<p>Can someone give me the skinny? I am a very politically and academically oriented person, yet I like to have a good time and party. I am in a fraternity. I dress preppy, and am not Italian/Irish as are the kids at my current school, although I am white. I don’t follow sports too closely tho. Is this school a good fit? Are really that many guys gay, which matters in terms of making guy friends which is almost necessary to gain female friends? Will I be able to find a date/get laid easily? I do a bunch of extracurriculars, including a frat, newspaper, model UN, ballroom dancing and a political club, with a 3.43 GPA (only cuz while I did awesome my first two semesters, I bombed last one. </p>
<p>I don’t mean to demean any group, I just want to go to a school where I can fit in, and do well socially.</p>
<p>If you are politically and academically oriented, then you will do great here. Politics are huge, it being DC, and you can talk about them with just about anyone. People care about their grades, and I’d call it a work hard/play hard sort of atmosphere. Weekends and Tuesday nights are the big nights to go out, but during the rest of the week it’s usually about work. To explain Tuesdays, the school doesn’t schedule many classes on Wednesdays in order to allow a day for students to intern, thus Tuesday night is like a mini-weekend for a few students.</p>
<p>The school is (relatively) diverse for a private school on the east coast. Lots and lots of white middle-class, but a good mix of others, and I wouldn’t call any one ethnicity of Caucasian an overwhelming majority. There are a lot of gay students, but the majority of males aren’t. About 18-20% of the student body is Greek, but it’s not necessary for a social life. It helps if the frat you’re in is already at AU, you can find a list on AU’s Web site. The Male-Female ratio is about 60/40 in favor of female, so your “chances of getting laid”, well, you do the math. </p>
<p>If possible, I’d say try to come out to campus and get a feel for it. On paper, it seems like you’d enjoy it. That’s my $0.02.</p>
<p>@Joshua:</p>
<p>So, the campus is “Dry”. Does that mean no dorm parties? What is socialization like there on weekends, does everyone leave the dorm and head to off campus housing?</p>
<p>I know it sounds odd, but I would like to know how and where the college kids blow off steam at American.
Also, as far as drugs go, would you say there is a little, a lot? How common is Pot, and other drugs?</p>
<p>The campus is dry. But to be perfectly honest, people have backpacks and bags and there are a few liquor stores a few blocks from AU in Tenleytown. The RAs (at least the two I’ve had so far) have developed a 'If I don’t see it, and I don’t hear it, it’s not around" for upperclassmen – that is, as long as you aren’t disturbing others, or aren’t belligerently drunk in the hallways, you can have alcohol and parties in the dorms. Most people above 21 on weekends go into the city to clubs, while those who are underage tend to stick to the Frat parties on campus. The frats on campus are mandated by their chapters to have designated sober brothers, they drive you from a specified place on campus to the Frat house – and most Frats are good about driving people back. </p>
<p>It all depends on the student as to how they blow off steam. Sure there are people who go to parties, drink heavily, or do drugs to blow off steam. Some go to the gym, crank the stairmaster up to the highest level and workout for two hours. Some just stay in on Friday nights because they have internships that don’t get them back to campus until 6:30 and they’re just dead afterwards – so nothing sounds better than popcorn and a movie with friends. </p>
<p>As for drugs – I’d say it’s your fairly average campus. There is a presence, but while I’ve been asked to participate, I’ve never been forced to participate.</p>
<p>Follow up; where does an 18-20 year old go to dance on a friday night? Dorm parties must be rare, so does that mean going to the bars in the city?</p>
<p>It all depends on your likes and your circle of friends – there are a slew of 18 and over clubs in DC so there is no shortage of places to go. For my friends and I when we were underage – it was Hawk n’ Dove off of the Capital South Metro stop.</p>