Colleges With The Happiest Students: Newsweek, College Prowler List

Walking around campus with a frightening grin on your face? You might be attending one of America's happiest schools.

Newsweek and College Prowler recently named the 25 schools that boast the most gleeful student populations. These students enjoy delicious meals, spectacular housing and other exuberant intangibles.

So check out the top 15 happiest schools below, and see which school can say its students are the happiest of them all!

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• 15. University of Southern California

  Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=370765022947956&set=a.368592249831900.92392.134972803193847&type=3&theater" target="_hplink">Facebook</a>

• 14. Columbia University

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• 13. Carnegie Mellon University

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• 12. Colorado College

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• 11. Harvard University

  Photo Credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harvard_college_-_annenberg_hall.jpg" target="_hplink">Jacobolus</a>

• 10. Bowdoin College

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• 9. Skidmore College

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• 8. Swarthmore College

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• 7. University of Richmond

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• 6. Georgetown University

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• 5. University of Chicago

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• 4. Brown University

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• 3. Yale University

  Photo is of the <a href="http://news.yale.edu/2012/08/13/place-enjoy-great-outdoors" target="_hplink">Yale Outdoor Education Center</a> in East Lyme, Connecticut. A facility available to members of the Yale community. Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151169302175320&set=pb.374809010319.0.1345130756&type=3&theater" target="_hplink">Facebook</a>

• 2. Carleton College

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• 1. Stanford University

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From our partners

• 25 Signs You're A Hot Mess | Thought Catalog - thoughtcatalog.com

Comments

[ingeniera]

11:02 AM on 05/08/2013

I call bull on CMU. We just had a suicide last winter and really the school covers up its suicide attempts and depressing successes. Even before that you'd regularly hear about cops being called to get a kid off the roof and everyone would just accept it as the regular panic attack kid and go about their day. Our free psychologists for students are overbooked all the time. The two biggest reasons for cops/EMS to be called are students having panic attacks and students fainting from not eating or staying hydrated from just pure stress. Besides fine art students, few care to put effort into appearances and the reason is usually "why bother?". So many students are secretly depressed or have been here. Many graduating students can't get out fast enough and have nothing but hate for the school itself. Trying to call alumni for donations and it's not rare to hear damnation of the place. It's also gray skys and rainy all the time, including now, because Pittsburgh and that doesn't help.

The only reason CMU is on this list is because college prowler was started by CMU alum. We have maybe two dudes on unicycles and they don't ride in the long winters. Students at CMU linking this on their facebooks are doing it for the irony.

[greenfantasia88]

07:51 PM on 05/02/2013

Well...actually there are LOTS OF NON-ENTITLED, NOT WEALTHY, STUDIED THEIR ASSES OFF students at the top schools, especially Stanford and the top-tier Ivies because they have kick-ass generous financial aid. In fact, if you earn less than $100,000 at Stanford and you get in, YOU HAVE A FREE RIDE. INSTANTLY. So all of you out there who have never gotten the chance to even get close to the schools on this list, please refrain from such cynicism without checking your facts, for fear of sounding like a bitter, jealous, erroneous reject.

[motemaven]

11:11 PM on 05/02/2013

Gosh you are so lucky. And happy. And passionate. And verbose. And happy.

[greenfantasia88]

11:53 PM on 05/02/2013

Haha thanks. :) And oops, my verbosity is a drawback when I'm all fired up and ready to debate :P >:|

[Jesse Mitchell Lindsey]

01:40 PM on 09/21/2012

Woohoo! Skidmore @ Number 9. I always said it's a happy place!

[h23154]

09:43 PM on 08/22/2012

Looks like a list of the most expensive colleges in the country. Who says money can't buy happiness?

[maxfax]

04:25 AM on 08/21/2012

Money is the key to happiness

[Elsinor]

01:37 AM on 08/21/2012

It looks like the criteria they used are retention rates, "overall student experience", and "would you go to the same school if you had a do over?". This is not the same thing as being "happy." As some commentators pointed out, many of these schools are highly academically demanding which intrudes on social life. But that is what these students wanted: a prestigious degree that usually entails a more demanding academic work load. Nevertheless, there is far more competition to get into these schools than so-called party schools.

[Vicodin]

12:04 AM on 08/21/2012

I see this list is dominated by wealthy (albeit also VERY prestigious) private colleges. When you are LESS worried about finding good-paying jobs to pay off your massive college loan, YOU'D BE HAPPY TOO!

University of Southern California is nicknamed University of Spoiled Children for a reason.

[joefoss]

03:11 PM on 08/20/2012

RE: "I always felt I had to prove that I belonged at that institution."
=Natalie Portman/Harvard Class of 2003

Interesting list! Particularly as it includes colleges & universities once known for having some of the "unhappiest" students: Chicago--a campus once described as a place "where fun goes to die"; Carnegie Mellon--where social life was called "monastic" because of the lop-sided male:female student ratio (currently claimed as 3:2) and limited extracurricular options; and Harvard--consistently ranked in the past as at or near the bottom among the "Ivies" on criteria of undergraduate student satisfaction.

Glad to hear conditions are improving!

[Andy Scolnic]

10:46 PM on 08/19/2012

Almost all of these are ivies.
DUH i'd be happy if I were at an ivy..who wouldnt?
You'll never hear...
"UGH THIS SUCKS! I hate it when i get into yale!"

