<p>MIT :) 10 chars</p>
<p>Hawkette... I don't think a strict ranking is the way to go. I would rather place the colleges into various categories. And there is obviously a continuous gradient across the colleges in different directions.</p>
<p>EMPHASIS ON PARTYING AND SPORTS</p>
<p>Duke
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame</p>
<p>EMPHASIS ON ACADEMICS</p>
<p>Harvard
JHU
Caltech
MIT
Chicago</p>
<p>DIVERSE BALANCE BETWEEN ACADEMICS AND SOCIALIZING
There's a pretty big variety in this group, I specify which way they lean.</p>
<p>Brown (A)
Cornell (S)
Dartmouth (S)
Northwestern (S)
Princeton (A)
Penn (A)
Stanford (S)
Yale (A)</p>
<p>IN A CITY, NOT MUCH CAMPUS LIFE</p>
<p>Columbia</p>
<p>FEELS MORE LIKE A LAC</p>
<p>Emory
Rice
WashU</p>
<p>I would agree that there is a continuum for these colleges from academic focus to strong social life focus, but I'd hardly call the life at Duke, Vanderbilt and Notre Dame as having a greater focus on partying and sports than on academics. LOL. More than most of the other schools, but characterized in this way would be a pretty inaccurate statement about the priorities on these campuses. </p>
<p>Now, if you wanted to create a list that said best able to offer the combination of great academics, great social life and great athletic life, IMO, Duke, Vanderbilt and Notre Dame would probably be numbers 2, 3, and 4 after the clear number one of Stanford.</p>
<p>
[quote]
More than most of the other schools
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Obviously Duke isn't Oklahoma State, but this is a game of relativity.</p>
<p>And it's also up to what balance is right for the individual. For me, Chicago is a great balance of social life (which I spend in the city, at parties, and just general "hanging out") and academic life.</p>
<p>If I had to pick a school point-blank for somebody I didn't know who wanted a variety of things in their social life, I'd probably pick a school like Cornell. Maybe this is just family pride talking to me, but it seems to me that any person can pursue any form of socializing at Cornell :-)</p>
<p>Cornell University: Everything to everyone. Any person, any study.</p>
<p>I think, however, to Cayuga's point, that if you were to say "Where would a student who isn't into rah-rahing for his or her team potentially feel more out of place and not connected to the campus?" Duke, Vandy and ND would be the choices (among this group). </p>
<p>I don't think WUSTL feels like an LAC, but other than that I think Cayuga's list is a good one.</p>
<p>College Pr</p>
<p>1 Vanderbilt</p>
<p>then Dartmouth, UPenn, Maybe Duke, Princeton,</p>
<p>I disagree with Hawkette on Northwetern being ranked so high on this list. I live right by NU, and I frequently hear students complain how NU administration and NU police are busy chasing after under age drinking, fake id use, and breaking up "too loud" apartment parties. If NU really had this awesome social scene, my NU friends and I would hang out there routinely. The student body at NU is a fun bunch with good social skills in general, but the party scene at the school overall is actually quite bad largely due to the student-hostile school administration and the over-abundance of the cops.</p>
<p>palmettotree, patlees, and others,</p>
<p>Please take a swing at creating your own rankings. I am trying to assemble as many viewpoints as possible and trying to establish if there is a consensus. Thanks.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I disagree with Hawkette on Northwetern being ranked so high on this list. I live right by NU, and I frequently hear students complain how NU administration and NU police are busy chasing after under age drinking, fake id use, and breaking up "too loud" apartment parties.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>patlees - that's a common complaint nowadays at most schools, including state schools due to the clamp-down on binge-drinking and liability issues (where both the school's admin and greek organizations make it more difficult to "imbibe" than previously).</p>
<p>Nonetheless, college kids manage to find a way.</p>
<p>I'd put Johns Hopkins and UChicago tied with the worst.</p>
<p>1990s, Suicide rate, #1 MIT, #2 Harvard, #3 Johns Hopkins...</p>
<p>Northwestern is a bit overrated socially on this thread, based on what I saw on my visit. MIT is really cool actually but in its own way; you're not going to find the typical party atmosphere there, but people there definitely know how to have a good time, and its location is pretty much ideal. At Notre Dame, drinking may be a bit too integral to campus nightlife, but in general it seems like everyone just has a great time, even if they aren't drinking.</p>
<ol>
<li>Vanderbilt</li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>UPenn</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Duke</li>
<li>Notre Dame</li>
<li>Rice</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li>Northwestern</li>
<li>WashU</li>
<li>Emory</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>U Chicago</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins</li>
<li>Caltech</li>
</ol>
<p>WOW! Do you people really believe that Uchicago has that bad of a social life? One look at our facebook group and I can guarantee that Chicago should definitely be towards the top. The thing with chicago is that the people don't categorize their social lives with that of other universities. I understand Duke/Stanford/etc. have their sports and go crazy about it...Chicago doesn't have that kind of presence, but they do have their scav hunt, and that's where they all go crazzay. I truly believe Chicago has a better social life than what you all are giving it.</p>
<p>But then again what do i know? I am biased as hell!</p>
1 Like
<p>Um...I'd disagree.</p>
<p>I know that UVA isn't top 20, but I feel that it is at least top 5 when it comes to social life. Then again, I'm very bias.</p>
<p>i went to chicago for an overnight and was taken to a frat. i went to cornell for an overnight and everyone was stressed out and working on papers. both were in the middle of a week, neither during exams. but, it would be fair to mention that the cornell visit was to north campus where the freshman live.</p>
<p>Chicagoboy12:</p>
<p>Have you been to MIT's Campus Prevew Week? They take you to the top of the dome in the middle of the night. 600 people rampaging around the hallway playing capture the flag at 4am at night.</p>
<p>Now, I live by MIT, and I visit often. Does my one time experience of immense fun and craziness allow me to make a correct judgement on the environment of MIT like their study habits, work levels, and party time? </p>
<p>Not really.</p>