not sure if this is a question that belongs in the parents’ forum or somewhere else, but is a school’s reputation as a party school something to be concerned about? some excellent schools have that rep or high ranking on the top party schools list: Lehigh, Tulane, Wisconsin, Florida, Florida State, Arizona, Delaware, UCSB…
Would you actually worry sending your 17 year old daughter (who is not against partying and enjoys partaking to a degree) to schools like this? Tulane I know can be polarizing in this regard…
No. Pretty much every school is a party school. I went to a top LAC and the partying was crazy because it was in the middle of nowhere with little else to do. By contrast, my DD went to a top party school and had far more social/entertainment options. While she partied plenty, she did so much else. And most students were serious students, very involved in community service and clubs, and very focused on their futures.
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Yes, Tulane was on the list as a probable school. They had some really good major scholarships. We looked at it together and based on several things I read and what my kid read, there was zero interest. Looked like a ton of fun for the right kid.
We took a number of schools off the list for various reasons. Another great school that came off the list, UChicago. Area seemed too dangerous and the fun level seemed too low. It’s definitely not a ding on either school. Just meant that neither was a fit for my kid.
There can always be parties to be found, yet it’s just much easier at some schools. My D is very social and when she was making her college list specifically excluded schools where she felt she would have the opportunity (and hence feel pressure which she feared she would succumb to) to go out during the week.
She ended up at a highly ranked LAC, where students do not party/go out during the week… parties/drinking/going out are generally limited to Fri/Sat nights, which is what she wanted.
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My D20 got a generous scholarship to Tulane after applying EA. She joined a group chat of accepted students and instantly knew it wasn’t the school for her.
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The group chats really are not good representations of schools, imo. My DD hated pretty much every one she joined. But loved many when she visited.
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We visited the campus before the EA acceptance and were also hesitant to commit- seemed a little run down versus other schools we visited and preferred. For us- having gone to campus, having accepted students meetings in our town, and the group chat was definitive for her.
She has kept in touch with kids she met through these meetings and they are definitely having a great time. It just wasn’t a fit for my daughter. To each his own.
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there are Tulane videos and blogs that argue that since NOLA has so much to offer, partying is not what one might think. they go out a lot and drink at places, but that’s not the same as going upside down naked beer funnels or whatever kids do at raging parties these days…it does make sense to me that schools in cities would offer more non-party activities than rural campuses.
Funny - my daughter got an early acceptance to U of Tampa…the least rated of her applications. She got on a group chat - first thing she said was - it’s just kids who want to get high. It was out just from there.
At her college, she told me there’s a lot of coke. She said the same at her boyfriend’s college.
I think you can party or not party at most any school and find your crowd. My son goes to Alabama and has zero to do with football or partying.
Kids are away from home - and short of going to BYU or Liberty or that type of school, it’s going to be around.
But there’s also going to be kids going hiking, playing board games, or whatever else.
Forget ranking lists - you’ll see parties everywhere - so it can’t be avoided.
The funny thing is - everyone thinks their kid won’t or doesn’t party - and 80% of them are wrong - a made up # but you get my point 
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I think a large part depends on the size of the schools. I attended a big state school with a reputation for partying (i.e. making it on lists of party schools). I had a great time there and would feel 100% comfortable having a 13-year old view all but a handful of gatherings I attended (for clarity, no minors were at the college events, but trying to make the point that the activities were not of the Animal House variety). Were there others at that institution who helped to give the university that reputation? I’m sure there were. But when there are many thousands of students, there are lots of people who are not going to be part of the stereotype.
At a smaller school, however, if there is a significant percentage of the school that is living up to that reputation, there is a smaller pool of students to find a group with which to click with. Thus, I would have more concerns about a smaller school with a party reputation than a larger school.
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Nope, I have daughters at UDel and Clemson, with a 3.9 and a 4.0 (senior and freshman, both in honors). They are not ones to miss a party (my freshman actually likes the bars). They have found great friends who are in similar play hard/work hard mindsets who put work hard ahead of play hard (just like their groups in high school). There are going to be party students and non party students on every college campus, though some have more opportunities than others (my daughter has brought me to dages at UDel on FaceTime).
