<p>Could you please describe the party/social scene at Columbia? I want a school which has a great city, great academics, and a great social/party scene. As of now I'm in between Upenn and Columbia. </p>
<p>NYC> Philadelphia
Academics are more or less equal
Party/Social Scene ????</p>
<p>Thanks for the help</p>
<p>Columbia’s social/party scene is the stuff of legendary debate. The reputation is that Columbia has a splintered social scene due to the draw of the city and the smallish greek scene. But others will say that the social scene is what YOU make it. Describe what a party is to you and maybe some current/recent members of Columbia might have an idea if the party scene comes close. There is definitely your typical dorm-bonding rituals happening but if you’re looking for full-out keggers ala Animal House or PCU you’ll have to look elsewhere. If you’re into smaller(but probably just as rowdy) affairs on campus or oppotunities to hit the club scene or NYU/Village then Columbia might be your school.</p>
<p>NYC is by far better than Philly. No contest.</p>
<p>And Columbia’s party scene really is what you make of it. You can sit in your room playing world or warcrap all 4 years, or you can have a fun time with frats/campus bars/dorm parties, or you can take advantage of everything that the greatest city in the world has to offer. It definitely won’t be Animal House, but if you’re looking for that I’d suggest either going to a real party school (not all of which are bad schools by any means, UNC is supposedly a great school and a really awesome time).</p>
<p>As for choosing between Columbia and UPenn, honestly, if you want to go to trade school, go to UPenn, but if you want a well-rounded education, where you’ll learn everything you need for both your major and to be a well-rounded, socially intelligent person, go to Columbia.</p>
<p>I have to agree with the “it is what you make it” belief. There is actually something to do every weekend if you partake in it all. Most clubs on campus, including frats and sororities hold at least two parties for members/the CU body. Thinking about all the clubs there are and that’s a lot of activity. Add in that NYC is always alive and you can go out every night if you so choose. Parties can range from the few people hanging out in a dorm room with music and drinks to a packed Lerner Party Space party to a full out, uncensored go crazy party in EC. It’s all in what you want and who you know. Though we are no party school by definition, we have fun. Work hard, play harder.</p>
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<p>UCLA + USC >>>> UPenn + Columbia</p>
<p>TwinkieGirl, are you the newest Ivy forum ■■■■■? Just curious.</p>
<p>search: I’m Shmacked Spring Fling UPenn on youtube to get a taste of how we roll. lul. </p>
<p>Actually, spring fling isn’t really indicative of the regular social life at Penn, so don’t rely on that. Still, Penn students pride themselves in their “study hard party hard” motto. The Greek scene is pretty big compared to other ivy leagues. While NYC is hands down better than Philly, Philly is still pretty close to other major cities (nyc, dc, boston), so you’ll see a lot of people get out of philly during weekends, or even make day trips.</p>
<p>What a cop out of an excuse: “it’s what you make it”. It’s always what you make it, anywhere in the world. There are billionaires in North Korea. What matters are probabilities and the likelihood of achieving an outcome. Columbia has a terrible social scene but there will always be people who can do well. For most people, it’s so easy to feel lost and unsatisfied. Cliques form almost immediately after NSOP week so it’s an uphill battle after September. Ive seen normal people turn into socially awkward, depressed wrecks after 2 years. Good luck to those lonely freshmen. Enjoy netflix, torrenting, and eating by yourself.</p>
<p>Columbia’s cliquey, high strung, and repressive. The only people who really miss college (now that I’ve graduated) are the student council kids. Most of the alumni I’ve met would not go through Columbia again. I used to be a fairly social kid in high school but Columbia’s atmosphere literally crushed me. I’m starting a job now and I’m finally starting to be less awkward after 4 years of Columbia.</p>
<p>I’m sure someone will say “why not just call other people and hang out? It’s not that hard”. The environment is very strange and crushes social relationships. Plus, I can use the same logic to ask why depressed people not just be happy. It’s always more complicated than just asking someone to do the opposite of what theyre doing now.</p>
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<p>To be fair, the exact same can be said about Penn. It’s disjointed, cliquey, and partying in Philly sucks. But quite a few (nowhere close to all though; one just had to read a few posts on PennFML to get an idea of how many are depressed by the social scene) Penn students do somehow make the best of it. </p>
<p>Honestly, beard tax, you blame far too many of your problems on Columbia. As someone who knows plenty of incredibly happy people at your school, I can only assume you’re a depressed ■■■■■.</p>
<p>beardtax, stop bashing the Columbia social/party scene. Your personal social failures certainly don’t define the entire social scene at Columbia. You were most likely one of awkward weird kids who didn’t have friends to go out with (with the attitude you seem to have it’s pretty obvious why that was), and hence, your college experience was pretty rough. I wasn’t a “student council kid” and I loved Columbia. It certainly isn’t the party school that a lot of state schools are, but as I said, I had a great time at Columbia. Hence the statement “It is what you make of it.” I made Columbia into a place where I could work hard, have a few really good friends, and a ton of great memories, and you made it somewhere where you were miserable. Stop complaining about how nobody likes you and how everyone at Columbia was mean to you and go get a life.</p>
<p>Beardtax, you seem like an incredibly intelligent person who made the WRONG COLLEGE choice. Simple as that. Columbia was clearly NOT the right school for you. You should have transferred, but apparently hadn’t the courage to do so. Thus you shrink from NO opportunity to share your personal misery, magnifying your personal problems into some proof of a collective student body malaise. We’ve heard your song before: it is discordant and old. </p>
<p>A helpful critique IS warranted on occasion. But your manifestations of unrelenting bitterness make you an extremely flawed, utterly unreliable messenger for whatever helpful critique you could potentially offer. NO one can really take you seriously anymore.</p>