<p>What is the Social Life at Columbia like? I've heard from various people that students at Columbia are "socially agressive, not there to make friends and just get there business done." How much of this is truth? Also, how much is actually getting to know people and hanging out vs. going to a bar and getting wasted on friday. What is the typical Friday or Saturday night like?</p>
<p>friday and weekends are mostly out to bars; theres not much to do on campus</p>
<p>I think Columbia has a thriving social scene on campus. There are many ways to get to meet people, starting off with orientation. I was an RA for two years and one of my principal jobs was to bring the suitemates together. I organized intramural basketball and volleyball, which was a blast! During the week, there are many functions on campus that will also allow you to meet and interact with students. Of course, IMHO the best way to improve your social life would be to join clubs, etc and get active on campus.</p>
<p>As far as students being "socially aggressive," I don't believe that is really true. Sure, there are intense folks on campus, but most of my friends and many people I knew were laid back just like myself. </p>
<p>Ultimately, your experience will be determined by YOU. If you are the type of person who gets intimidated by meeting people and getting involved, then you will probably struggle to have an enjoyable social experience.</p>
<p>Its OKAY. Its not a true campus based social experience like most of the other Ivies, but its no NYU either.</p>
<p>can anyone tell me about the dancing scene at columbia? are there salsa dancers?</p>
<p>more like thursday friday and saturday.
sunday alot of people choose to stay sober since monday's a school day and even though we got some crazy party type people, this is still an academic oriented institution..</p>
<p>
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are there salsa dancers?
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lol where did this come from?</p>
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What is the typical Friday or Saturday night like?
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<p>There's nothing "typical." That's the thing about Columbia.</p>
<p>@ biggyboy:
it's just a hobby of mine.. and i wish there were people to share my interests?? lol</p>
<p>there's a latin dance group called "Sabor" and they do salsa, meringue, etc.</p>
<p>the dance team has instruction classes with all kinds of dance. I got talked into learning tango last spring, for example.</p>
<p>In my first few weeks here, somebody told me "Enjoy the weekends now. Once classes really get going, you will almost never get to go out." He was right. I use weekends to study and sleep. FYI--I'm a sophomore in SEAS and taking 6 classes and I bit off more than I could chew.</p>
<p>VERY community driven party/ social Ivies: Princeton, Dartmouth
Lots of partying, less community: Penn, Brown
Parties on the weekends but not everyone hangs out: Yale, Cornell
Somewhat social Ivy but cliquey: Harvard
More small group based social experience/ bar scene: Columbia</p>
<p>hahah thats so funny! i love slipper1234's comment! i'm applying to penn woo party!</p>
<p>uh, yeah. "woo party".</p>
<p>most everyone at columbia has a social life. anyone who wants to find a party can find one. the difference is that they are smaller and there's more of them - i've only seen one party in my time there that was Animal House / Old School sized, and that was a halloween party that took over an entire dorm and caused not just the cops but the fire dept to show up (at 4am, mind you). most parties are smaller, cozier affairs, where your friends' friends bring their friends and you try to not get busted by an RA. some buildings (and RAs) are more conducive to it than others.</p>
<p>most people's social lives are very custom-tailored and personal, there's no "typical party scene" or circuit that everyone-who's-anyone goes to. you get friends and you hang out with them. pretty basic really.</p>
<p>i think denzera pretty much nailed it. you'll find whatever you're looking for. there are frats, bars, and dorms. basically, you have options.</p>
<p>We have apparently gone wild. I had no idea half this stuff was even happening on campus...?</p>
<p>wow interesting article ;). Anyway, how much truth is there in the "no dating, just hookups" statement?</p>
<p>that's a lot of BS. If the Daily News told me the sun would rise in the east tomorrow, i'd get up to check.</p>
<p>As at 99% of colleges, if all you're looking for is a hookup, you can find one - especially if you're female. For many columbia kids, that's not their thing, they'd rather leave that to the Duke lacrosse team (ZING!)</p>
<p>And as for the article, the guy doesn't know the first thing he's talking about. In no particular order:</p>
<ul>
<li>CV is the biggest bunch of pathetic lamers I or two of my close friends have ever seen. Right idea, terrible execution - it's hardly the "Club Vandersex" scene from Eurotrip.</li>
<li>Columbia-sponsored awareness events, like Sexhibition or anything done by [url=<a href="http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/%5DAlice%5B/url">http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/]Alice[/url</a>], tend to be more "sex-positive" than truly erotic. Half of it is free backrubs, and the other half is like high school health class except they give you condoms.</li>
<li>A girlfriend of mine is fairly dialed into the scene the article tries to describe - she's on the Fed, throws lingerie parties, etc - and says this article is a stupid oversimplification.</li>
</ul>
<p>and so forth. Look, if you're offended by notions of sexuality, you probably shouldn't live in New York in the first place, but it's hardly an orgy down here.</p>
<p>I don't think there's any less dating here than there is at any other school.</p>
<p>Edit: Denzera's right. I think it must've been a slow gossip week so they just decided to bash the smart kids uptown.</p>