Wow, I am amazed that this author used U of Dayton as her "bad example." Poor choice, Ms. O'Shaughnessy. While this one student may have had a negative experience, I can assure readers that this is not the norm at UD. My youngest son attended UD, and my oldest attended one of your Top 26 "Happiest" schools -- and, believe me, UD provided the happier and more socially-healthy experience of the two. Parents of high schoolers, please do not let this one story dissuade you and your child from considering UD. It's a great place -- and as a parent forking over $30-$40K+ a year for college tuition, etc. -- I honestly believe I received the better value at the University of Dayton.