Much to my parents’ dismay, the Princeton Review ranked this university No. 20 in its “Party School” rankings.

I found out about this most recent honor about a week ago when I opened up The (Baltimore) Sun. Immediately, I was confused. I’ve been here long enough to realize that labeling Maryland a party school is like Steve Urkel (of Family Matters fame) making People Magazine’s list of Most Beautiful People.

I usually nail first impressions, so correct me if I’m wrong, but based on conversations with students from near and far, Maryland is held as a great academic institution, not a party school. In my experience, students at Maryland are dorks during the week and then nerds turned slightly rabid animals on the weekend.

Based on reputation alone, Maryland’s party scene isn’t anything compared to schools such as Arizona University, named the No. 1 party school by Playboy magazine in 2002.

What is our party scene, other than Route 1? We have one street, filled with the lukewarm spots such as Lupo’s, Cornerstone Grill and Loft, Santa Fe Café and RJ Bentley’s. Most, if not all, of these places card because alcohol is served, leaving underage undergraduates behind.

To live up to a party-school ranking, I say leave no undergraduates behind. True party schools can include all students in their loud music, streaking, athletic traditions and “Animal House”-style activities.

Most people I talked to about this ranking felt it was a bit generous. Terps like to have fun, but if it isn’t about rioting or drinking, we’ll be focused on our books and aiming for high GPAs because scholarships or loads of cash are the only way one could afford to attend the university.

Freshman kinesiology major Alicia Carter said, “Knowing or getting to the parties is about who you know, and not all the parties are always up and running, but they are there.”

A sophomore environmental policy major in a campus fraternity, who wished to remain anonymous, agreed: “Anywhere you go, there is gonna be some party. It’s just about people having fun. It doesn’t have to be a party or anything huge.”

And though the party school ranking is not a mark of merit, there are ways to improve the disparity between the university’s ranking and the reality of social life in College Park.

A few ideas: Open up more lounges that don’t serve alcohol. Surely there must be places where the underage student can party, because if you aren’t more than 21 years old, then you can’t really participate in the pride and joy that is Route 1.

However, the Princeton Review did seem to get a few things right. Maryland ranked No. 1 in ‘packing stadiums,’ with which I’m sure few students can disagree.

But, just as the party school ranking sounded a little out of proportion, people are giving disproportionately little attention to other findings about Maryland in the survey.

For example, my parents were also not so thrilled to find out that Maryland, according to the Princeton Review, was ranked 17th for students who ‘almost (never) study,’ and seventh for students most disappointed with financial aid packages.

We should divert some of the attention being given to the party school ranking and feel some concern that people think students don’t study enough and others are having difficulty simply paying tuition.

Athina Tesfa-Yohannes is a sophomore government and politics major. She can be reached at atesfayo@umd.edu