I understand every schools is a party school but I am talking about the top ten party schools.
If you're at a party school, is it easy to avoid the party scene but still have a great social life?
It can be hard. If most of the people in your dorm and classes are part of the drinking culture, you will feel left out and lonely sometimes. If you live In a dorm, they can be noisy and obnoxious and throw up in very inopportune places. You will have to work to find your group of friends.
You’ll just need to be social and proactive, otherwise you’re going to look like a recluse. It’s possible, and if you’re lucky you’ll get a respectable roommate who doesn’t drink or is respectful of your choice not to. Or, if you have the option see if there’s a dorm on campus that’s known as a quiet or a wellness dorm. Madison is a huge drinking school but there are also a few dorms known for being a bit quieter and less party orientated.
It depends entirely on the school. Now, you can be sure that at schools with 20,000-40,000+ undergrads, there are going to be some students like you who don’t want to party. (Consider the fact that many of the “top party schools” also happen to be some of the most well-regarded universities in the country, and sometimes the world.) But how difficult they are to find, and how many other things there are to do, depend on the campus and the culture. Some top “party schools” have thriving cultures that are separate from the partying.
You also have to understand that the party culture in and of itself is going to differ by school. The partying at Tulane (pop. ~8,000, located in a large thriving city) is going to be totally different from that of Syracuse (pop. 15,000, located in a smaller city, very cold in the winters), which is going to be different still from the cultures of UIUC or Penn State (pop. 30,000 to 40,000, located in small college towns with not much else to do). And some smaller liberal arts colleges like Bucknell and Depauw sometimes make these lists, but the party culture at a SLAC is way different than a party culture at a large public university.
Even top 10 party schools may have substance free housing available. Ask for it. S lived in sub-free for all 4 years, not because he didn’t ever want to attend a party, but because partying wasn’t a big part of his social life and he wanted to meet others who felt the same way. He also liked that he could go to a party elsewhere - and then leave when he’s had enough and return to a clean, quiet dorm. The universities also know that sub-free housing tends not to get trashed as often so those are frequently the newest and nicest dorms.
S had no trouble making friends in other dorms so he didn’t find sub-free housing limiting his options in any way except the ways he wanted it to be limited.
Sub free housing is a great thought. I wish it had existed when I was in college. The school I attended was by no means a party school, but ultimately the partying that did happen was part of what drove me off campus. I just got weary of being kept up late on weekend nights (thankfully only weekend nights) and waking up to sticky beer floors and other garbage on weekend mornings. It’s wise to consider one’s tolerance for that when thinking about housing.
I think a lot depends on the size of the school. At a school of 20,000 if 75% of the kids party, that still leaves 5000 who aren’t. At a school of 2000 (the size of a lot of LACs) you are down to 500. Honors dorms and substance free housing are two ways you may have quieter floors and finding a more serious crowd. I think location makes a difference - it’s easier not to party in a city where there are other things to do.
@ichiro There is a good chance you are worried too much about this.
Which schools are you concerned about?
Even at a LAC, 500 kids who aren’t party animals is hardly a cramped social life. Its not like at a school of 20,000, you are going to socialize with 5,000 people. And chances are good that even those who party aren’t all partying to excess. S had plenty of friends at his rural LAC who partied responsibly even if they didn’t opt for sub free. I don’t think you’ll have a problem, ichiro - or at least, not one that you can’t solve relatively easily.
@TurnerT I visited Trinity college in CT on an overnight stay for baseball and saw beer cans lying all over the dorm rooms. I really just hate being around drugs/alcohol. Also University of Iowa and university of Wisconsin-Madison.
ichiro, there are so many others like you. High school students regularly come on CC to ask how they can avoid being around drugs and/or alcohol in college. Many don’t want to be around it at all. Others just want to avoid the gross aftermath of parties. My understanding is that colleges/universities that have some of the following characteristics are less likely to have a lot of students who drink heavily: no Greek life or Greek life that does not dominate campus, all female, historically black, outside the Northeast, no prominent athletic program.
However, there are plenty of students at big sports and big Greek life schools who don’t drink. With all the like-minded people, and clubs through which you can find them, you can have a great social life at those places. What you might have to deal with, though, is dorms that are trashed, with disgusting halls and bathrooms on the weekends. Wherever you go, I’d try to get in a substance-free dorm. Best wishes!
“located in small college towns with not much else to do” (#3)
“it’s easier not to party in a city where there are other things to do” (#6)
Do individuals who believe this to be a reason for alcohol over-consumption and related activities abuse substances themselves when they are in what they regard as an under-stimulating environment? Or is it a presumption, perhaps informed by indirect means, that others do, even though they themselves do not?
It is easy to avoid partying if you are at a party school. What might not be easy is avoiding seeing others who are experiencing the outcome of partying in some dormitories or the streets of town where there are popular clubs or restaurants.
Just like during the rest of adulthood, partying is a choice, and you can always choose not to do it. You are very likely to be able to find like minded peers who also don’t party. And chemical free dorms are a great option on many campuses. The one thing about college is that you always have a legitimate excuse for not partying or succumbing to peer pressure to party, no matter what day of the week or time of day…“Nope, I can’t, I have to study.” Because let’s face it, that’s the main reason you are attending any particular college.
Very easy to avoid partying at big party schools, because ,well, these schools are big. For every partier, there’s going to be several other people who don’t like partying. The best strategy is to make friends who are similarly disinterested in frequent partying.
Do research on different dorms; different dorms will have different “cultures”, with some having party reputations and others having more quiet ones. I go to UW-Madison right now, and if you do decide to go there and don’t want to party, I highly recommend the Lakeshore dorms- they’re quiet and you will 100% find people who don’t like to party. However, at a big school like UW, you will almost definitely meet people who do engage in drinking and drugs, it’s just that you can control your exposure to these people by picking a good place to live and a good friend group.
Don’t worry about being socially excluded; if someone invites you to a party, just politely decline, and they’ll move on. If you live in a decently sized city, there will be plenty of things to do on the weekend that don’t involve alcohol!