Alabama:
Alaska:
Arizona: ASU Barrett
Arkansas:
California: UCLA
Colorado: Colorado College
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho: BYU Idaho
Illinois: U Chicago
Indiana: Purdue
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts: Wellesley
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire: Dartmouth
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York: NYU
North Carolina: Duke
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon: University of Portland
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee: Vanderbilt
Texas: Rice
Utah: BYU
Vermont
Virginia: Univ of Virginia, Richmond College
Washington: Seattle Pacific University
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Ohio by reputation: Miami of Ohio
Alabama:
Alaska:
Arizona: ASU Barrett
Arkansas:
California: UCLA
Colorado: Colorado College
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho: BYU Idaho
Illinois: U Chicago
Indiana: Purdue
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts: Wellesley
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire: Dartmouth
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York: NYU
North Carolina: Duke
North Dakota
Ohio: Miami U
Oklahoma
Oregon: University of Portland
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee: Vanderbilt
Texas: Rice
Utah: BYU
Vermont
Virginia: Univ of Virginia, Richmond College
Washington: Seattle Pacific University
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
I don’t think of NYU as preppy at all. Wellesley not particularly preppy either.
The Preppy Handbook once named NYU, as well as UChicago, as being among “the ten least Preppy colleges” (while at the same time recognizing these schools as “superb institutions academically”). This noted, schools may have substantially changed in the time since that best seller’s publication.
Alabama: U of Alabama
Connecticut: Trinity College (preppier than Yale)
Florida: Rollins
Maine: Bowdoin
Massachusetts: Williams (not Wellesley)
Missouri: Wash U
Pennsylvania: Penn (or Bucknell?)
South Carolina: Furman
Tennessee: Sewanee
Vermont: Middlebury
Virginia: Washington & Lee
There could be 7-8 schools in VA alone that are preppier than 99% of colleges in other states: W&L, UVA, Richmond, Hampden Sydney, Hollins, Sweet Briar, Mary Baldwin…
Texas has to be SMU over Rice. Rice is too STEM heavy to be preppy.
Totally agree with @vistajay. SMU way over Rice for Texas.
Ok, I live in Texas and totally agree that SMU beats out Rice on the preppy scale.
And UChicago as preppy?? No way. That’s one reason it was on my D’s list.
There are no preppy schools in Alaska.
From what I’ve observed Purdue is not preppy. I would consider Indiana University more preppy than Purdue. They are the ones with nationally ranked business program. As someone else mentioned engineers don’t tend to be preppy and Purdue is heavy into engineering.
Depauw definitely over IU and Purdue for IN. Centre College in KY.
Agree with @MrSamford2014 Rollins is by faaar the preppiest college in Florida and perhaps near the top in the US. Not many people outside Florida are too familiar with it.
Alabama: Birmingham-Southern
Alaska:
Arizona: ASU Barrett
Arkansas:
California: Pepperdine
Colorado: Colorado College
Connecticut: Trinity
Delaware:
Florida: Rollins
Georgia: U Georgia
Hawaii:
Idaho: BYU Idaho
Illinois: U Chicago
Indiana: Depauw
Iowa: Grinnell
Kansas:
Kentucky: Centre College
Louisiana: Tulane
Maine: Bowdoin
Maryland:
Massachusetts: Boston College
Michigan:
Minnesota: St. Olaf
Mississippi: Ole Miss
Missouri: Washington U in St. Louis
Montana:
Nebraska:
Nevada:
New Hampshire: Dartmouth
New Jersey: Princeton
New Mexico:
New York: Colgate
North Carolina: Elon or Duke (can’t decide)
North Dakota:
Ohio: Miami U
Oklahoma:
Oregon: University of Portland
Pennsylvania: Penn
Rhode Island:
South Carolina: Charleston
South Dakota:
Tennessee: Vanderbilt
Texas: Southern Methodist
Utah: BYU
Vermont: Middlebury
Virginia: U Virginia
Washington: Seattle Pacific University
West Virginia:
Wisconsin:
Wyoming:
I’d put Williams and Amherst in MA way ahead of Wellesley on the preppy scale! And I’d vote USC over Pepperdine in CA.
Massmomm - I agree, I don’t think Wellesley is that preppy at all.
These threads on CC usually get bogged down in disputes over definition: Does “preppy” denote a campus where students tend towards a characteristic set of fashion and lifestyle choices, or does the term denote a campus where a much larger than average percentage of undergraduates attended private prep schools?
These two options can themselves be subdivided:
What counts as “preppy style”? Is it an old-school “American trad” look (well-worn khakis, Brooks Brothers button-downs, blue blazers, etc.), or pastel sundresses, bow ties, and other sartorial affectations that are marketed by particular “preppy”-designers-of-the-day and that don’t reflect life in the real world? Is it what kids at Williams wear when they’re not at lacrosse practice or interviewing for elite gigs on Wall Street, or is it what kids at Alabama wear when they’re tailgating or when they’re tailgating.
What counts as a “prep school”? Is it any non-public school, including–say–urban Catholic schools? Should the term apply only to more elite, expensive private schools with strict admissions policies? Should it apply only to boarding schools? Should it apply only to elite, expensive, Northeastern boarding schools?
How one answers these questions will determine which school one identifies as the “preppiest” in a given state.
Consider California, for example–a state whose laid-back, fun-in-the-sun ethos meshes rather uneasily with the norms of “prep culture,” however defined. Still, if we regard “preppy” primarily as a matter of clothing and lifestyle (e.g., popped collar polo shirts and lots of finance majors), then Pepperdine and Chapman might be regarded as the preppiest. If, on the other hand, we regard “preppy” in terms of actual prep-school attendance, then Stanford and CMC probably take the crown. If we are looking for a campus that scores high in both categories of “preppy,” then USC might be the winner. I imagine that a similar dynamic might be at play in other states (e.g., Duke vs. UNC vs. Wake Forest vs. Davidson).