Uh, when did you visit? As long as you didn't visit during midterms or finals weeks, there are parties going on from Wednesday to Saturday in one form or another. You don't seem to know much about how the social scene works at Duke anyhow. Duke doesn't have "frat houses" in the traditional sense like you would find at a large state school. All the fraternities have sections, within which all the brothers reside together. Sections of frats are located in the midst of independents in the sense that you'll have one hallway where all the members of a frat live and the remaining floors will be filled with independents who are just blocking with friends. This doesn't affect the amount of partying that goes on in the least bit. People generally party a lot in the dorms, but the older brothers in a fraternity usually have off-campus houses where the younger brothers and independents go after "pregaming" with friends. Generally, fraternities will also rent out bars and clubs so a lot of students head over there at around midnight after partying in a frat house or with some friends in the dorms. That's one thing I like about Duke specifically. Students in other schools like Michigan, Penn and Stanford don't seem to go out to clubs a lot and seem content partying in frat houses or apartments.</p>
<p>I would say a typical social Duke student parties about 3 nights a week. Some guys in frats might drink every night of the week though and some students don't go out at all and just hang out with kids in their dorms. It depends on the person and the SLG or a frat.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, one little sidenote: people study here. A LOT. Don't let Rolling Stone fool you. It's a top 10 school for a reason.</p>
<p>Overall, with regards to the topic of this thread, I would agree with Hawkette except that Stanford is ranked way too high. Stanford students aren't that social and Palo Alto is boring. Although, it does have good school spirit and a great sports scene though.</p>
<p>Duke, Vandy, Cornell, Wash U, Dartmouth, Rice, and UPenn seem to be the only ones in the Top 20 that would be fun socially, in my opinion. I might be missing a school or two, but you get the picture. No offense to those other schools, but partying and going out to clubs and gaming chicks isn't their thing. You can act like you do over the internet..but we're not dumb and we have a good idea of what type of people go to certain schools.
This just my opinion, so please don't jump on me.</p>
<p>ring of fire- i visited this year during the first week of school.. the tour guide said that the adminstration is cracking down on the social scene after the lax scandal to make sure it doesnt get out of hand.. </p>
<p>do you go to duke? it is high on my list so and additional information you could give on the social life or academics would be greatly appreciated</p>
<p>anyone wanna comment on the school's inclusiveness/exclusiveness? as in cliques, groups, etc? i'm particularly interested in penn, dart, cornell, JHU, tufts (idk if it's in the top 20 but close enough)....</p>
<p>kk19131, you are the most annoying poster i have ever seen on this forum. i hope i don't meet very many people like you if i end up attending northwestern</p>
<ol>
<li>Vanderbilt University Commodores </li>
<li>Duke University Blue Devils</li>
<li>Dartmouth University Big Green</li>
<li>University of Pennsylvania Quakers </li>
<li>Cornell University Big Red</li>
<li>Rice University Owls</li>
<li>Northwestern University Wildcats </li>
<li>Stanford University Cardinals </li>
<li>University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish </li>
<li>Princeton University Tigers </li>
<li>Washington University in St. Louis Bears </li>
<li>Harvard University Crimson </li>
<li>Massachusetts Institute of Technology Engineers </li>
<li>Brown University Bears </li>
<li>Emory University Eagles </li>
<li>Columbia University Lions </li>
<li>Yale University Bulldogs </li>
<li>University of Chicago Maroons </li>
<li>Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays </li>
<li>California Institute of Technology Beavers</li>
</ol>
<p>i have visited a majority of these schools, and while i am partially biased because it is my top choice i'd say notre dame has a GREAT social life--though there might be a bit of an excess of binge-drinking. however, i recently visited Vandy and i would definately say it's number one, and therefore my second choice (hoping i get into these, though definately not sure :) ) the only other two i think i might possibly put above ND would be Duke and Dartmouth... here are my top ten...bottom 20 are definately bottom 20 in my opinion, and i dont feel like ranking them.</p>
<ol>
<li>Vanderbilt</li>
<li>Duke</li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>Notre Dame</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Penn</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li>Northwestern</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Wash U. (but kind of lower tier than the others socially--in my opinion)</li>
</ol>
<p>and this is based on going out/partying/drinking scene/sports/city/friendliness of students--though some places make up for one of these with better something else, or something like that.</p>
<p>Not sure how one can do a ranking on this. Preferences for social life vary so widely that one person's wonderful place is another's hell on earth. Like big time football, the prep rallies, the post game parties and cannot live without the whole production? What about those who relish the quiet of the library on a Saturday afternoon and whose only regret is the noise and the drunks when the game is over? What about those dedicated athletes who can't sit still long enough to watch a sporting event in which they are not participating?</p>
<p>Others have mentioned the divergence on alcohol and drugs. Many students are substance-free and do not particularly enjoy the company of those who are intoxicated. </p>
<p>Some people love the peace and tranquility of an isolated campus, others find Columbia too quiet.</p>
<p>If ever there were an "in the eye of the beholder" criterion, "social life" is it.</p>
<p>When we visited U of C I asked the tour guides what the kids did for fun, what got the school spirit going. They were a little taken off guard and then talk about a midnight pancake breakfast!!! LOLOL!!! (so not going there)</p>
<p>NU tour guide was very enthusiastic about painting a rock in the middle of the night...? (naw, they also raved about frats & football)</p>
<p>It's been a while since the votes have been tallied. Here are the "social life rankings" according to all of the votes that have been posted. For those of you who have not weighed in, please do so. Thanks.</p>
<p>SOCIAL LIFE OF THE USNWR TOP 20</p>
<p>1 Vanderbilt
2 Stanford
3 Duke
4 Dartmouth
5 U Penn
6 Notre Dame
7 Northwestern
8 Rice
9 Cornell
10 Brown
11 Princeton
12 Wash U
13 Harvard
14 Yale
15 Emory
16 Columbia
17 MIT
18 Johns Hopkins
19 U Chicago
20 Caltech</p>