CMC Ranked Happiest College
By The Daily Beast

When it comes to happy colleges, CMC tops the list. That's what students here already know, and what The Daily Beast confirmed this week when it released a ranking of the 100 Happiest Colleges across the nation. Topping the list at No. 1 was Claremont McKenna College, whichby final tabulations in seven categoriesearned an A+ for campus dining, and an A for housing.
In its reporting The Daily Beast makes note of the fact that much of the "happy" college experience boils down to these simple words: quality of life. In this case they gave equal weight to a total of seven criteria: campus housing, nightlife (party options both on and around town), average graduate indebtedness, average freshman retention rate, campus dining, the number of student clubs/organizations, and even the weatherin this case, the average number of sunny daylight hours. View Daily Beast article and rankings.
Were CMC students surprised that their college ranked firstahead of Harvard (2nd), Pomona (3rd), Stanford (7th), and Yale (9th)?
Nope. They say it confirms what they've known all along.
"I hadn't even visited the campus before I decided to apply early decision to CMC," admits ASCMC president Tammy Phan '11. "I had relied mostly on the good things I'd heard from current students and online sources like the Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report. And I couldn't have made a better decision.
"No one's surprised that The Daily Beast has ranked us as the Happiest College in America. From the freshmen picking up their friends and ponding' them on their birthdays, to the seniors bonding by pulling thesis all-nighters together in Poppa Lab, you can tell it's true. We are the happiest college in America."
"The first thing that came to mind when I saw that we were The Happiest College was, We've been saying that for years!' says Amanda Brawner '07, who manages the online presence for the Kansas Democratic Party. "There was no doubt in my mind that I couldn't have been happier anywhere but Claremont McKenna, and now this proves that it's not just me. No student across the country can be any happier than they can be at CMC."
The Daily Beast rankings utilized student opinions gathered from online college guide College Prowler, as well as statistics from U.S. News & World Report. In terms of ranking campus weather climate, the Beast turned to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In addition to earning A's for dining and housing, CMC scored a B- for nightlife. The average debt owed by its students at graduation was figured at $10,518, and freshman retention rate is at 96 percent. The College currently lists 110 clubs/organizations and the sunny weather prevails about 73 percent of the academic year.