The upper class men at Purdue prefer Harry’s Chocolate Shop after a hard week of studying. 
Can you define party? Are you referring to large events, or to smaller intimate gatherings? The range is wide and the opportunities to have “fun” are varied. I don’t really understand the appeal of big keg parties but sitting around with friends who may or may not be imbibing, smoking, whatever, can be nice. One of mine cannot “party” and drink due to a medical condition/Rx but went to plenty of small gatherings where some of the others were drinking, but not to excess, and had a good time, good friends.
I think at a large U there tend to be more diversity, it would be easier to find one’s tribe. At my kids’ 13K students school, people can go to fraternity parties, get together with friends to play video games, go to dance recitals or go to libraries on weekends. When I went to a small 2500 students school, social life was a lot more limited. We all ate at the same dining hall, went to the same parties and lectures/recitals. I ended up partying quite a bit the first few years. It is why I don’t necessary think small schools are better for non-partiers or shy students.
@oldfort , maybe, but my shy, non-partying student seems to be plenty busy at her small LAC. There are plenty of LACs where there is a lot of partying, and plenty of universities where partying isn’t so dominant.
Oh my goodness, the party scene was alive and well at Purdue - at least back in the 80’s.
There is definitely a party scene at UF but there are plenty of academics-mostly types too.
I had a friend tell me UF was way too much of a party scene for our son. We just haven’t seen a problem with it.
I think the party scene is important to people. Take my kids.
Child #1-An introvert, but social. Likes people, likes to be around people but needs time alone also. Prefers social situations that are smaller in nature. Prefers to have close friends. Did not want a school where every social contact came at a giant party like our state universities (Florida). He did drink in college and he did attend parties but he was at Case Western where the party scene was just smaller than the huge universities. Pledged a dry fraternity (which doesn’t mean they don’t drink). Most parties were within walking distance of campus. For the few things they did that were downtown they used Uber/Lyft to get around.
Child #2-An extrovert, totally social and LOVES to be with people. However he hates large, impersonal situations that he considers forced. Hates them. Like his older brother he prefers social situations that are more intimate. He currently attends a dry school (Belmont U) but lived off campus last year. Likes to drink/party but only with close friends. Since most of his friends are off campus parties are somewhat limited in size. He attends parties but again, it isn’t FSU/FL with the huge social scene. Uber/Lyft are pretty cheap in Nashville so cost of getting to/from parties without having to drive is not an issue.
Child #3-Much like child #1 is a very social introvert. Likes people but prefers to forge relationships with people, not just to have them around as background noise. He will be attending Haverford College in the fall where I think there is an active party scene, but since the school is so small parties are also small. Did not want the huge State U party scene. He will probably drink in college but right now drinking is not a big part of his life. He will have a beer at home with us but he doesn’t do a lot of drinking. As far as I know most Haverford parties are on campus so drinking/driving will not be an issue. He does have an Uber account.
All 3 kids avoided HS parties. Both of the older ones do attend parties in college. They do drink but alcohol is not the central focus of their social life. It was important to all of them that they attend schools where they could engage in some social situations that did not involve alcohol. None of them wanted a big party school.
As far as I can tell there are plenty of kids who attend party U but still manage to graduate with a degree. I think it is a perfectly reasonable thing to consider when choosing a school
My daughter has no interest in traditional off campus parties. She does attend small social gatherings held by friends in her clubs.
She had no interest in HS parties and wanted to avoid that scene in college… but as with all schools… it’s there if you want it.
I attended a large state U and while there were definitely lots of parties, I don’t know anyone who felt the need to party all of the time. I went to visit HS friends at their colleges, I went with roommates to visit their HS friends and their colleges, I visited boyfriends’ sisters and their colleges, all large and small and parties to be found at all of them. I have a friend who went (and graduated from) Liberty University and managed to find the party scene. If you can party there, you can party anywhere.
I do wonder what people think when they choose (or don’t choose) a college based on its party reputation only to discover that it doesn’t live up to expectations.
Most college students are constrained by cost or admission and attend as commuters. Factors other than academics and cost are probably of minimal to no consideration for them.
When most parents/students express concern/worries about schools labeled as “party schools” what they usually mean IME are schools with campus cultures where heavy alcohol consumption is the main part of those parties/socialization and heartily embraced. One recent example of this is the tragedy at one of Penn State’s fraternity pledge nights.
