Some in the AU community are skeptical of the direct impact that AU's recent ranking as most politically active school in the nation will have on future admissions.
The Princeton Review, an education review service, released its annual lists of college rankings, with AU reclaiming the top spot as most politically active school in the country.
John Charles, an internship advisor at AU's Career Center, said he feels The Princeton Review's rankings have a limited effect on admissions.
"Sure, I think to a degree the ranking may have some influence, but in the end people make a decision based on the total experience on campus, so while maybe that one ranking may have some influence on people, that alone won't make the decision," he said.
Laura Braswell, senior editor of The Princeton Review's 2009 "Best 368 Colleges" guide, said people should simply use their rankings as a factor when they make college-related decisions, said .
"The Princeton Review believes that there is more to a college experience then just academics," she said. "Our goal is to help show students what the campus culture is like and what the school has to offer. We don't expect for it [our lists] to necessarily affect admissions, merely to give prospective students information about what to expect."
Student Government President Seth Cutter sees the ranking as something that will continue to bolster AU's already booming admissions in the coming years due to AU's growing national reputation as a hotbed for political involvement, he said.
"I think this ranking will have a positive effect on our admissions in the next few years," he said. "However, there are many other reasons we are seeing more and more students wanting to come here. This is just one, but it is compelling."
Political involvement, one of 62 qualities evaluated in the guide, is based on a single question in a survey 120,000 students took at 368 institutions The Princeton Review designated as "top colleges." The question the students answered was: "At your school, how common are political groups on campus?" Students responded on a scale of one to five, with one meaning political groups are nonexistent and five meaning they are extremely prevalent. The 80-question survey covered topics pertaining to campus life, from parties to environmentalism to financial aid.
"The rankings we assign are kind of like a GPA," Braswell said. "They are a numerical average of all of the rankings that we receive from the corresponding survey questions. We have been conducting these rankings for 17 years now, and they have about a 75 percent consistency rating."
Cutter said he is proud of the ranking.
"I have always liked to expand the ranking and consider our student body an 'active' campus - period," Cutter said. "We are the leader in the nation about applying what we learn in the classroom and care about into practice. This ranking, to me, reflects that."
Briana Weadock, who has been an academic advisor in the School of Public Affairs for the last 15 years, said she believes AU's reputation of political involvement is a major draw for students interested in politics.
"The profile of the student that AU attracts is one that is socially and politically engaged," she said. "Not only is it the opportunities that attract students, because you can get the same opportunities elsewhere in D.C., it's the particular atmosphere of the campus. In the coming years, we're going to see more and better of the same [students who are politically active]."
Andrew MacCracken, a sophomore in SPA, is no stranger to political involvement on campus. Active in both the Undergraduate Senate and the SPA Leadership program, MacCracken spent the summer canvassing for the Democratic National Committee. He said he believes AU is far more politically active than other D.C. colleges, including Georgetown University and George Washington University.
"I haven't been on any other college campuses that remotely compare to the political interest at AU," he said, citing students' involvement at rallies and protests downtown.
AU also placed 13th in "best quality of life," 18th in "best career/job placement services," 15th in "this is a library?" and 5th in "great college towns."
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