While every group of people is represented at Cornell to some degree I have found in my personal experience that if you like to party, and I mean really party, Cornell is not the place for you. Now as a disclaimer I am a sophomore at CU looking to transfer. I am originally from Manhattan and have spent every vacation over the past two years backpacking, and in my case partying, around the world.
I have spend a solid amount of time with almost all of the groups listed above, except music and or vegans, looking for "my people" and have personally been disappointed. The issues I find is that out side of house parties, which from my experience are too small and low key , one must resort to the frat scene, a whole different entity upon itself. The problem I find is that many of the kids here, and i use the word kids on purpose, had a limited social life in high school and now go crazy at school. Unfortunately, this leads to the problem that they think partying at CU is the ****.
The other issue is that Ithaca has very little night life out side college town, thus you are restricted to only the CU community with I find to be very sheltered. I can imagine that if you come from the burbs or a small town, CU will be more than adequate socially, however if you want or need a true diversity of social options Cornell is not for you. Lastly, people over play the intelligence and down play the work ethic of the students here, everybody, including myself, is a bit of a nerd.
BTW if you want a very accurate representation of frat life google the music video "If I were a Bro"
Last edited by DesioMedia; 02-12-2009 at 01:20 PM.
^ if you came to Ithaca expecting a nightlife like that of Manhattan or any other major city (domestic or international), then i must ask: REALLY!?
personally, i'm glad that the bar/club scene isn't very big around here. house parties, where you can actually hang out with your friends and talk to/get to know people are, in my opinion, a lot better for college kids.
@ monydad (and anyone else, really):
house parties are usually what my friends and i go to, whether they be private houses in collegetown or coops. generally, fridays and saturdays, we go out and have a lot of fun because we know the kids in those houses, or at the very least, we know someone who knows someone - and that's enough. also, i've found that i never have a shortage of things to do, as opposed to the kids who only know about the frat scene. spring semester, if you're not rushing/pledging, you're kind of out of the loop when it comes to frat parties, but there are always house parties every night of the weekend (sometimes there are too many). if it appears that there isn't anything to do, well, we live in risley and there's always something to do, even if it's "just" chilling with a massive group of friends.
also, don't rule out parties at IC. they're pretty fun.
BTW if you want a very accurate representation of frat life google the music video "If I were a Bro"
Anyone who thinks that greek life can be represented by one video really has little understanding of the fraternity system at Cornell. There are houses that are full of "bros," but each house has its own feel and is very different from most others.
Some people might prefer house parties, but ultimately Cornell is big enough for everyone to find their own niche. And if the majority of your friends are in the Greek system, then you'll probably find that fraternity parties are the most comfortable social environment for you.
CC102: I never stated that I expected anything close to a major city in terms of a nightlife. In fact I chose cornell because I didn't want too many distractions so I could study and have fun when I wanted, like friday and saturday night. However even with these standards Cornell and ithaca has let me down. Yes it is true that there are very often house parties, however these from my experience are usually small and very similar to those in high-school.
As far for your comment on college kids going to bars. I find that a good lounge/ barclub is like a great house party with some people you know. You get to chill with your friends listen to great music, meet some new people who have the same taste as you and be in a public social enviroment. College students outside of America and Japan, where the drinking age is 21 and 20, frequently go to bars and clubs. I have friends who go to school in london, rome, and denmark and all of their campus' have bars owned and operated by the school and server alcohol on the on campus eateries. I also have to say that living in Risley is not the traditional living situation at CU. Risly holds about 200 students only about 1.5% of undergrads compared to the aprox 4000 or 30% of campus that is in the greek system.
Da Funk: I am not stating that every frat is this way, in fact far from the opposite however, this does give an accurate representation of a standard frat. I have some close friends in Sig Ep, Fiji, Pike, Thump D, Deke, Alpha Chi, Sami, Lenrock, and Psi U, which I believe to be a pretty diverse and good representation of the frats. Each have their own personality but for the most part, aside from Psi U which only has closed parties, a frat party is a frat party. Big, sweaty, poor music, pong, and keystone light.
I never said that living at Risley was an accurate representation of a majority of people at Cornell. I merely offered a glimpse into the lives my friends and I lead.
Still, I don't find it necessary to have bars/clubs as an integral part of your nightlife, especially when I'm a college student and I don't really have the money to shell out $20 a night every weekend on drinks just because I'm at a club.
Alright I just want to handle one of these comments. Desio, I have probably traveled around the world and partied in more countries than u have (believe me, I'm hardcore lol...I've partied in more than 15 countries), and I have to say that Cornell is still one of my FAVORITE party scenes. You obviously aren't in a frat if u say that parties aren't good...and honestly that's all I have to say b/c I know u must not be. Parties here are absolutely amazing and when I travel to different countries I always miss being here. Ur transfering b/c u haven't found ur place here so don't try to discourage others b/c that's honestly ur own fault. That's probably my meanest post ever but it's true...he can't try to discourage people from coming here by saying the party scene isn't good.
I find that a good lounge/ barclub is like a great house party with some people you know. You get to chill with your friends listen to great music, meet some new people who have the same taste as you and be in a public social enviroment. College students outside of America and Japan, where the drinking age is 21 and 20, frequently go to bars and clubs. I have friends who go to school in london, rome, and denmark and all of their campus' have bars owned and operated by the school and server alcohol on the on campus eateries.
Have you been to the architecture parties or the open parties thrown by a lot of the co-ops? (Telluride, 660, Stewart Little, etc.) Those seem to have the closest thing to a chill, lounge atmosphere that you would prefer.
Quote:
Sig Ep, Fiji, Pike, Thump D, Deke, Alpha Chi, Sami, Lenrock, and Psi U,
And I'm not certain if that is the most representative list of Cornell's fraternities. But I'm really not an expert on the Greek scene at Cornell, save to say that you spelled Llenroc incorrectly.
I studied at Oxford for a year, which pretty much has the best pub culture in the world, and I also lived in Boston for two years -- a "college mecca" -- and I still preferred the party scene at Cornell. Sure, it may not be as hip as Manhattan, but the laid-back, spontaneous, and often irreverent feel to a lot of the larger house parties in Collegetown was fantastic. You will have the rest of your life to party in big cities, but only a couple of years to enjoy yourself in such a tight-knit community.
the best party ever was the indecent exposure party this year at 660 stewart ave. It was when the IFC shut the frats down due to swine flu, so EVERYONE who would have gone to a frat went to 660. It was PACKED, and there were tons of naked/scantily clad girls lol. Must have been at least 400 people in that house that night. I wish I didnt have to be home now....
the relationship between IC and cornell is fine. a lot of girls on my skating team are from IC and they are all awesome. they sometimes come over to cornell to go to frat parties, and ive gone over to IC to go to their house parties. if you want to interact a lot, you can. i think there is a bus that runs to IC (not sure though)
its not like we hate on IC at all, if thats what you are worried about
and back on the topic of the traditions...gotta say my favorite one is DRAGON DAY [obviously]