They’re not worried about dorm/college parties where the main feature have no alcohol or at least don’t make it the main feature like I’ve read/seen firsthand on campuses where such “party school” campus cultures exist.
Personally, I was of the view that college wasn’t the right time/place to go party hearty…especially in light of what happened to an older cousin whose emphasis on his fraternity/beer/partying over academic obligations brought him to the brink of disciplinary/academic suspension multiple times at a Big-10 school sometime in the '80s.
I also felt it made no sense to attend a “party school” considering the expense involved(especially at private schools) and the fact one will be “distracted” by academic obligations.
In my 17 year old college freshman mind, if one wants to embrace partying and has the funds…just take a gap year and go bar hopping every few days/every day. Unless one hits the most exclusive/ritzy bars/clubs…one will likely still have some of that full-pay tuition money left over at the end.
Also, I was of the mind I have the rest of my life to embrace “partying” of this type without risking underage drinking legal issues and not being around a large pool of immature undergrad classmates. Especially those who lack self-control or use the occasion to engage in anti-social or worse…violently criminal behavior. .
Then again, as an undergrad and even now, my favorite parties aren’t parties of the “party school” type described above. IMO, a great party is one where there’s a ginormous banquet/buffet of FREE delectable food fit for the likes of King Kong, Godzilla and company, etc.
If there was a college campus which had THAT as parties…sign me up!
@cobrat Didn’t you attend Oberlin? (I might be mistaken, if so, forgive me) I had two fellow graduates back in the 80s who went to Oberlin for a year - and came home because they DID find the party scene and flunked out. But, they were in the music program which might be a different subset of people. If you’ve seen “American Pie” that phrase “One time, at band camp …” really isn’t far off the mark, at least in my personal band geek experiences.
But, yes, people do equate Greek with party scene. But, the wildest parties I ever attended in college weren’t at fraternity houses, they were in dorms, at a house filled with engineering students (think “Animal House” meets “Jack**s”) that was behind us, and band parties.
Personally, I like a good party every now and then but I never was one who enjoyed drinking to the point of losing control or of watching other people make complete idiots of themselves. And, if you find that ginormous buffet of free delectable food, sign me up as well, especially if chocolate is involved!
Oberlin Conservatory is full of serious, disciplined, highly talented musicians who have worked hard for many years to get into one of the most prestigious and excellent conservatories anywhere. (I have no personal connection to.)
They’d be the extreme aberrations…especially if alcohol was involved as back when I attended Oberlin and according to older alums who attended in the '80s, alcohol was considered a vice for older generations who were members of the “establishment”…in short the opposite of “cool”. Being found to enjoy alcohol like those of the heavy drinking “party schools” tended to get one regarded as an “old establishment fogey” or worse, a “bourgeois capitalist tool”.
The preferred vice of choice for students who were so inclined were weed and psychedelics. Not exactly drugs for the partying set…especially considering heavy users who ended up getting stoned/tripping tended to keep to themselves and not get loud, in your face/act belligerent/leave vomit behind as opposed to those who heavily partake in alcohol at “party schools”.
It’s even more of an aberration among Con students as the workload and level of competition in some departments(notably Piano*) is such that those who prioritize partying over Con academics will fall by the wayside more quickly than would be the case at the college.
- The piano department was notorious for the keen competitiveness among its students...especially considering it was encouraged by some of the Profs. This was likely one key factor in why many students switch to other Con majors if they could or switch out and finish with a degree from the college as so many including Michelle Malkin ('92) did.
Engineering students can and do party wild and join the fraternity scene if one’s available.
Just look at MIT to an extent or URochester(relative and several alum friends/colleagues recounted how the wildest parties/fraternities are ones which were mostly populated by engineering/CS majors).
When I was in graduate school, it was the dental school that put on the wild parties. Once or twice a semester they’d have a 3 day wild event (must have been near their midterms), put up flyers about it, invite the whole campus (professional schools - law, medicine, pharmacy, nursing, social work, dental). At graduation, we all walked up and picked up our diplomas, but the dental school had a good 5 minutes of confetti, streamers, poppers, whooping and hollering.
We don’t know what went on in the dental school to make it so necessary to break out.
@ucbalumnus I am definitely going to have to disagree with you there, I do not think “most students” commute
Statistics say otherwise, that most do commute, but that’s counting all students at community colleges, part time, adult learners. If you only count freshmen 18 year olds, then no most don’t commute but if you count all students, more than half do.