<p>The title is self explanatory. Anyone feel free to comment.</p>
<p>The Chicago club scene sucks oO It's expensive, full of lecherous old men, and boring. I would be very suprised if a lot of UC students went at all.</p>
<p>If nobody else does, I'll join you at da clubz next year cdog.</p>
<p>I understand from my under 21 D that the club scene is mostly over 21, unlike, say, Boston, where there are tons of clubs that cater to younger students. </p>
<p>So unless you have a fake ID, you may have a tough time. FWIW, Chicago's singles scene has always been oriented to the late 20s early 30s crowd, probably because so many young professionals settle on the north side and there are so many jobs for them in the loop. It has never been a great college town in the traditional sense, because college students make up such a relatively small part of the population, and are so spread out. Consider that all the larger colleges, UofC, UIC, DePaul, Loyola and Northwestern are each miles from each other. Not much mixing, very little interaction, no x-registration. Contrast that with places like Boston or the area around U Mass in the Connecticut river valley. These two places share library resources, have x-registration and such.</p>
<p>You'd need an excellent fake ID to get in to clubs before you're 21, and most clubs are very expensive. It's not that big a scene.</p>
<p>I think it's not what you mean, but I know lots of students take advantage of the pretty vibrant indie rock scene at clubs around the city. Expense and 21+ are often issues, although a number of places will admit 19-year-olds, I think, but not of course let them drink. I haven't heard about lecherous old men, but I have heard complaints about 30-somethings who are sloppy drunks and bad dancers.</p>
<p>JHS, I think if you are 19 years old, 30-somethings who are sloppy drunks and bad dancers ARE lecherous old men....</p>
<p>Not if they are women, or men who are there with their girlfriends/boyfriends/spouses. This was a hipster grousing about the un-hip, not a young woman complaining about being hit on by the unattractive.</p>
<p>When I was at UChicago on my overnight, one of my host's friends was planning to go clubbing soon. She and and another friend were choosing outfits.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Not if they are women, or men who are there with their girlfriends/boyfriends/spouses. This was a hipster grousing about the un-hip, not a young woman complaining about being hit on by the unattractive.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>This has squat to do with attractiveness. Chicago is a big city and you get certain undesireables in clubs. People following you around, psuedo-sexual predators, older men looking for a lay. It is NOT a friendly college club scene, take it from someone who lives in/by Chicago. </p>
<p>If you're that hard up for girls or booze or whatever, fine go. But otherwise I'd advise people to look for something else to do because I give Chicago clubs a big, red F.</p>
<p>Are you talking about the ghetto house that comes from Chicago? I don't think many UofChi students do that stuff. I may be wrong.</p>
<p>Thanx for all of the feedback everyone. I know that the U of C is known for being extremely studious but I just know that there has to be a few groups on campus who like to party. I mean how do people unwind after studying so much?</p>
<p>The few frats are popular and do a good job of managing the party scene. They coordinate well enough that there is usually something going on every weekend and a couple of days during the midweek. However, they definitely draw a limited crowd past the first years who come one and all, but some people like them a lot. </p>
<p>The problem with the downtown clubs, 21+ aside, it basically about cost. They are not really meant to be college venues and hence you pay for the high end ambiance, while you likewise incur huge transportation costs coming back since you have pretty much have to take a taxi (I would not ride the red line / bus combo late at night if intoxicated). </p>
<p>The indie rock thing is big with the hipster / retro / groupie crowd, which is larger at Chicago than about any other elite school.</p>
<p>Candidly, though, there are a lot of people who just don't go to traditional parties in the stereotypical college sense. I would say "party" for about half the student body at the most means 10 people in an apartment trading stories and having a beer or two over dinner. This works out because there are enough people living off campus with kitchens and so forth.</p>
<p>There are large frat parties, apartment parties, and dorm parties (usually in the Shoreland for big groups). Beyond that students tend to hang out in smaller groups. It's not unusual for a group of 5-6 to drink together in someone's room. Any rules against alcohol in the dorms are ignored and never enforced, so many students have alcohol in their rooms--sometimes a lot of it. Some frat parties have pretty good dancing, if that's what you're interested in. If you're talking about fun away from the drinking scene, many students go downtown at night for a movie or show or something like that. The city of Chicago shuts down pretty early at night, though, and the party scene only starts going around 11:30, so there's usually time to do both if you want.</p>
<p>There are also lots of groups who have sober fun at night. They go downtown, go to Doc films, play video games, hang out in someone's room, or whatever else.</p>
<p>U of C students are pretty low-key when it comes to socializing, meaning that you'll find whatever you want and people who want to do it with you pretty easily, but you won't find a lot of people who take partying seriously. The parties I have gone to place much more emphasis on socializing and much less emphasis on drinking than the Animal House stereotype, so it's a comfortable environment for people who don't drink or drink moderately.</p>
<p>To be honest, I think just plain drinking gets really old really fast. I'm happy that there are as many other options as there are.</p>