[Malapropism]

09:47 AM on 08/20/2012

I doubt people would be unhappy to get into an Ivy, but I can promise you that some people aren't happy being at one.

[CarlIII]

12:28 PM on 08/19/2012

I can't believe they didn't mention Tulane University in New Orleans. It's located in the beautiful Garden District and the trolly car stops there. You can ride the trolly to the French Quarter. Party like no where else. Then ride the trolly back to Tulane. If you like to mix partying with academics and Professors like Melissa Harris-Perry then Tulane is the school for you.

[Trying2MakeSense]

09:37 PM on 08/18/2012

So in other words, if you want to be a "happy student", you got to spend the big bucks and go in debt if you're not well off.

I think I'd rather just be a happy person wherever I'm at... and try to share that happiness with others.

Even better: Let's try to be joyful. Where do the most joyful students go? lol

[PirateJohn]

03:52 PM on 08/19/2012

I went to USC, but I would never have gone if it wasn't for the fact that I was paid to go. I got more scholarships (mostly from ROTC) than I had tuition.

[Trying2MakeSense]

05:16 PM on 08/19/2012

Yes, scholarships are a blessing, and congrats! I'm not against these particular schools, just stating that it sounds a little silly to say where the happiest students go, because we ultimately control that. And, also, I have seen way too many people go into debt by going to the "dream" school.That doesn't mean these schools are not where certain students should be, of course.

[GentleWorker]

08:44 PM on 08/18/2012

afdad

[MissIndependentLady]

12:51 PM on 08/18/2012

How shocking. The schools considered the best in this country have the happiest students. I wouldn't have guessed.

[PirateJohn]

03:52 PM on 08/19/2012

Well, there are a lot of top schools missing from this list. Berkeley comes to mind.

[Andy Scolnic]

10:48 PM on 08/19/2012

Berkeley students are too busy getting high as ever in california to be on this list

[James Sunshine]

01:58 PM on 08/17/2012

I'm calling b.s. on university of chicago. they have a saying there: grades, sleep and a life; choose two. No way they are among the happiest.

[mira chancleta]

10:09 AM on 08/18/2012

...especially the dead students stabbed outside of their class room for their cell phones.

[happymaroon]

10:47 PM on 08/18/2012

I dont recall any students being "stabbed outside of their class room[sic]" for "cell phones". Crime in the neighborhood is an issue, but that's another topic...

Also, while I'm not exactly sure how College Prowler/Newsweek compiled this list, I think "happiest" dealt more with the amenities aspect that the universities had for students -- not mentally/psychologically/emotionally "happiest" for students.

UChicago students are known to self-deprecate, so a lot of this "hearsay" about suicide rates, etc. is BS. Unless you've been an undergrad at the college in the last 5 years (it's gone through a lot of change), you're completely disconnected from the university and have no idea what's going on. So, sorry, but I think your input is more BS than the rankings.

[YetStillLearning]

01:09 PM on 08/18/2012

I was thinking the same thing, James! When I did a summer program there people called it the place where laughter goes to die.

[RealistBC]

01:54 PM on 08/17/2012

Of course these schools are the happiest! Stuffed full of wealthy legacy students who can afford to enjoy life, how could they not be?

The real news story is which of the 99%er colleges are happy.

[motemaven]

10:38 PM on 08/18/2012

Not true with Stanford. I know alumni whose top kids got rejected. Come to think of it I am not sure who makes it in there because I only know rejected applicants. Perhaps they pre-screen for shiny happy people?

[greenfantasia88]

08:07 PM on 05/02/2013

We are happy because we spent 4 years laboring for hours on end to earn those grades, to study beyond what was on the test, to explore what we wanted to find out about the world around us in ways other people didn't even bother to consider, to sacrifice instant relief of partying hard in order to pursue our goals. We are happy because Stanford recognized our drive, our hard work, our passion to do something and do that something with the best of our efforts. We are happy because after 4 years of sweat, tears, blood, and dirt, whether playing the game even with a 101 degree fever, or taking on three finals in advanced classes, whether struggling to support the family with a part-time job while balancing sleep and study or pulling an all-nighter because we only got to our homework after hours on end of volunteering to help tutor bright-eyed, wonderful children, our true grit has opened another door in our future where we can improve ourselves and become even better prepared to help change the world after Stanford. So, no they don't screen for shiny happy people. They screen for people who gave up watching that last movie with friends to pursue their goals, they screen for people who turned down an invite to Saturday's wild party to study just a bit more for the history quiz, they screen for people who clearly deserve their hard work to pay off.

[greenfantasia88]

08:07 PM on 05/02/2013

So, I'm not just addressing motemaven, but all those bitter repliers out there, cut out all that bitterness please. And of course, there is the occasional rich kid who had their way paved, but that's not as common as you all might think, and confusing those types with the 99% of the rest of us in the top colleges is just cruel. But, most of us are happy because we finally meet others just like us, who are as intellectually driven, or passionate about politics, or science, or math, or art, or humanities, or all of the above; most of us are happy because we are working towards our dreams of helping/changing/revolutionizing the world for YOUR progeny.

[Megandale]

02:02 PM on 08/19/2012

Come on, does everything need to be about the 1%? Geesh.

[RealistBC]

01:06 PM on 05/03/2013

How many reporters greeted you today to ask about your weekend plans?