What is meant by "party scene"?

I was looking at the report cards given to colleges on Niche.
There is a grade for “party scene”

However I am not sure what this grade means? I don’t want D to attend a “party school” - does that mean that I should be looking for a low grade?

If a school gets a high grade does that mean it has a high number of parties?

High quality parties? (according to whom?)
High number of students partying?

Students partying a high percentage of the time?

From the Niche website:

In my experience, any school can be a “party school” and a student with any amount of determination can find a party if they want.

How does your D feel about going to a so called “party school”?

Is the party school reputation prominent now or is it a label given to the school decades ago and students still perpetuate that stereotype?

In the end, you need to trust your D to make good choices regardless where she attends and if she is not into the party scene, there are always plenty of like-minded students that she can befriend.

Niche’s “report card grades” heavily rely on student surveys and a school can have a low or high grade for dorms / campus / food / parties / safety / etc based on a very small number of student surveys in some cases. I wouldn’t rule out or rule in a school based on a Niche grade.

I remember when my D, now a graduate, was looking at colleges. She wanted to avoid a party scene. She began to realize that in order to attend the kind of school she liked, she would have to tolerate some level of partying.

Bad news: most colleges have a party scene. Even colleges not known for partying will still have a party scene. Students can and do party at most colleges. There are a few colleges not known for partying: Liberty U, BYU, some of the religiously affiliated colleges, military academies, commuter colleges with few students living on campus.

So rather than focusing on finding colleges where there is no partying, it might be better to understand that there are plenty of colleges where kids will be able to find plenty to do without resorting to partying, and will find plenty of others who also won’t be partying.

One way to refine a list could be to avoid colleges with a strong Greek presence. Not all colleges with Greek life have a lot of partying, but there is a strong association between the two. Also do plenty of research on colleges with a big sports scene. Flagship State U’s can have a lot of partying, but it’s important to remember that the types of schools mentioned will also be big enough for kids to find stuff to do that doesn’t involve partying.

Partying is common at some more rural colleges. That could range from a pretty large rural school like U Conn to a small LAC like Kenyon. But again, it’s important to find out what else kids do at these schools. Many of them, including the two I just mentioned, have very high retention rates, which means kids are happy. These schools often have plenty of clubs and events, which keep kids on campus and gives them outlets that don’t involve partying.

FWIW, my D attended a small LAC. It wasn’t rural, but there were plenty of parties. She did so many other things that didn’t involve parties, although, yes, she attended her fair share. If I ask her what she did during her years there, partying would not make the top 5. My son currently attends a mid-sized public U not known for being a big party school, but guess what? He found the parties, haha. That’s the kind of kid he is.

The point is, if kids do or don’t want to party, that’s what they will do. You can guide the process, but frankly, it’s VERY difficult to find a school with no partying. Even colleges known for having very academic students still find ways to have the occasional beer. You can check out U Rochester, Case Western Reserve, and U Chicago for a few colleges that are not high on the raging parties list.

FWIW, a college with a low grade on Niche for the party scene category is probably not going to have high grades for much else. I would avoid those schools. Find schools where no one will care if she doesn’t party. That’s the quality I’d be looking for on Niche. Re the grade for the party scene, I always thought it was very general: there are parties, and the higher the grade, the better the overall quality of the party experience. I definitely don’t think it refers to the number of parties or how many people go to them.

https://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/media/Journal/082-Presley.pdf describes factors associated with college drinking (which is commonly related to partying).

Lower college drinking was associated with:

  • Black and Asian students, and HBC/Us.
  • Women's colleges.
  • Two year colleges.
  • Commuter student living at home.

High college drinking was associated with:

  • Fraternity and sorority participation.
  • Student athletes.
  • Four year colleges.
  • Living in fraternity or sorority house.
  • Smaller colleges.
  • Colleges in Northeast or North Central regions.

Fwiw, I lived in a fraternity for 3.5 years at a North Central four year smaller college and seem to have turned out OK.

Individuals can make choices. And generalizations are just that.

Swarthmore has an A+ overall grade but a C+ for party scene

How do you find this out?

I am not saying there should be “no parties” but my impression is that at a “party school” a significant percentage of the students prioritize parties and those who enjoy academics might not easily find people to share their interests or want to engage in intellectual discussion beyond what was required for classes. A friend (who is a prof) recently told me that her students shy away from appearing “too smart.”

How do you find out?

Ask here! My kids goes to Kenyon and isn’t shy about telling me what goes on. I’m sure you can find someone to answer the same questions for just about any school out there.

You have to click on the ratings and keep clicking. There will be percentages of respondents and you can see the breakdown. One category might be as I listed, another might be “everyone drinks,” or whatever. You have to remember that Niche is based on student reviews, so take it for what it’s worth.

