<p>Not that this is a top priority of mine or anything, but if you had to list the ivies from best to worst in terms of social life, what would your list be??</p>
<p>Bump 10char</p>
<p>^ I've seen a lot of people say that this college is "social" or that college is "no fun at all", but I don't think such labels are appropriate. At every college there will be some kids who like going to parties and being sociable along side some kids who shut themselves in their dorms. Every school is going to have some of each group. I think your social experience is dependent upon you, not the school. At any school you go to you'll have the choice of where to go, who to hang out with, etc. You make your own social life, not the college.</p>
<p>Each of the ivy schools has thousands of students. Describing the social lives of thousands of students as a whole is not possible.</p>
<p>You might find some useful information contained in this thread:</p>
<p>Some have written about the social life at Harvard:</p>
<p>**Class of 2006 Dissatisfied with Advising, Social Experience</p>
<p>As social life marks heat up, seniors still lukewarm on concentration advising**</p>
<p>Published On 10/19/2006 3:48:28 AM
By ALEXANDER D. BLANKFEIN
Crimson Staff Writer</p>
<p>Despite the Colleges recent efforts to improve the undergraduate experience, members of the Class of 2006 said that overall, they were less than satisfied with their advising and social experiences. This continues a three-year trend of dissatisfaction among undergraduates. </p>
<p>The</a> Harvard Crimson :: News :: Class of 2006 Dissatisfied with Advising, Social Experience</p>
<p>This one is from The Boston Globe:</p>
<p>"Student life at Harvard lags peer schools, poll finds"</p>
<p>By Marcella Bombardieri, Boston Globe Staff</p>
<p>Student satisfaction at Harvard College ranks near the bottom of a group of 31 elite private colleges, according to an analysis of survey results that finds that Harvard students are disenchanted with the faculty and social life on campus.</p>
<ol>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>U Penn</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
</ol>
<p>I have heard that all of the Ivies offer good social life options. It is partly what makes them so desirable - networking is a valuable part of the experience.</p>
<p>I am going to say Harvard simply because it is in Greater Boston which is shared with MIT,BU,NEU,Tufts</p>
<ol>
<li>Dartmouth (most active, yet very laid back with little pretension. Good fun)</li>
<li>Princeton (almost as active as D, but preppier and less friendly)</li>
<li>Penn (most active scene, but also can be pre-professional and "jappy".) </li>
</ol>
<p>drop</p>
<ol>
<li>Brown (Laid back like Dartmouth, but not as active and more "cliquey")</li>
<li>Yale (small percentage of the student body goes out, but those that do have fun)</li>
<li>Cornell (same as Yale)</li>
</ol>
<p>drop</p>
<ol>
<li>Harvard (Incredibly cliquey, no main gathering place, not a cohesive social scene)</li>
<li>Columbia (no real campus life (compared to the rest), no house parties, few all campus parties)</li>
</ol>
<p>slipper hit it dead on for the most part. </p>
<p>I can attest to the columbia statement. what turned me off was the lack of cohesion between students, as in nobody stopped to say "hey watsup?" or "are you going to that party tonight?". Everybody was just doing their own thing, which can be a good or bad thing, depending on what you're looking for.</p>
<p>Slipper: </p>
<p>How on earth did you discern that only a small percentage of the Cornell student body goes out? I must have been fooled by the 30 percent of the campus that is Greek and the thriving independent party and bar scene throughout Collegetown. </p>
<p>Putting Cornell below Brown and Yale makes no sense.</p>
<p>Cayuga- to be honest I don't see that a big of a difference between the level of social activity at Cornell, Yale, and Brown. I would say based on what I've heard and seen Cornell has the highest percentage of people that don't go out, but conversely since its the biggest Ivy, the 30-40% who do go out make up for it.</p>
<p>going to an ivy will destroy your social life. for example kids and mit study all the time. the social scene is so lame at the ivies its just pathetic.</p>
<p>"the social scene is so lame at the ivies its just pathetic."</p>
<p>I guess playing some pong for a "study break" makes us pretty lame then.</p>
<p>Now...relative to the SEC colleges or some other school with an all out social scene...</p>
<p>From what I have seen, from a social standpoint, you can devide the Ivies into 3 groups:</p>
<p>VERY SOCIAL:
Cornell University
Darmouth College
University of Pennsylvania</p>
<p>SOCIAL:
Brown University
Princeton University
Yale University</p>
<p>NOT AS SOCIAL:
Columbia University
Harvard University</p>
<p>Very Social for ivy standards = occasional moments of break from studying and talking with friends</p>
<p>^^Or maybe it's end of the year parties like the ones Cornell and Penn put on for their students where it's basically a few days of non stop drunken craziness?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Cayuga- to be honest I don't see that a big of a difference between the level of social activity at Cornell, Yale, and Brown. I would say based on what I've heard and seen Cornell has the highest percentage of people that don't go out, but conversely since its the biggest Ivy, the 30-40% who do go out make up for it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The social scene at Cornell compared to Yale and Brown is very distinct. Whereas the later two feel like overgrown liberal arts colleges, the former has much more of a state-school mentality when it comes to parties and social life.</p>
<p>I also think there is a need to discuss absolute numbers as opposed to relative at numbers. Sure, at Cornell there may be 20-30 percent of the population that doesn't party, but at the same time you have 8,000 kids all pursuing different types of very active social scenes. As a result, Cornell can offer a much more diverse and engaged social scene than most of the other, smaller schools.</p>
<p>I would agree with Alexandre's tiers.</p>
<p>Great posts, you guys! One additional question: how about upper-tier non-ivies like Georgetown, UChicago, Vandy, and MIT?</p>
<p>I find it very interesting that Columbia and Harvard get such a bad rapp, is it really that bad? I mean if I go to Columbia or Harvard, will I not find any parties on the weekend? Also I am just curious how you guys would rate Stanford and Wash U.</p>