<p>Do Swatties only study? I'm just worried cuz Swarthmore does not have a varsity football team or whatsoever. I like everything about Swarthmore including its curriculum, reputation, the Parrish Beach, etc., but I also want a place where I can have fun. Are there no parties? I heard that there are only two small frats. Anything else? Why do you guys want to attend Swarthmore? And how about cheerleading? There must be no cheerleading since there's no football? Please tell me anything about Swarthmore's non-academic realm. Thank you.</p>
<p>DRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGs just kidding.</p>
<p>I think that most Swatties have fun. It would be hard to characterize what all Swatties do for fun as it varies quite a bit. For example, a Saturday night at Mary Lyons is probably not the same as a Saturday night at the DU frat lodge, although both groups probably have equal fun.</p>
<p>There are campus-wide parties every weekend, usually more than one. These are paid for by the school's activities budget. Any organization or group of students can get funding to host a party. So on any given Saturday night, there might be a large party sponsored by a student group and a party at one of the two frat lodges. Parties are usually going from 10 pm to 2 am, so they might be preceded by a movie or whatever. The typical campus parties always have a DJ and dancing. They almost always have booze.</p>
<p>There are also a lot of informal parties in dorm lounges and courtyards.</p>
<p>Various campus events with the usual assortment of college entertainment are pretty popular -- movies, comedians, indie rock bands, accapella group performances, theater and dance performances, etc.</p>
<p>Going into Philadelphia is popular, whether it's once a month for dinner with a bunch of friends, visiting museums, music, clubs, etc.</p>
<p>I don't believe that Swarthmore has a cheerleading squad.</p>
<p>There is an LSE (Large Scale Event) planned every semester in which my son says he has a lot of fun. There was some famous (or not so famous?) rap band (don't ask me) here.....they rapped into the wee hours of the night...</p>
<p>I think this semester's LSE was "Blackalicious". There are also fairly regular indie rock band performances at the Olde Club, one of the lodges on campus.</p>
<p>Also, several times each semester is a really big party with basically the entire campus involved. Examples are the Mary Lyons Halloween Party, the Screw Your Roomate Dance, the Sagar party, the Worthstock outdoor concert, etc.</p>
<p>Nope, no football, and no <em>official</em> cheerleaders. A ton of people come out to cheer for the soccer team just about every home game, though, and there are always people there dressed up in the retro cheerleading uniforms from when we <em>did</em> have cheerleaders. Those games are plenty of fun.</p>
<p>There are parties with alcohol every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, if that's what you're looking for. Plenty of people go to those. </p>
<p>Lots of students also just hang out on each other's halls with movies, popcorn, candy, etc. People go to the movies (on campus or off), go to Philly, go to Media. There's usually plenty to do. Plus, they close McCabe Library at 6pm on Saturdays, so everyone gets booted out to play. :)</p>
<p>There are parties at Swat. While they never get as big or as "crazy" as those at bigger colleges or state schools, they are still a lot "better" than many at other schools in the area. One of the nice things about Swat is that the students can do pretty much whatever they want. I would say that drinking is pretty prevalent at Swat, but if it's not your thing then you can still have fun dancing at parties, and there is not a lot of peer pressure. The first month of the school year especially is a ton of fun, as people don't really have anything better to do than go out and have a good time, and your pass/fail semester freshman year can be absolutely ridiculous, if you want it to be.</p>