How's the social life at Drexel? (Current Students/Alumni only, no unqualified opinions)

<p>I am thinking about attending Drexel next year. My choices are between that, Rutgers, Villanova, and Lehigh. I am going to be studying Computer Science with one co-op (although I am possibly going to change to three co-ops). I have heard great things about job placement and education for computer science here. However, I am also worried that I will not have a "true" college experience. Drexel is an unorthodox campus, if it can be called a campus at all, so obviously I am worried that I won't be going to college at all, but instead a series of buildings with college level campuses.</p>

<p>How are the parties, social events, etc.? Are people generally friendly? How is the girl/guy ratio? It's coming down to crunch-time for choosing a college, and I want to make sure I choose a college that fits all of my needs. </p>

<p>Hey doncable, I’m a freshman at Drexel right now so I figure my experiences should help give you some relavent information.</p>

<p>Before I specifically answer any of your questions, I want to comment on your idea that you’d miss the college experience because of Drexel’s campus set-up. I live on-campus right now, and honestly, I think living in the city gives you so much more access to a lot of things that my friends at non-city schools tell me their colleges lack. That being said, it’s not for everyone. I grew up in a rural-suburb area, so 18 years of woods and not-being-able-to-get-anyplace-without-driving was more than enough to make me want to move to a city, and so far, I’ve really enjoyed living in Philadelphia. </p>

<p>To answer your questions more specifically:
Parties: We’re not Penn-State or Temple, but parties aren’t really hard to come by or anything either. Drexel isn’t the type of place you’ll see on the news because of parties getting out of hand. If you’re looking for schools that get that crazy, I’d encourage you to look elsewhere. If you’re looking for a college where you work during the week and can wind down and party on the weekends, Drexel’s a good choice. Greek Life (fraternities and sororities) aren’t overwhelming on campus, but they’re not lacking either. I think something like 1 in every 6 students is in Greek Life (and the numbers rising, I believe), so it does play a role on campus, but at the same time, you’re not ostricized if you choose not to be in Greek life. </p>

<p>Events: Drexel is in Philadelphia. One of the largest cities in the United States. There is no lack of things to do in this city, no matter what you’re looking for. I don’t think there’s a single major music tour that doesn’t stop in Philadelphia, so there’s always concerts. Drexel does a decent job of providing student entertainment too. They put on shows and concerts around campus (We had Childish Gambino, B.o.B, Ok GO, and a variety of other big names in the last couple years) as well as other events. In addition, a lot of organizations also hold events too which are usually open to anyone. If you look in the right places, you can always find something to do.</p>

<p>People: Drexel’s a pretty diverse school, there’s people here from all over. There’s no “typical Drexel student” archetype that really fits more than 5% of the school. There are people here, especially in fields like Engineering and Computer Science, who aren’t overly social. There are people like that at every school. However, there are a lot more people here who are the exact opposite, people who are cool and fun and want to make friends. I’ve had no trouble making friends here and I think the majority of other students feel the same way.</p>

<p>Girl/Guy Ratio: I think it’s about 55:45 Guys to girls. As I said, it’s a diverse school. While it has a great reputation for Engineering and Computer Science (typically male-dominated fields), there is a lot more to the school than that. </p>

<p>Good luck on your search, and let me know if you have another questions. </p>