Yes, I am generalizing @RichInPitt . It’s not a judgement.

I wholeheartedly disagree that “students don’t want to appear smart.” Not true at many, many colleges. One prof cannot speak for all colleges. That might be true at some schools, not at others. Certainly not at Kenyon, or other colleges I can think of. Swarthmore, well, if you aren’t smart, you wouldn’t be there in the first place. Kids know that.

Re the C+ rating at Swat. That doesn’t mean they aren’t partying. When my D and I toured Swat, the guide very deliberately pointed out the boxes of free condoms stapled to the walls of the dorm she showed us. Many colleges offer free condoms at the campus health center. Students are partying, having sex, and doing all kinds of things at all kinds of colleges.

You can google lists of party schools. Some of them are very well known. Even then, not all kids are partiers. There will be serious students at almost all colleges. Honors colleges at public U’s will have serious students. There will be incredibly smart and talented kids at little known colleges who are there because they got a full ride, or whatever it might be. By and large, students are able to find their people.

Easiest way is to listen for key hints such as these:

“You didn’t throw up in front of Dean Wormer. You threw up ON Dean Wormer”

“You’re on secret double probation”

“Toga, Toga, Toga”

“My advice to you is to start drinking heavily”

“Fat, Drunk & Stupid is no way to go through life”

Re not wanting to appear too smart - I’m sure you can figure out colleges that apparently don’t value academics too highly from other angles than what niche rates it as for partying? I checked D19’s school out of interest - it’s an A for party scene. It’s certainly not one anyone is too scared to appear too smart at.

Harvard has an overall A+, with an A for its party scene. My kid’s school is also an A+, but has a B for its party scene. Both colleges have smart students who aren’t afraid to appear smart. U Chicago, with its infamous and unofficial slogan “where fun goes to die” even manages to scrape up a B for its party scene.

Again, take Niche ratings with a grain of salt.

Pretty much all big state schools will have an A or an A+ in party scene. Now, I doubt U of Michigan is a place hard to find smart or hard working students. Also some well sought after schools have high grades. MIT and Harvard have an A, UPenn an A+ etc.

Purdue gets an A- for partying… Maybe because there are more STEM kids responding on Niche? Cornell gets an A.

My D is in a sorority at a large southern state flagship with frats, tailgates, and a ‘strip’ of bars etc. It has A+ for party scene on Niche.

Her sorority has grade requirements that everyone must make to be in good standing. Those with 4.0s or on the Dean’s list are celebrated and rewarded. First years have mandatory study halls to ensure grades are maintained. Lots of majors are represented from liberal arts and engineering to education and public relations.

(Note: I wasn’t in a sorority and still have many reservations about the system, but hats off to the chapter at my D’s school for operating a well run program with 350+ girls)

My D isn’t a fan of frat basements and has got a good set of friends from various greek houses, her program and her club sports. Do they get together for a few drinks occasionally? Do they go to tailgates to hangout (pre covid)? Of course… but they are not ‘partiers’ or heavy drinkers.

She said that some of the biggest partiers in both greek life and outside of it, do well academically and in terms of internships and extracurriculars. IOW ‘work hard, play hard’ is alive and well.

There is also a TON to do in her college town, from rec sports, to outdoorsy stuff, to volunteering, a whole theater and arts scene, engineering and robotics, thriving campus religious life, activism and loads more.

I think digging deeper than a ‘rating’ on a website is needed, and then tying that back to your child’s personality and what they want in a college. Never in a million years did I think D would thrive in a large southern state school, in a sorority! But she has.

At most not-small institutions you are not going to befriend the entire student body in any event.
At my school, for the most part, one found their own group of like-minded individuals to hang out with, and proceeded largely with them. A lot of that sorting took place as underclassmen in one’s places of residence .

I imagine even at the so-called “party schools” there are plenty of students who do not “party”, yet still hang out with friends and have a satisfactory social life.

At whatever school you go to there may be plenty of people who you do not like or you have nothing in common with. You don’t hang out with those people. You hang out with people you like. It’s the same in “real life”, after college.

At a very small school, the prevailing campus culture may be more influential and the like-minded individuals may be hard to find if you don’t fit.
But at a larger school, often each subgroup will be represented and sizable enough to form a sufficient network, once you find them.

My D turned down a school in part due to their very party-concentric reputation. She initially attended one not known as a party school, but she found that social life did actually revolve around parties. She transferred to the party school sophomore year. Yes, it was definitely a party school … but she found LOTS to do outside of parties. More than was available at the other school. Ignore the party school stuff, and investigate the types of groups and activities on campus. If there are things to do that interest the student, they will find others who share their interests.