<p>I’ve read several threads on the USC forum that refer to all the partying that goes on there. Some refer to it as a good thing; others refer to it as an annoying thing. Some have stated that they wish there weren’t such an emphasis on getting drunk and partying all the time. </p>
<p>My son and his friends are all pretty clean cut kids who like to do things other than partying for fun – pickup basketball, watching movies at someone’s house, board games like Settlers of Catan, hiking, or just simply hanging out together and talking. They get together a lot, but it’s always that sort of good, clean fun. He will likely remain uninterested in the party scene – or frat scene.</p>
<p>Sometimes, that makes him (and me) think that USC might not be the best fit for him.</p>
<p>We’ve been wondering … is it possible that kids in the Viterbi School tend to be more like him? I mean, are the engineering majors any less interested in the party scene than the general USC student populace? As an engineering major, will my son find himself surrounded by plenty of kids who are NOT into partying, but rather into the sort of things he finds fun? Or is the partying thing just as prevalent with the engineering kids?</p>
<p>Every college or university will have kids that party, kids that don’t party, and kids that play pickup basketball. There are 16,000 undergraduates at USC - he will be able to find like-minded friends.</p>
<p>^We do understand that every college has partying kids, etc. But we read about a lot of partying at USC specifically. Lots of partying by lots of folks. And so, we were worried about USC in particular. Is the impression we’re getting of USC as a big party school off-base?</p>
<p>there are certainly a lot of people at USC who party, but there are also a lot who don’t. Also, each dorm has a different personality, and that probably plays into it somewhat. Some dorms have more of the party types, whereas others are much quieter. I live in one of the quieter ones, Parkside A&H, and while a fair amount of people go out, it seems like most people don’t party or don’t party often at least. A lot of my friends are non-partiers, so don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll find other non-partiers at SC. :)</p>
<p>As far as Viterbi goes, I can’t really speak to that, as I’m not in the school and am not very good friends with anyone in that school. I think one of my suitemates is in Viterbi (I don’t see her very often, she goes home on the weekends and has a lot of homework and is a very involved dancer), and I don’t think she’s the partying type, but I’ve also met a fair number of engineers out on the Row. But I am confident that your son will find non-partying friends at USC. They exist, I promise! :)</p>
<p>From where are you getting your information? You mention threads on College Confidential - my point is to weigh the actual number of students from whom you have heard that there is “such an emphasis on getting drunk and partying all the time” against the 33,000 USC students (16,000+ undergraduates).</p>
<p>It has far more to do with what your son decides chooses to do. If he chooses to get drunk all the time, he will find that opportunity at nearly any college. If he chooses to play pickup basketball, he will have that opportunity at any college as well. It will be his choice regardless of where he chooses to apply/attend.</p>
<p>(And as a parent of a student in CLAS, I have to be honest that I bristle a bit at your suggestion that only the Viterbi kids could possibly be “clean-cut…” )</p>
<p>There are 80 religious organizations at SC. Each one has a full schedule of dinners, socials, outings, services and fellowship opportunities. These students are finding ways to have fun that do not involve drinking. </p>
<p>I have heard there is a special interest floor for students who have a strong interest in hiking, camping, climbing, skiing, sailing, etc. Perhaps this is something you might investigate.</p>
<p>Only 17% of undergraduates at SC are in the “social” NPC and IFC sororities/fraternities. That is not a majority of students. If you read commentary from other universities partying appears to be common on college campuses across the nation.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, media stories do not feature hard working students majoring in difficult subjects who are in honors programs. I suggest you read the parents’ thread here and on Facebook, Class of 2014.</p>
<p>I’m also a parent and I can understand the desire to investigate fit in the area you are concerned. However, there are very very few threads on cc we’ve seen over the past five years that boast of heavy partying as a top component of student life at USC. Not saying there is not this element at USC, but it is just one social choice among <em>many</em> others. There are art/museum types, pre-med types, engineering types–and among each group some will be looking for big parties and a dance scene–while others prefer smaller get-togethers. There are many cool film screenings on campus, a coffee house with music, and religious groups and community service projects that sponsor hundreds of cool non-alcohol type activities. No matter what university your S attends, by the very clubs and activities he joins, he’ll have hundreds and hundreds of like-minded potential friends to hang out with. Actually, large universities in urban centers can offer more social and entertainment alternatives than traditional small and remote campuses–where a drinking culture can be pervasive with little to do over the long winter months. L.A. is a large, warm city. Lots of hiking, skiing, beach activities, etc–not to mention every movie, shopping center, ethnic restaurant imaginable.</p>
