I am aware of how close minded this question is, but having grown up in Texas at school where sports are a really big deal, what do students at schools in universities where school spirit is not a big deal? I’m not a big proponent of drinking and for that reason am not sure if I want to join a sorority. What are the social options at these non-sports-oriented types of schools?
What do college kids that hate sports and drinking do for fun? I’m not sure, but if I were to guess they probably stand around in a circle bragging about their GPAs.
If you’re not too into drinking/partying culture consider some schools with a smaller percentage of the student body involved in Greek life. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but generally larger Greek life goes with more partying.
Really no one can give you a complete answer - people just do so many different things. Some people do schoolwork on one of the weekend nights (hopefully not both!). Going to a movie, exploring campus after dark, watching netflix or playing games with friends, going out and exploring nearby cities, seeing performances and events on campus, etc. are all options.
Some schools will even sponsor non-alcoholic events like laser tag and bowling which can be fun and popular if done right by the school.
Go out to eat, make I expensive meals in, eat opcorn and watch movies, go for walks, go to museums, play games, talk, go to the gym, hang out and read in a coffee shop, etc etc etc. There are lots of things to do besides drinking and sports.
I would recommend going to a university in or near a large city where off campus activities abound. College town or rural campuses, especially small colleges, may not have that much to offer the non-partier.
Angry posts from LAC supporters in 1, 2, 3…
Well it depends on what you like to do. I had one D at big university and one at small LAC and both had similar options except the LAC was in very small town without clubs, music venues, etc off campus. But here are some of the things they did. Outdoors? Lots of colleges have outdoor offices with weekend events like hiking and kayaking. If your schedule works, take a PE class - everything from horseback to kayaking to ballroom or shag. D2 had rock climbing wall in gym. D2 in city with cool farmers market every Saturday and both had access to festivals. D2 in city so they often went dancing or to hear music - you really can do these things and not drink (or get drunk).
Culture? Join a group that performs. Or help plan events on your campus. Both Ds active in a religious group that had social events and service. Service? Being on a planning team for things like Dance-a-thon or charity walks is fun for some. More career oriented? Get involved in organization with your major, work for student media.
What did you do for fun in HS? That’s a good place to start - student government, campus ambassadors,etc. College is also good time to join a group and try something completely new. Or just be friendly to others in dorm. D2 had friends that would get together for viewing parties for specific shows - Castle, Walking Dead, etc. D1 was in sorority so they did have mixers and philanthropy events. Both girls had friend groups that would hang out and cook meals or go to movies together (free or cheap on campus).
Intramural sports (you don’t have to be good)
Clubs
Oncampus (and often free or very inexpensive) plays, concerts, lectures, movies
Weekend getaways to nearby attractions
Plus, don’t forget many students will have part-time jobs. And they’ll be studying a lot, especially if they’re in the sciences, math, business and competitive impacted majors or have ambitions for good internships, MBAs, law or medical school.
For many students how little time they have “for fun” comes as a rude shock.
Most schools have a streaking club, if yours doesn’t why not go to the activities office and start one?
I and most of my friends don’t drink or go to sporting events. We have plenty of other things that we do for fun or that take up time.
There are substance free events on my campus that we go to (game nights, carnival night, open mic nights), and we also have a small group event on Fridays nights where we watch movies in the music tech lab. We’re all involved with music to varying degrees, and some also do theater. And then theater also holds their own social events. I eat dinner/lunch with a lot of my music friends.
Personally, I do a lot of stuff, so I don’t really have time to party even if I wanted to. Im able to socialize in most of my activities. I’m involved with theater, lots of music (16+ hours a week, 5 ensembles), various honor societies, a volunteer org, a research team, and I have a part-time job. I don’t just sit around bragging about my GPA (it’s not that high anyways)… I spend my time doing much more productive and fun activities than partying IMO.
I also go to a ton of performances/concerts on campus. I get free tickets to the ones that our arts center because of my scholarship, and I go to any of the free student concerts I can make and even ones that outside the center that aren’t free if my friends are performing.
I go to a big public university (so pretty sports oriented) but am not much of a partier. Most weekends we do movie nights, go to another university sponsored activity (art nights, game nights, free music, anywhere with free food), explore campus or go out into the city, go to a restaurant, mall trip, etc. Sometimes we’ll literally relax in someone’s room and just talk. One of my friends is in musical theater so we try to go to his plays/musicals when he has one.
I attend La Salle, a mid-sized urban university. I partied quite a but the first few weeks, but it gets old pretty fast.
In my spare time, I:
-Participate in equestrian club, an intramural
-Attend “Late Night La Salle”, substance free activities on Saturdays.
-Work part-time at Burlington Coat Factory
-Take the subway to center city, and visit museums/restaurants. We’re given a “city passport”, so discounts are given.
-FaceTime my friends at home
-Watch TV
-Read threads on CC
I’ve also signed up for Big Brothers Big Sisters, & Pheed Philadelphia. I haven’t started yet, since the trips are always held during my classes!
I go to Case Western and we have about zero school spirit. I’m not into the drinking/ partying scene- I’ve gone to two parties so far, and had fun, just didn’t love the intensity of how drunk eeryone was.
Instead, I hang out with friends, and we normally watch movies, play games, wander campus, go to museums, and just talk. We’re all engineering or hard-science majors, so we end up studying together a lot. We normally go to watch our campus improv club on the weekends, which is really funny. 
A couple of our friends is super into partying and drinking, so we normally hang out with/ take care of them when they come back to the dorm on Friday and Saturday nights. Drunk people can be pretty fun to hang out with.
I like to explore Cleveland too- since an RTA pass was included in what we pay for school, we can get anywhere in the city for “free.” I work part time and run varsity track, so I don’t have a ton of free time. I’m never really bored.
Trust me, if you’re not into the partying scene, you’ll find your group. Depending on the school, it might be harder to find one that doesn’t revolve around partying, but you’ll find it eventually. I was lucky in that my first group of friends turned out to have similar values and interests as me.