Aside from the dull hum of a lawn mower and the soft buzz of cicadas, the Syracuse University campus is quiet. 

It’s a little too quiet for the nation's number one party school. So when prospective students and their parents discovered that fact -- they were a little shocked. 

"I am surprised,” said Josh Whitaker, a father from Massachusetts. “I'm a little bit surprised, not necessarily in a negative way. Um, only surprised in that, uh, I just, I had no idea until you literally just told me."

Josh Whitaker's son, a senior in high school, is interested in Syracuse. Josh says the party atmosphere doesn't concern him too much.

"I don't know that it would necessarily make me want to sort of push him away from this,” he said.

The Princeton Review looks at everything from alcohol and drug consumption, to hours spent studying, and popularity of Greek life. And they survey current college students every year.

Rob Franek, Editor-In-Chief for The Princeton Review, believes this makes the rankings pretty accurate.

"I want to make sure that students understand full well what their life is going to be like at any school in the book,” he said.

According to SU, more than 30 percent of students join a fraternity or sorority. And many people associate Greek life with partying.

Chelsea Hurd transferred to SU from a smaller school. She joined a sorority -- and is now completing her master’s degree here. She's not surprised by the ranking -- but she doesn't think it defines the school.

"I think honestly a lot of our academics really match it,” Chelsea said. “I think there's a real student culture of ‘whatever you're going to do, you're going to do it right."

And Chelsea thinks students do studying and partying right. 

"The whole like work hard play hard atmosphere is really, really integral to the school identity I think.”