<p>For example, my S happens to be a big Settlers of Catan fan among many similar games and made good friends at USC’s cool board game nights.</p>
<p>With due respect, there is no need to get overdefensive. </p>
<p>The fact that only 17% of undergrads at SC are in NPC/IFC frats is meaningless because this builds on some sort of presumption that only NPC/IFC people party, which is absolutely not the case. I believe that USC is absolutely a top tier school academically - I am just saying that just because that is now the case does not mean that all of a sudden the partying has gone down radically; there is no automatic inverse correlation between academics and amount of partying. Whether anybody wants to admit it or not, the party scene at USC is still prevalent, still crazy, still dominated by Greeks, and still a little bit out of control - the kind of partying that got seven girls sent to the hospital with alcohol poisoning on the third week of school and the Greek Row put on probation for a while as a result ( [Post-rush</a> IFC parties lead to social ban|Daily Trojan](<a href=“http://dailytrojan.com/2010/08/31/post-rush-ifc-parties-lead-to-social-ban/]Post-rush”>Post-rush IFC parties lead to social ban - Daily Trojan) ), the kind of partying that led to a guy falling off the 6th floor of Birnkrant due to intoxication from alcohol, marijuana, and ecstasy ( [USC</a> student falls from sixth-floor dorm window after attending rave | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times](<a href=“Archive blogs”>http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/11/usc-student-who-attended-festival-in-critical-condition-after-falling-6-stories-from-dormroom-.html) )</p>
<p>It’s easy to stay out of this stuff if it’s not your thing (it’s not mine, and I stay out for the most part), but bottom line is that even if you choose not to partake, it will be all around you. My thoughts are below, and it comes from my experience the past semester.</p>
<p>1) None of my suitemates are in IFC frats, but they all are either out or WANTING to go out on Thurs-Sat nights. From my experiences, the dorms are mostly very empty on weekend nights, from Fluor to Birnkrant. In my view, it seems that, at least among the freshmen, there is only a small crowd of people that don’t feel the compulsive need to go out, the only exception being around finals time when the only place anyone goes out to is Club Leavey or Club Doheny (our friendly nickname for the libraries). </p>
<p>2) The NPC numbers not mattering is ESPECIALLY true because girls (I know the OP has a son) can still be partiers without being in a sorority, since they can get into any party they’d like anyway - they can avoid the social effects and the financial effects of being in a sorority and still party all they want. One of my female friends put it like this: “I never really appreciated being a girl until I came to college.” From an “eyeball” estimate, I’d say about 80% ish of the girls are out on weekend nights, and the guys’ numbers are only lower because of their difficulty getting into frat parties (if they could get in as easily as girls, I can practically guarantee you that the numbers would be equal). And people enjoy drinking a LOT. My third day at SC, I sent a text to a girl I’d met, and the response I got back was, “Do you have alcohol?” I was, amusingly stunned (if that makes any sense) </p>
<p>2b) And keep in mind frat parties aren’t the only parties… there are organization-related (e.g. theatre parties) and house parties going on all the time. Guys have an easier time getting into those, but sometimes there’s a condition that we have to either pay, bring alcohol, or bring a sufficient number of girls. </p>
<p>3) You will never find any actual, hard numbers of how big the party scene is at USC, but speak to a good sampling of students, and the evidence is plenty available in the form of general consensus. Sure you always have people who are particularly dedicated to their academics, but this is the exception, not the rule, and to put it bluntly, some of them can be socially… inept. And then of course, you have the people (who I madly envy) who party all the time and STILL manage to somehow get good grades. </p>
<p>4) HOWEVER. There is good hope, especially for guys. I feel like guys in general are a little more-toned down freshmen year than girls are. I feel like guys go out less than girls do (whether by choice or not, I dunno), and it’s not that hard to find a group of “cool” people that don’t feel the compulsive need to go out all the time. But you really gotta look for those people.</p>
<p>SimpleLife-
