The Official Preppy Handbook, 1980 (Archival Information)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"The College of Your Choice"

The Top Ten

Princeton
Hamilton
U of Virginia
St. Lawrence
Babson
Hampden-Sydney
Lake Forest
Sweet Briar
Hollins
Pine Manor (SATs N.A.)

The Runners Up

Amherst
Reed
Williams
Georgetown
Colorado College
Trinity (CT)
Colby
Vassar
Connecticut College
Wheaton (MA)

Note: While these schools appeared alphabetically in the original, they’re listed above in order of the included SAT profiles for an indication of how these colleges may have changed across time.

This is how the introduction for these schools appeared:

"College is, in itself, a Prep concept. But not all colleges are outstandingly Preppy. Following are profiles, in alphabetical order, of the top twenty institutions of higher Prep learning, with admissions information."

This book was written over 40 years ago by non Preps. That said, they got a lot right and a lot that still holds up today. But even then, that list is off. Wheaton, Sweet Briar, Hollins, Vassar and Pine Manor might have been the alma maters of preppy moms in the 80s - women who went to college before most went coed. - but by then those schools no longer fit that bill and they certainly don’t today. Same goes for Hampden-Sydney and Babson for men. Georgetown or Reed were never very preppy.
The rest of the list still holds up. I’d say the preppiest (really, the Waspiest) people I know went to Trinity, St. Lawrence and Conn College. I’d also throw in Middlebury and UVM.

The editor began her acknowledgements by stating that, "Many many Preps assisted me in the preparation of this book. You might say that The Official Preppy Handbook is living, tangible proof that the Old Boy Network works."