<p>Every description I read of colleges seems to sterotype them into "party" schools where everyone is drinking all the time and nobody does any work and schools where nobody has a life and all they do is study all the time. Is there a middle ground? Coming out of a really intense high school I want to work hard, but I dont want to be overwealmed and I also want to be more artsy (I used to play the violin, classical guitar, and piano and do art but I stopped because I was doing hw 24/7 and track), and I dont drink or party, but that doesnt mean I dont like to do fun things.</p>
<p>What are some good examples of some academically relaxed but still serious colleges? Does that exist? Do all schools have a little bit of both?</p>
<p>Almost all top colleges will have a mix of both. Partying is usually limited to Thursday and Friday nights. During the week students are usually studying, doing homework, and participating in activities (theater productions, clubs, sports, newspaper, etc.). </p>
<p>How students have fun varies from college to college, however. U Chicago students are actually very active in intramural sports, and they have the resources of Chicago to explore. A school like Bowdoin or Middlebury may be more focused on outdoor activities, and many California students can head down to the beach.</p>
<p>i would love to go to school in california... my list right now... which changes all the time includes UCSC, UCB, Brown, UmassAmherst, possibly Pitzer or Pomona, American?? BC??? UCSD???</p>
<p>are these on track for a RELAXED but smart school?</p>
<p>I've heard UCB is exactly the opposite of what you want: very academically driven, and, although fun does go on, i hear it's kinda like an intense fun that people just have in between studying for one class and studying for another class. Though, they're only stories....</p>
<p>Add USC to your list of Calif schools to check out. Very social school, fun but with lots of smart kids. Son came from very academic, intense private school- loves the social life at USC, and he is not into drinking, frat life!</p>
<p>vanderbilt has a reputation for being highly regarded in academics while still also being highly regarded as a party school... "top 20 for both"</p>
<p>"Add USC to your list of Calif schools to check out. Very social school, fun but with lots of smart kids. Son came from very academic, intense private school- loves the social life at USC, and he is not into drinking, frat life!"</p>
<p>I'd agree that USC is a great school that strikes a good balance between academics & social life (at least you can if you choose). My S & his classmates all come from a very competitive academic HS & are enjoying their experience at USC, from all I've heard. In fact, 10% of his graduating class is there with him & they are not real partiers or frat/sorority folks.</p>
<p>Honestly, many very bright kids are attracted to USC because they give nice merit awards.</p>
<p>If you want a smaller school, you might explore Santa Clara U, which is another school we considered.</p>
why should we believe you have a clue? if anything, from what i've seen over the last few months on CC, you'd be in the minority for thinking otherwise.</p>
<p>i'd have to agree that USC strikes a good balance of academics and social life. i can attest to this from personal experience.</p>
<p>Nerd school=MIT, CalTech, Berkeley.
Not quite a party school, but social life at NYU is pretty cool I guess...you can't NOT have a great social life in New York. Unless you're an investment banking analyst.</p>
<p>"why should we believe you have a clue? if anything, from what i've seen over the last few months on CC, you'd be in the minority for thinking otherwise.</p>
<p>i'd have to agree that USC strikes a good balance of academics and social life. i can attest to this from personal experience."</p>
<p>Firstly, yes USC is a pretty good school. But from what I've heard (from people I know who are there, people who know people there, and reading up on colleges) it is a pretty big party school relative to its quality. And I just find it naive that so many parents here say things like: "Son is a non-drinker and says he has lots of fun like that at college."</p>
<p>From all my personal, second-hand and third-hand experiences, almost EVERYONE parties and drinks. So everytime I see a parent who thinks they know what's going on, I just kind of laugh to myself.</p>
<p>Sweeping generalizations like yours are not particularly helpful & I find it hard to imagine how you can know 2nd or 3rd hand what 30,000 students are doing at a particular campus just because you understand that USC "is a pretty big party school relative to its quality" & can therefore smugly conclude that "EVERYONE parties & drinks." Quite amazing!</p>
<p>While Dartmouth, Duke, Williams, Colgate, Middlebury, Washington & Lee may be known as "party schools" to varying degrees, they are all enough of top academic schools that certainly students are studying too. Even a school with more of an intense academic reputation like Cornell has a lot of enjoyable social outlets as well and a student body looking to take advantage of them.</p>