UW-Madison was recently named the nation's hottest big state school"" in a national Kaplan/Newsweek college admissions guide.
However, it dropped out of the ""top 20 party schools"" in the Princeton Review rankings based on student surveys.
This year's No. 1 party school ranking went to West Virginia University in Morganstown, West Virginia.
UW-Madison received only one No. 1 ranking in the Princeton Review, ranking first in the parties category for having ""lots of beer.""
Madison also appeared in two other Princeton Review Top 20 lists, ranking No. 16 for ""Best College Newspaper"" and No. 18 for ""Students Pack the Stadiums.""
Robert Franek, author of the Princeton Review's ""Best 366 College Rankings,"" said it is common for schools to shift around in the ranking lists from year to year because the rankings are entirely based on student surveys.
More than 120,000 surveys were collected from college undergraduates across the country, 2,371 of which came from UW-Madison.
""It would not be abnormal for schools to take the Princeton Review rankings, understanding that they're based on their own students' opinions, and use it for some positive change on campus,"" Franek said.
Brian Mattmiller, University Communications director, said students should keep in mind that rankings are important, but dozens of different rankings measure different categories.
""There isn't any single ranking that you could call definitive, and you don't want to get hung up on any single one,"" he said.
Meanwhile, students can relish in their ""hottest big state school"" status by Kaplan/Newsweek, along with recently being dubbed ""The Best College Sports Town in America"" by ESPN anchor Scott Van Pelt.
""That's as good as it gets,"" Van Pelt said in a recent ESPN radio broadcast. ""State Street, Camp Randall, Kohl Center, State Capitol, great university, the lakes, the setting, the vibe, the whole thing, I don't know what's better.
