<p>I had this conversation tonight with a friend about the importance of the social life in college in relation to academics. He said that engineers have the right to not have one because of their workload and everyone else should have a decent one.</p>
<p>He also brought up that in today's day and age, unlike yesterday, college undergraduate life is focused more on the social life because that's where many lifelong bonds are created.</p>
<p>I'm in firm agreement with that. However, my friend did not bring up the importance of the degree. I think that if you have a degree, friends will come along with it, knowing that you are more capable of things because you went to college and worked your butt off for it.</p>
<p>Comments are appreciated as I am confused over what choice to make because this is one of the factors.</p>
<p>Your friend is, to put it bluntly, full of hot air.</p>
<p>Think about it. Can you imagine 18 to 22 years olds, anywhere, at any school -- yesterday, today, and tomorrow -- not having fun? It kind of comes with the territory.</p>
<p>Now, what is really sad are kids who fail to take advantage of the opportunity to have fun learning along with fun outside the classroom.</p>
<p>My hope this coming school year is to have a good balance between school and socializing. I've known some people who didn't maintain a balance, and let's just say it had pretty destructive effects... one guy developed depression, another an anxiety disorder. But that's the risk you take when you overwhelm yourself and not have a good social support system. Def. not a risk I want to take.</p>
<p>So... Here comes the 1 to the 2 to the 3... e'er body in da club getting tips. :)</p>
<p>There is too much emphasis on grades and academics. Please, do yourself a favor- study the career market and society as a whole. Social skills are very important. Yes, I will say it- looks are very important. Do not neglect your physical appearance, ever. Speaking ability and speech patterns matter. If you have a regional or ethnic accent- it matters. Be aware of this. Class differences matter. Educate yourself. There will be people at college with a poverty background, and others who are wealthy. You have to relate to them all as normal, take it in stride. Read a couple of books on careers and interviewing early on- maybe during the summer after freshman year.</p>
<p>Every major - including engineers, can and deserve to have a social life. Two engineers that were in my fraternity were among the biggest partiers in the house. (Of course one is now in law school and the other getting an MBA - so I'm not sure how good of engineers they are.)</p>
<p>One of the best ways for all you freshman wondering how you will maintain the balance is just split the week up. Work hard Sunday through Wednesday night, and play hard Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. So long as you don't let the play encroach on the work portions (it's okay for work to encroach on play on occassion) then you'll likely be pretty close to where you need to be in terms of balance.</p>
<p>Part of the reason you pick a college is for the degree, yes, but also to make connections at college so it is easier for you to get a job after. If you can relate to an employer because you both went to the same college that is great, but interviews may go better if you both did the same stuff at college or went to the same event.</p>
<p>I disagree with interesteddad, although not really with the point he's making. Rather, I think the availability of a social scene should be considered. Sure, the University of Chicago has a reputation for study hard, play seldom. However, the students also have Chicago nearby. Compare to it to a place like Duke or Colby (no offence to students/alums), and there's not a lot to do on campus or off campus, relatively speaking. A social scene is rather stilted if it revolves entirely around drinking and partying, in my opinion.</p>