I am a good student (3.7 unweighted GPA, 32 on ACT) and I am looking to go to a good academic school. However, I really want to avoid the party scene. It doesn’t have to be a school like BYU where it’s so strict. Just a school where partying and drugs are not as much of a problem as they are elsewhere. Any suggestions?
Every school has some level of partying. A good idea might be to look for colleges that have freshmen wellness dorms so you can meet some like-minded students.
School characteristics that tend to be associated with more alcohol consumption and problems include small size, rural location, northeast or north central region, fraternities/sororities. Women’s schools, historically black schools, and commuter schools tend to have lower alcohol consumption. Racial composition may matter, since there is a general tendency of black and Asian people in the US to drink less alcohol than white people. Of course, individual schools may vary from these trends.
In a very general sense, if you search for schools that minimize or have no Greek life, that will cut down on the partying. Also, you might look for schools that de-emphasize competitive sports. These are not hard and fast rules, by any means, but that’s the strategy we have pursued for my daughter who is not interested in partying but is also not strongly religious.
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Also urban schools can be good as there are many activities in a city which don’t involve partying.
I’d second urban schools. I go to one, and there is a bit of partying here-but I’ve never seen it and it’s not what the campus is known for. There’s much more to do around here, so people are talking about that rather than parties.
“School characteristics that tend to be associated with more alcohol consumption and problems include small size, rural location, northeast or north central region, fraternities/sororities.” (Post 2)
As a set of defining characteristics, that’s not how I would describe the following schools if considered as a group. (However, “alcohol” does not equate with “party” and PR’s methodology is shaky.)
Princeton Review’s “Top 10 Party Schools”
- UICC
- UIowa
- UW-Madison
- Bucknell
- Syracuse
- UC-SB
- West Virginia
- UGeorgia
- Tulane
- Colgate
As noted, there are exceptions.
But also, note that at large schools, a non-partier is more likely to find a quieter cohort at the school, even if the party cohort is large. When I went to school, there were fraternities and sororities whose membership in total was larger than the entire enrollment at some of the small LACs that get discussed here. But that membership was only a small percentage of the school, so there were plenty of non-partiers and non-party activities. I.e. the party scene may be large in an absolute sense at a large school, but it is not likely to completely dominate the social scene.
Are you female? Look at Mount Holyoke. Solid academics, gorgeous campus, fun but with a bit more seriousness of purpose than a lot of other colleges. Part of a consortium for additional academic or social opportunities.
good luck! there are very few schools that do not have a “party” scene. you want a school that has no pressure to be part of it.
correction: UIUC (#6).
Any school can be a party school if you want to party and vice versa. I would agree with post #7 that finding non-partiers at a big school would be easier since you’ll have more subgroups to choose from at at a large school and it will be less likely to be dominated by the Greek scene.
At my very large campus, there was even a large non-partying crowd within my sorority.
I didn’t make myself clear enough in my question. I understand that parties are everywhere. I am just looking for a school that is not notorious for partying. Somewhere where parties don’t completely dominate the social scene.
University of Chicago, where fun goes to die!
If you’re ok with a religious school, check out places like Pepperdine, it’s a dry campus
I’m not looking for a place with no fun. I just don’t want to go to a school that is a rave. I guess on the party scale I am looking for something in the 25th-75th percentile.
Re: Party schools - I went to grad school at UCSB, which is in the top 10 for party schools. All you had to do to avoid the party scene was stay out of Isla Vista. I would imagine that a sub free dorm would accomplish similar. Yes, I still made friends, had fun, and was able to go out drinking and dancing when I felt like it. Living in SB proper meant a nicer house, a better landlord, quiet environs for studying or sleeping, etc.
That would, by definition, include most schools. Edited to add that I’m not trying to be snarky about this, but the majority of schools fit your definition - people can suggest pretty much anything. Additional details about what you might like in a college would be helpful.
And even schools that are known for their party scene tend to be large schools where you can easily avoid parties if you don’t want to participate.
Baylor And pepperdine
Rural schools & schools with tons of Greek Life usually have the most partying.
I applied to Eastern Nazarene, a Christian school. It’d probably be a safety for you, but partying isn’t allowed.