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Exactly our view as well. Had it been a larger school, we might have changed our mind. My daughter is now at a large school (that definitely has the reputation of partying) but since it is such a large school, she has an easier time of finding her crowd.
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We are currently having that discussion since Lehigh and Tulane are at the top of my D22’s list. She was also accepted at UMiami, so a trifecta of party schools.
I have no problem sending her to either as I trust her to do the right thing (and the party reputation is not what drew her to those schools). However, we are having/will have in depth discussions about what living in a city like Miami or New Orleans entails (which actually scares me much less than drunk frat culture, a whole other discussion to have).
In my own experience, cold rural schools were much worse in regards to drugs and alcohol. On cold dark snowy midwestern weekends at a small LAC, there was just nothing else to do (so much worse than at a German city school 
)
As others said, there will be partying at every school. I did plenty of it myself while at college and have fond memories of it (and still graduated at the top of my class).
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I agree with @trops, @CMCMLM, & @AustenNut: The size of the school matters as larger schools offer more diversity regarding social options. Small, rural, cold weather, LACs with a reputation for partying usually leave few options for a non-partier.
P.S. OP: Of the 8 schools listed in the first post in this thread, while all have well deserved reps as party schools, only the two smallest raise concerns in my view as the others are large enough to find many well attended alternate activities. Nevertheless, the two–which are hard partying schools–both produce very successful graduates, but of course,this is not the only concern regarding frequent partying.
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Your daughter needs to have a work hard / play hard discipline and mentality. Most colleges are potentially party schools. If she fails with grades - you should have the right to review them each term if your are in any way sponsoring her education. Don’t waste time and money on her if she brings in terrible grades. The alternative pull her and she goes to community college as a default until she wises up / matures.
Just being known as a party school is not enough in my (and D22’s) opinion to reject a school. Other factors are important in evaluating if the college matches what you want: size of student body, location, Greek life, football culture, etc.
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My D attends a LAC that is known for partying and has a “work hard, play hard” reputation. She was a homebody through high school and her only experience with alcohol was champagne at weddings and Manishewitz wine 
. She has found a group of friends that prefer small gatherings to the massive frat parties. Alcohol? Yes, but no drugs, a small group of close friends, and occasionally as opposed to 4 days a week, and only when school work is done.
That being said, the blotter in the school paper is filled with intoxicated individuals and drug incidents. We set up our expectations before she left home and emphasized staying in a group, not putting drinks down, and not overdoing it. Also, we need to see grades and there are consequences if she does poorly. So far, so good 
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Agree that at most colleges, one can find a party crowd if they want one. I do think that the amount and level of partying can vary depending on how hard the college is to get into (kids aren’t likely to jeopardize all the hard work it took to get the acceptance) and how demanding the course work is (the “work hard/play hard” scenario, but mostly on the weekends). STEM-heavy colleges with demanding courses of study are less likely to have 24/7 parties (kids who do that on a regular basis won’t last long, anyway). Nonetheless, there’s always a handful who sailed through high school and don’t take college rigor seriously.
One might encounter more of a robust party scene at larger, sports-heavy schools (some with higher acceptance rates). My daughter’s bf is at one such school and the parties are going on in his dorm every night. He loves the school and his program but can’t wait to be out of the dorm after this year. Even at those schools though, I think if your child finds the right roommate(s) and is careful with dorm selection, they can evade the hardcore partiers. And as others have said, your kid needs to have some form of self-discipline as well.
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Sometimes there is just bad luck of the draw, but frequently there are certain dorms that have reputations as having more of the “partier” set. Students who aren’t interested in that should obviously avoid them. Living learning communities and honors floors haven’t had those issues, in my experience, and I would imagine that substance-free dorms wouldn’t either. Students should (if they can) indicate preferences for the type of dorm environment that will best suit them, even if it’s not the newest or fanciest dorm.
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I went to UCSB back in the stone age known as the 90s. It was considered a huge party school back then, too. You could spend every waking moment drunk or high if you wanted to at UCSB or, frankly, at ANY college. Whether or not you actually do so is up to the individual student.
There were plenty of parties to attend for sure. But there was also a lot of other stuff to do if you didn’t want to do that.
The same holds true everywhere else.