Hello everyone, I come from Vietnam and I want to apply to college for higher education in this semester, Princeton is one of my priorities. Some told me that the campus life in the university is one of the key issues considered to make a right decision. Actually I do not have chance to go to Princeton’s campus and face to face communicate with students there, so I have some questions to have a general background.
is Princeton a strong party school, or outstanding extracurricular activities or social campus life?
You can find a party most nights, but I would describe Princeton as a strong party school. It is too small for that. It does have excellent, well-funded extracurricular activities, and it is very social. Basically, if you seek it, you can find it.
Not really… The best part of the school is that we have a really lax alcohol policy, which is nice, as a lot of schools really crack down on that kind of thing. So the social scene is alright, but it’s definitely not a “strong party school.” It gets old really quickly.
It depends on what you are looking for. Princeton has something called “eating clubs”. They are the center of social life for the school. There is a very strong drinking and hook-up scene at the eating clubs. There is an extreme amount of heavy drinking - more than any other Ivy League school and even more than most state schools, according to a survey done by Harvard. Drinking is typically to the point of passing out, coupled with casual one night sexual hook-ups. If that appeals to you, then you will like the social scene. There is not much else, socially. Since 75% of students participate in the eating clubs, if you are not interested in getting drunk as your main social activity, you won’t have much of a social life. Despite being near New York City, there is no culture around going into the city. Perhaps this is because the atmosphere is also not very intellectual, contrary to what you would think. Sports is very big on campus. Athletes dominate the student body. Students are discouraged from living off campus, unlike many schools. So, the school really does not encourage independence. In fact, there is a strong push to stay on campus and not explore beyond it. On the other hand, as MajorKey said, the administration turns a blind eye to the heavy drinking culture. In fact, they tacitly encourage it.
^^ Do you have any first hand sources for the statements below?
“There is a very strong drinking and hook-up scene at the eating clubs. There is an extreme amount of heavy drinking”
“Drinking is typically to the point of passing out, coupled with casual one night sexual hook-ups”
“if you are not interested in getting drunk as your main social activity, you won’t have much of a social life”
That’s too shocking. I always thought Princeton is this tugged away ivory tower where the intellectual elite gather. I’m bringing my daughter there for a campus visit in a couple weeks and she might apply there this year. How do I look for signs of such social scene? I’m sure I can’t just ask about it at the info session. Yikes!
Please message me privately, I am a current international junior who can speak to the culture on campus as being what you want it to be in terms of social culture and drinking culture. It’s definitely there if you want it to be, but there are plenty of alternatives and those who do not drink at all and have a perfectly great time fitting in and making friends, and solid relationships.
@4rosebud, an absurd overgeneralization based on either no data, or on one person’s idiosyncratic experience. Counterexample - there are multiple dorms and floors designated as “substance free” and this year so many students applied to live in Substance Free that some had to be turned away. So obviously, not everyone considers drinking to be the center of their social life.
My daughter has a full and active social life at Princeton, as do many of her friends, without alcohol. She’s leading one of the orientation backpacking trips at this very moment. Plenty of lifestyles/choices represented at Princeton.
My son currently attends Princeton. He has a decent-sized core group of close friends. A third to a quarter of those don’t drink at all. No one feels any pressure to drink or not drink alcohol. He enjoys himself immensely there, and there’s plenty of social diversity. He even goes to New York City with his friends during some weekends in the semester. His language class actually took the students to an opera at the Met because they could (and Princeton spends massive sums of money on its undergraduates to provide a wonderful academic and social experience). He’s involved in several activities that he loves as well. In the end, socially, Princeton is a college just like every other college. Everyone can find the fun they want. When it comes to activities, same thing. Academics are world-class, and undergraduates have the opportunity to really know their professors given the focus on undergraduate education.
