<p>I visited tufts recently and people have been telling me there isn't really a big party scene, which I was very disappointed by. Before going there it wasn't even close to being at the top of my list, but after seeing the campus and meeting some students it made it pretty high up on my list. Then I heard that there really wasn't much of a party scene and also that the campus as a whole was pretty nerdy, how much truth is there in this, and how often is there a party to go to?</p>
<p>I think people are distinguishing between “party scene at a good school” and “party scene at like a huge state school”. Tufts’ party scene won’t be Ohio State, but it isn’t bad at all. In fact, most would agree that it’s a very healthy balance.</p>
<p>There is a good chunk of frat life that is accessible, but it by no means dominates the scenes. Tufts students will study hard during the week and then party on the weekends. This is the general norm for top schools. </p>
<p>Additionally, people have their own private parties, groups, hang-outs, etc. Mix that with an event, speaker, movie showing, or perhaps frat party and you find that there is always something to do on campus. </p>
<p>Usually, freshman and sophomore year, individuals will go to frats and junior and senior year people will tend to have their own private parties at their houses or dorms. But you will find some juniors and seniors still go to frats (and definitely freshman and sophomores have parties in their dorms).</p>
<p>I think people were telling you that it’s not a school where people just get drunk or party or whatever all the time. People work hard and study (they have to), but they also have lots of fun on the weekends.</p>
<p>Although I would take this with a grain of salt, the princeton review does rank Tufts as a pretty happy school. People are quirky/nerdy, but in an good way. It’s not the “you are weird/creepy” kind of nerdy, but rather the “you are interesting.” I always thought of Tufts students as “out of the box thinkers” or “cool nerds.” As one parent told me, coming from a very sport centered state, “even the jocks are smart!”</p>
<p>My buddy at Harvard has even told me that the most fun he has ever had in undergrad thus far was when he visited Tufts. Despite the Social Network, Harvard actually has a bad party scene reputation. Yet ironically (or rather interestingly), MIT is known for a good party scene.</p>
<p>The point? It’s Boston–you have so many universities that there is always some party out there. So even if you can’t have fun on campus, you have an entire city rife with college kids (because people have friends at other colleges in the area, there is a lot of cross-college mixing across the Boston schools).</p>
<p>you visited at the wrong time.</p>
<p>As a school with <6,000 undergrads, Tufts isn’t going to have the party scene of a big state school, but there’s quite a lot of irreverent merriment to be had. It is an unusual weekend when there is not a frat party going on.</p>
<p>A downside of being in Boston in this regard, however, is that the T (subway) cuts out at around 12:30. I cannot comprehend why the nation’s biggest collegetown has this policy, but it’s there nonetheless.</p>
<p>The best parties I ever went to were at Caltech - not exactly known as a party school. :)</p>