I truly hope a Viterbi student responds to your post. I cannot imagine that Viterbi students go out every Thursday through Saturday night. I’m interested in this thread because S2 is applying to SCA. I also can’t imagine that many SCA students have the time or inclination to get drunk every week as one poster in particular seems to think.</p>
<p>S1 is an Engineering student at Cal. He’s in a fraternity (actually two: one social and one professional engineering). Does he party at Cal? I’m sure that he does to some extent. But he has many of the same interests that SimpleLife’s son has, and he has found like-minded students. It seems to me that USC’s Viterbi students would be very similar. I truly hope a Viterbi student can address this issue.</p>
<p>As madbean stated, partying exists on every U.S. campus. Your son needs to be prepared to handle situations potentially involving alcohol no matter where he decides to attend school. If S2 is fortunate enough to be offered a spot in the SCA, we will certainly have discussions about alcohol, but, then again, we would be having that discussion no matter where he attends school.</p>
<p>Best of luck to your son during this exciting time in his life, SimpleLife!</p>
<p>Yes, lencias, when I said “From where are you getting your information,” it was your posts to which I was referring. Thank you for making that clear to SimpleLife.</p>
<p>I can detect sassiness/"smart"ness when I see it - apologies if that was a mispercetion, but that is what I “received”. I’d appreciate a little more respect for my own experiences in the past semester - it hasn’t been an easy adjustment for me at all socially due to the social culture contrast relative to my high school experience, and I merely wish to make known what I have experienced.</p>
<p>I’m a Viterbi student. I know several Viterbi students who are involved with fraternities and sororities. I personally did not rush because I am not interested in that whole thing. However, that’s not to say that I don’t ignore its existence. I’ve been to a few parties on the Row (on the weekends). I go check it out and usually leave within an hour or two. I don’t think there’s an emphasis on partying all the time and all the activities that usually come with partying. Your son will definitely find engineers that aren’t into partying. I did, and some of them have become my closest friends.</p>
How very kind of you to call me “sassy” and “smart.” Thank you. </p>
<p>
Unfortunately you have gone far beyond that and have stated things such as
Would that be 80% of the total female enrollment, or just the undergraduates? </p>
<p>Feel free to continue to make your posts - please note that I am in no way keeping you from doing so. You are free to post your view, just as I am free to post mine.</p>
<p>I’m a Viterbi student. SimpleLife: your son can party as much or as little as he wants to. I know engineers who hardly ever go out, and I know those that go out all the time. I know people who are big into the greek system, and I know people who have never attended a frat party and likely never will.</p>
<p>In fact, being an engineer has little to nothing to do with how much or little you choose to party. If your stereotype of an engineer is a socially awkward recluse (or to whatever degree you so view) then it’s time to abandon that stereotype. You will find hardcore party people in whatever major you desire, and you will also find those who hardly ever go out.</p>
<p>There’s also the stereotype that college parties are all frat parties. This is false. You can be socially active and not involved in the greek system at all. This is a common pitfall of freshmen, who you see walking to the row in giant flocks at around 10:30 on thursday nights.</p>
<p>I would advise your son to make a good group of friends and have fun with them, and do what he himself wants to do, not what is “expected” of him. There are plenty of opportunities to hang out with people and be social and have fun without feeling awkward or pressured into activities. There are far more people around than those making themselves so visible on the row, and it would be foolish to believe that they host the only parties around.</p>
<p>One last point: college students drink alcohol, there is no getting around this. Your son had better figure out how he’s going to deal with this.</p>
<p>It isn’t entirely fair to cut out the first part of that second quoted sentence. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Which makes it clear that that is an ESTIMATE based on my own observations. </p>
<p>I think Hawkwings puts out an accurate, balanced view of things. Amen regarding the stereotypes and amen regarding the flocks of freshmen… I think they slowly “settle down” though.</p>
<p>lencias, I agree with you completely that readers can find lots of useful information from a USC student in Hawkwings’ posts. Thank you for pointing that out. I also find wisdomsomehow and greymatters to be excellent sources of information from a student perspective - so much more valuable than when I post the same information from a parent perspective.</p>
<p>Thank you greymatters and Hawkwings for your input as Viterbi students. As a parent, I found your posts to be very insightful. Hopefully, SimpleLife will as well!</p>
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