Some schools (many larger) actually have parties seven nights a week. They tend to be the less “studious”. Not implying they don’t have smart kids but are generally less rigorous. The work hard play hard schools are extremely rigorous. Even the partiers buckle down and spend lots of time doing school work but then have a blast on the weekends.
I think it’s more of a differentiator between top academic schools (work hard/ play hard vs. work hard with little party life)
than top schools vs larger universities.
What you want to avoid is the play hard / play hard where students don’t take their education seriously.
I think all students at top schools work hard. Students at MIT and CalTech work really hard. Play hard? Just look left and right on a visit to campus. Parties and popular varsity sports. Skiing and sailing in some places. Clubbing in big cities.
That said, any school that needs to claim that they "work hard, play hard’ probably doesn’t have much going on socially. I think the students at these schools are happy but they feel the need to talk up the social/free time scene.
It means living with gusto and a culture of some intensity,. It requires recognizing that your college life requires your active participation in both academics and other aspects of your life. For some that means heavy drinking and partying, for some that means intense athletics, involvement in the arts, involvement in journalism, involvement in government, involvement in community service and social justice.
Sorry, I’d love to believe the people who attribute some meaning other than just “drink a lot” to the “play hard” part of the slogan. But in my world, “work hard / play hard” invariably means a social culture of heavy drinking (and maybe other substances, too), along with demanding academics.
Of course, a college with a social culture of heavy drinking may also have students who passionately pursue things like hiking, skiing, or sailing, with or without heavy drinking. Kids at urban colleges may go to museums (usually without heavy drinking) or to clubs to dance (usually with heavy something). That’s not inconsistent with “work hard / play hard.” No college is monolithic socially. But absent clear evidence to the contrary, I will continue to translate “work hard / play hard” as meaning there’s a whole lotta drinking going on somewhere.
It really strains credulity to suggest that anyone uses “work hard / play hard” to describe a place mainly characterized by people engaging passionately in extracurriculars like the school paper or tutoring at risk youth. Nope.
Another in the camp who think ‘work hard/play hard’ equates to heavy drinking and/or drug use and/or partying on the ‘play hard’ side. D19 and her friends also define it like that.
When used in the context of college, I agree it means drinking/partying. After college, I think of it differently - it’s actually a phrase my husband and I use for ourselves! We tend to put in LONG hours (all nighters), but then we take extended vacations. Sometimes we work all weekend and then take off during the week, too.
@JHS I had friends at Harvard who used to drop LSD before heading off to the art museum - but most people didn’t! I didn’t know anyone who partied at clubs, not even at the finals clubs. There were quite a few dances in the Houses (with alchohol), and lower key parties (with alcohol and pot) in dorm rooms.
@mathmom I think those were the old days. I don’t think they can have officially sanctioned parties in the Houses with alcohol anymore. Same at Yale – I drank an incredible amount of officially sanctioned booze in those days of 18-year-old drinking age and loosey-goosey risk management. My college had a “Master’s Tea” every Wednesday afternoon in the Master’s residence at which the main beverage was a giant silver punchbowl of whiskey sour and the Master’s wife occasionally sang naughty songs from the 1920s. It was truly a different era. It doesn’t happen now.
By the way, notwithstanding Harvard’s reputation for insufficient social life, one of the best college parties I ever went to was a party in some House or other the night before the Harvard-Yale game in 1974.
I don’t think LSD at the art museum factors into a work hard / play hard reputation at all. That’s more, well, hippy-dippy.
When we toured Vandy in '01 for S, the tour guide used that phrase. I think at that time it may have had some connection to the strong Greek culture. Since implementing the residential college system, the Greek system has weakened somewhat and I don’t think of Vanderbilt in terms of being a party school as much as it used to be. Even back in the '70s when ex-H attended, there was a strong work hard ethic. One of his hallmates who had been an elementary school classmate of mine, was skipping a football game one Saturday while I was visiting in lieu of quiet time on the hall to get some studying done. Like 1214mom, I think it means different things to different people.
That phrase is used regarding Wisconsin. It means students need to, and do, study hard before playing. Being a large liberal school it did not mean all or even most did the hard core partying. Minimal Greek presence as well so whatever they do does not reflect campus culture. I also think incoming freshmen think about the partying at first but then settle down once they have tried it and exams/papers come along.
Schools can have a party reputation but also have a campus culture where studying hard is a recognized fact of the experience. Not places where “fun comes to die”. Disagree with post #21 about social life. It is not the school, but rather outside viewers who give the schools reputations. It could be only a small percentage, but at large schools that can be a noticeable number.
So- if your kid wants to go to UW (Madison) don’t worry that they will do the partying. Do know the campus culture does encourage studying first. Intensity.
My husband and I are both Badgers. I have never ever heard anyone describe UW as work hard/play hard. Yes we did both but it does exist so there is no need to brag about it.
Sorry Cardinal Fang but you must have missed sailing on Lake Mendota, biking to Devil’s Lake or skiing when you visited. The snowball fights on Bascom Hill are fun but that might include drinking.
There is a major university near me that uses the term work hard/play hard to describe itself at every tour and all over CC. They have ONE party a year.
I’m in the set that thinks it means “heavy drinking frat-boy style” not that you need to have frats around for that kind of hard partying.
If the website Niche reviews said “work hard play hard” or “work hard play harder” that sort of thing, we scratched that school off of our lists. Partying was not what our kids were seeking in a school.
@MaterS – Niche review (which collect reviews of the students themselves ) 66% of the students said that UW was “work hard play hard” – that was the biggest factor of all. The next was “smart and sociable” at 25% and “diligent” at 5%.
UVM on the other hand, doesn’t mention WHPH at all, but rather “active in something” 30%; “A mix of students with diverse interests” at 20%; ski bum at 16% and so on.
I also take it to mean a top school where the kids have to “work hard” to maintain their grades, and then they “play hard” by excessive partying. I don’t think it’s bad to go that type of school, you have to have the right kind of kid who can deal with that kind of lifestyle. My younger son sort of fits this mold, my older one does not have interest in working hard or partying hard.
“My college had a “Master’s Tea” every Wednesday afternoon in the Master’s residence at which the main beverage was a giant silver punchbowl of whiskey sour and the Master’s wife occasionally sang naughty songs from the 1920s. It was truly a different era. It doesn’t happen now.”
Then you need to go to Oxbridge colleges (though it would be the boat club/rugby club singing the naughty songs). Most social events are still centered on alcohol, and it’s generally of high quality at official functions (the advantage of a well stocked wine cellar). I’m still in awe of the $140 per bottle 30 year old dessert wine we were served at my reunion this summer.
Oh look! Here is an article about the top “Work hard, play hard” schools. The picture at the top shows a woman holding a drink, so we can have no doubt about what “play hard” means in this context. And here is what they have to say about the University of Wisconsin. https://education.media/work-hard-play-harder-the-top-party-schools-in-america
Hmmm. “Lots of beer.” Doesn’t say anything about sailing, biking, or skiing.
A Google search with the search terms “work hard play hard university of wisconsin” leaves no doubt that the “play hard” part means drinking, and moreover that the University of Wisconsin has the reputation of plenty of beer drinking.