<p>Ok so I just wanted to make a thread in which I would be able to get information on the following schools' social scenes, so that it'd be easy to compare schools where I'm looking to apply. This is so I can make some comparisons and cut down on my list. And before anyone says that social life/party scenes are not the only criterion for choosing a college, I would just like to say that I am aware of that and I will not be choosing only based on this; it's one of my many criteria.</p>
<p>Harvard University
Princeton University
Amherst College
Yale University
Columbia University
Pomona College
University of Pennsylvania
Stanford University
Dartmouth College
University of Chicago
Middlebury College
Claremont McKenna College
Washington University in St. Louis
Cornell University
Hamilton College
Vanderbilt University
University of California - Berkeley
Georgetown University
Carleton College
Colby College
Wake Forest University
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
University of Rochester
Lehigh University
Fordham University</p>
<p>Any feedback comments would be appreciated GREATLY.</p>
<p>P.S I’m not asking that one person give me a paragraph per school. I’m just looking for any alumni/people who know the schools well. So, please, PLEASE reply. THANK YOU. :p</p>
<p>This is way, way too long a list for anyone to respond to, whether it’s a paragraph per school or not. You need to do some of the work of narrowing the list before other people will help you with the next step. There are many threads about social life on each of these schools’ individual boards.</p>
<p>Harvard University - not great, hired a fun czar, kids are relatively introverted
Princeton University - good overall, but isolated suburban location, parties at eating clubs, etc.
Amherst College - below average, but you can find cool kids
Yale University - decent, go to Toads, kids are relatively balanced
Columbia University - go to the same nearby bars (1020 Bar/Lions Head/etc) which gets old after awhile, better bars are downtown
Pomona College - adequate
University of Pennsylvania - supposely the “social ivy” - but I think their party scene is overrated - too many gunners/cutthroat academics here
Stanford University - D-1 sports, good weather, ugly girls
Dartmouth College - probably the best Ivy IMO
University of Chicago - mostly nerds
Middlebury College - not a big party scene, but have pretty girls for a NE school
Claremont McKenna College - probably decent
Washington University in St. Louis - seems more laidback, not a huge party school
Cornell University - not a party school, but you can find it if you are looking
Hamilton College - sorta small school, so probably gossipy
Vanderbilt University - awesome all-around, hot girls and great parties, SEC sports
University of California - Berkeley - not a party school, people are more involved in their studies
Georgetown University - decent
Carleton College - lowkey
Colby College - no sports, probably ok
Wake Forest University - very good, D-1 sports/hot girls
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor - very good, football and fun college town
University of Rochester - not a big party scene
Lehigh University - big party school, frat orientated
Fordham University - not a big scene, but close to NYC</p>
<hr>
<p>Id say the more social schools are Vanderbilt<em>, Michigan</em>, Lehigh<em>, Wake Forest</em>, Dartmouth, Penn, Stanford, Georgetown, and Princeton</p>
<p>As I said above, I’m NOT asking that everyone give me a paragraph per school. Anyone can contribute ANY piece of information regarding ANY school, irrespective of whether they comment on 20 or 2, or write a paragraph or a sentence.</p>
<p>I’m a WashU student and our social life scene is perfect for me personally: there’s always something to do on weekends, whether it’s a frat party on campus or a show or something you can go to with friends. A lot of people I know have fakes and go to bars, but that doesn’t appeal to me and I don’t want to potentially deal with fake consequences so I never go. We’re certainly not a state school in terms of party scene, but I don’t think anyone here has ever had major problems finding something to do on a weekend.</p>
<p>Thanks! My favourites so far are Princeton, Amherst, Pomona, Penn, Vanderbilt, WashU, Cornell, Michigan, Georgetown, Berkeley, Claremont McKenna. They really check all the boxes for me.</p>
<p>Re: Lehigh, I’ve heard the party scene is pretty amazing but I’ve also heard some terrible stories about Bethlehem. Is the town really that awful?</p>
<p>So far, your favorites consist mostly of the ones rated “decent,” “below average”, “not a party school” (twice), and “overrated”. What exactly are you looking for?</p>
<p>@johnwesley, being a good party school isn’t the only criterion which affects my preference. All these schools are schools which I am attracted because of the community, academics and social scene. For example, even though Amherst has been judged to be below average in social scene, I love the idea of being in a consortium. Same with Pomona and CMC. As far as Princeton goes, it’s my favourite of HPY because I feel as if it has a more laid-back vibe than the other. Not to say it’s not competitive or tough, but it seems more chilled out. Penn has an amazing social scene according to someone I know who attends. At the end of the day, one poster telling me all these things won’t affect my opinions in such a drastic manner. I’m looking for an overall consensus. I doubt timetodecide12 has attended all 25 schools in my list, which is why my preferences, at this point, are slightly disparate; they’re based off general perceptions. Not everyone on this board has been exactly helpful so it’s difficult to assimilate posters’ views when half of them don’t respond at all to the question and instead choose to criticize or nitpick.</p>
<p>Berkeley’s social scene is just about anything you want it to be: if you’re into huge parties, we have Frat Neighborhood (too big to be called just a Frat Row) that throws parties half the days of the week. We also have very active clubs and student organizations that are their own small niche communities, and they also throw large events (parties, shows, programs, projects, etc.) in which you can take part. If you’re more of an academic social-scene person, we have many academic groups, pre-professional fraternities (more like associations, but call themselves frats), clubs stemming from various majors/departments, etc. that hold screenings, presentations from noteworthy people in the field, intense and fun discussions about various related topics in the field, etc. Many of these groups hold study sessions, academic advising nights, research/pre-professional advising nights, etc. </p>
<p>You can be as immersed into the social scene as you want, and you can also choose to isolate yourself from it. I have many friends who go out partying and get drunk three nights out of the week, and I also have friends who concentrate on their studying and will only come out with me to get dinner maybe once a week or so (even though we live super near each other). </p>
<p>I don’t know any of the other universities that well, but if you have any specific questions regarding Berkeley, please let me know! </p>
I’m just looking for any alumni/people who know the schools well. So, please, PLEASE reply. THANK YOU. :p</p>