The Preppiest Colleges Of 2012

Being a preppy person isn't all about knowing how to sail and wearing sailing clothes. Anyone in the world can be preppy, if they just want to try it!

After extensive research, HuffPost has rounded up the preppiest colleges of 2012. What did it take to make the cut? A love of Brooks Brothers, a passion for lacrosse, a hatred of regular shoes. Check out our list and then tell us what you think!

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Comments

[Jimmy Rawl]

11:01 PM on 05/02/2012

its true, i go to ohio state....i wish i could afford out of state tuition

[trand1114]

08:44 AM on 04/11/2012

Awe, look at all those good conforming libs in the picture

[GhostDog9]

12:02 PM on 04/10/2012

A preppy list without Duke on it has to be invalid as all get-out. And no Princeton ? Or Wake Forest ? No U of Vermont ? Or Colgate ? Or U. of Colorado ? Person who penned this lame article needs to get out more.

[Kaylee Doncouse]

04:53 PM on 04/09/2012

How is Miami University (OH) not included in this????? .... ever heard of J CREW U

[Aleks Perpalaj]

04:43 PM on 04/09/2012

I think that DICKINSON COLLEGE should of been one of the schools as well!

[JJaco47]

07:30 AM on 04/09/2012

really? Cornell? Apparently I've been going to a different Cornell for the last 4 years...

[saucylaxer]

02:10 AM on 04/09/2012

What a poorly written article...

First of all, how can a school as large as OSU be uniformly categorized as preppy? People from all walks of life attend, most of whom can't afford/have no interest whatsoever in dressing preppy.

Only one SEC school makes the list...really??!

Virginia and Bama are spot on, though.

IMO, schools in northeast/mid-Atlantic that should be on here: Colgate, Lafayette, Syracuse, Hobard & William Smith Colleges, Connecticut College.

[Noah Swimmer]

08:38 AM on 04/24/2012

I agree that it's a poorly written article however your comment contradicts itself.

You criticize the author for their choice of OSU because of it's size. Yet you refer to the choices of UVA and Alabama as "spot on"... do you know how large the student body at those two schools are? I'd say they also fall under the category of being too large uniformly sum up.

[Jimmy Rawl]

11:04 PM on 05/02/2012

all the preppy kids at osu live in central university district by campus, everyon else(that is at least not uncool) live around the edges

[hazyafternoonsunshine]

02:50 PM on 02/26/2012

My kid went to Exeter, and my observation of real preppy kids is that the stereotype does not at all fit. This seems to be about what people think is preppy, as opposed to what actually is. Wannabe preppies.

[smoker]

08:54 PM on 02/28/2012

That's what I thought too.

[Paige Baker]

08:47 PM on 02/21/2012

Roll TIDE!

[Andedj11]

06:01 PM on 02/15/2012

How is Wake Forest not on this list?

[Matt Lindner]

06:07 PM on 02/13/2012

Dear Current Boston College Students,

Congratulations. You have absolutely earned this distinction as being one of the preppiest schools in the country. However, when you're celebrating this honor by spilling a pint of Busch Light on your J Crew slacks at Mary Ann's, please take time to remember those of us who came before you. We paved the way.

Drink up,

Matt '05

[yabastid]

09:31 AM on 04/10/2012

Certainly, Matt. In my day it was the Tam, I think it was on Beacon Street, but it's hard to remember due to drain bamage. A&S 71

[Fennis]

06:05 PM on 02/13/2012

How is Patagonia preppy? Yvon Chouinard would be not approve.

Has anyone noticed, Georgetown is in every one of these surveys?

[Tmus82]

06:27 PM on 02/13/2012

Patagucci?

[Fennis]

06:40 PM on 02/13/2012

Haha, never heard that before. Just like I have never, and would never have classified Patagonia as preppy...I'm from a place where only real outdoors-people where Patagonia.

[Josh Bakarich]

04:52 PM on 02/13/2012

Extremely surprised that more southern universities weren't on this list. I go to a school (Southern Methodist) where Ralph Lauren is a lifestyle and you are more like to find Vinyard Vines, Patagonia, or Brooks Brothers than any other brand. Not only clothes but cars (BMW is the most popular car on campus) and in social life- think fraternity life 24/7. I guess it is because at southern universites, it isn't the preppy style, its the best style.

[joefoss]

02:11 PM on 02/13/2012

When it comes to colleges, "preppy" is actually a pretty elastic term. Within this category,
it's possible, for example, to subdivide institutions of higher learning by their dominant fashion look.

There are the New England schools that are "L.L. Bean" preppy (e.g., Bowdoin,
(Middlebury & Dartmouth), the urban colleges & universities that are "Abercrombie & Fitch" preppy (e.g., Boston College, Penn & Washington U.), and the "dressier" southern schools that are "Ralph Lauren" preppy (e.g., Duke, Vanderbilt & Rollins).

Of course, given the derivation of the word, "preppy," it's also possible to use a more objective criterion to create this list: the % of undergraduates at a given college or university who
matriculated from a private, "preparatory" school. Using that guideline, I'd have to think that
F. Scott Fitzgerald's alma mater would rank as the "preppiest" of all!

[HC2016]

04:25 PM on 02/13/2012

Sorry bud but preppy is the exact opposite of an "elastic term". Prep is all about conformity-there aren't any sub categories of it either. The South has a tradition of wearing formal attire to tailgates and football games. Up North this doesn't happen. But all preppy people-regardless of location North, South, urban, rural wear Ralph Lauren, L.L. Bean, Vineyard Vines ect. FYI Abercrombie isn't preppy. And where are you getting UPenn and Washington U as preppy urban schools? BC definitely is very preppy but certainly doesn't deserve the title of Abercrombie urban prep.
Regardless, the boys at Bowdoin wear the same thing as the guys at Wake and Vandy. The weather limits people in New England from sporting sun dresses and critter shorts for most of the year, unlike down south.

[Godweiser]

01:29 PM on 02/13/2012

I call shenanigans; the Dookie moms clearly paid to get Duke University off this list.

[Tmus82]

06:30 PM on 02/13/2012

Oh the Harverd of the south is still in the south