Is SDSU a party school? SDSU wasn’t my first choice, but thats where I’ve SIRed. Is basically every student out drinking and partying every night? Are there a lot of party kids in the honors Zura dorm? Is it as bad as it is set up to be?
I’m just not a party person and have to have a quiet environment to study in.
Is it easy to find other students that were top of there class in high school? I’m talking like, 4.0GPA, high ACT, really involved in ECs, who don’t drink or do drugs.
I’m not sure I can 100% answer your question, but all schools have a party atmosphere. However, if you aren’t interested in that, there are many others who aren’t as well, so don’t stress about having trouble making friends. You’ll find your people.
I have also committed to sdsu, in Weber Honors, although I am still waiting to hear from some waitlist schools, and I have no interest in partying, alcohol/drugs, whatsoever. I’m interested in making friends and working hard academically. Sounds like we’re nearly in the same boat!
My younger son attends SDSU and yes if you want to find a party, you can find a party. Most of the parties are affiliated with Greek Life and if partying is not your thing, there are many like-minded students. The huge party reputation for SDSU was established about 10-20 years ago and many things have changed since then.
As @jenjen182 stated, any school can be a party school, just find your tribe.
@jenjen182 oooh hello! message me! I just sent you a message
Hey! @randomkid98 and @jenjen182 your comments sound like they could have been written by me! I recently committed to the honors college, and although I’m stoked to attend SDSU, I’ve also been a bit jittery about the whole party school atmosphere. The great thing about big school like this is that there’s so many different clubs and types of people. With such a huge campus and student body, it’s impossible not to find like-minded people
@schoolofrocks I was feeling a bit jittery too till I saw this thread. Great to know that I’ll be at a school with like minded individuals!
@schoolofrocks @jenjen182 this is too good to be true!
Partying happens at ALL schools. That being said, there are non partying students at ALL schools as well.
What is wrong with partying?
@Cali2017 There is nothing wrong with it, some people just don’t want to do it.
@jenjen182 @randomkid98 @schoolofrocks i sir to sdsu too! what majors are u guys intended on studying?
@staystrong0 Hey! I’m entering with a major in Recreation and Tourism Management, but definitely considering switching to either Journalism or Media Studies 
@staystrong0 Both @jenjen182 and I are going in for psychology!
How about you?
Ooh ur majors sound interesting. I’m going in for nursing! @randomkid98 @jenjen182 @schoolofrocks
@staystrong0 are you honors? You should message me!
@randomkid98 unfortunately im not. messaged you.
There is a party school atmosphere at almost every university if that is your desire. About the only time it will affect you is your freshman year in a dorm. You will find other living situations (dorms, apartments, house) that will suit your desire for partying or not partying every other year. I have a daughter at SLO and her first year was more difficult in a themed dorm (Adventure) as an Engineering major. In hindsight the Engineering dorm probably would have been better. My son will be on a Business floor in the dorms next year at SDSU. Both SDSU and Cal Poly SLO had more of a party reputation but as admission standards have continued to rise they are a bit less than they used to be.
I’m sure folks won’t like what I’m going to write but here is anyway.
SDSU is ranked #146 in the nation. If a college has 5k freshman on average, there are about 725k spots in colleges that are higher ranked and better known than SDSU. So if you have 4.0 GPA and very high SAT or ACT scores, why would you settle for SDSU in most of cases? I’m sure there are some so there is always exceptions.
So yes parties everywhere but Ivy leagues, top 25 schools including Stanford, UCB, UCLA are not considered party schools. So schools like SDSU will very likely have more students who rather party all the time than study or actually care about their future…
Disclaimer: my kid settled for SDSU even over some low UCs, and I could tell he/she is not a Ivy material or even high UC level…
My recommendation: go to a better school if you really worry about SDSU being a party school. It’s like going to BYU and worrying if there won’t be many parties. I’m sure there are some good sushi restaurants in Montana but how about just going to some big cities like LA or SF for fine sushi???
@chookgoo: SDSU may be ranked #146 in the nation #74 for Top Public Schools and #9 for Regional schools but my son did not consider SDSU as settling. He has so far had an excellent education, enjoys the professors and fellow students, has found many great opportunities for personal advancement and feels he made the right choice.
Again the party school rep is a hold over from the past and any school can be a "party school’ if you make the effort to find the parties.
I am sorry you and your daughter feel she has “settled” but hopefully she makes the most of her time at SDSU.
Where you go for undergrad does not define you, it is what you do with the opportunities you are given…
@Gumbymom: by no mean I was bashing SDSU. However, it was and still is a disappointment when you were pursuing, let’s say you worked and saved hard for a Lexus and got a Toyota Corolla. It still runs and is a mode of transportation but very different. I understand that my D was not good enough or fortunate enough to be accepted by many other colleges so we are not angry or feeling entitlement but still wonder if she got what she worked for…
Everything you said is right and one can’t get everything one wants. Life is not like that, and my D needs to forget what happened and march on to make the best of her situation.
However, I beg to argue that if your son went to, say UCSD or USD (higher ranked and way more competitive than SDSU, who knows that he might have gotten even more excellent education and better opportunities?
Again, I’m not saying high ranked colleges = guaranteed success or happiness. But nonetheless, very disappointing time for my D and myself. Of course, I never expressed that and I told her I’m proud no matter and she did an excellent job while in high school… One thing that didn’t make me feel better at all is that when my D told me while talking to other students who went SDSU in the past from the same high school that my D is going now (very competitive one) that in general it was easier getting As in SDSU than in high school and if my D keeps her studying, she should have no problem. These students were not exactly genius so that made me wonder. I went to a UC for an engineerign degree (got accepted from UCSD but chose something else) several decades ago. I never felt like getting A was easy in any level of my college career. I had to work hard for and As were hard to come by.
Thank you for your comments.