I was accepted RD to Colgate for the class of 2020 and I was wondering what it’s like. I’m just going to list a series of questions:
Is the student body homogenous in regards to all types of diversity (religious, racial, cultural, socio economic status, etc)? Is the student body self segregated?
Is it cliquey?
How much of an impact does greek life have? If someone doesn’t belong to a frat/sorority is it still easy to party?
What’s the drug scene like?
I’m recently accepted and I will tell you what I’ve heard so far.
It is a really white/rich/preppy/sporty school, and the social scene is heavily revolved around the greek life. The division in the student body is obviously evident, and I guess you can call it “cliquey”. You can most definitely party without being in a frat/sorority, and drugs, of course, are common just like every other liberal arts college.
This may sound negative, but it is college after all, so I’m sure you can find your type of friends to hang out with. Just because this is the stereotype doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.
@TrazCapDEV thanks!
I hope that both of you will visit soon and spend an overnight so you can attend classes, meals and whatever student activities are on offer. That’s the only way you can establish a “fit” for you personally!
Take up the opportunity and make the most of it by contacting the admissions office for your visit coordinations.
Good luck with your college selection!
@markham I’ll be visiting next weekend; thanks for the insight!
Ctgirl1001,
This weekend event looks interesting. I hope you can attend and enjoy it.
http://news.colgate.edu/2016/03/panel-set-for-colgates-fifth-annual-entrepreneur-weekend.html/
Have a terrific trip. Go 'gate!
@markham – Anything of interest happening Wed or Thurs of this week. My D, who was accepted, plans on spending the night and attending some classes at 'Gate. Let me know. Thanks.
Please have your D look at the campus calendar on the home page of colgate.edu and also check with her student hosts and the admissions office for ongoing activities that might be of interest e.g. at the galleries at Dana and Little, Case Library, Chapel House, the Women’s Studies Center etc.
Go 'gate!
My daughter will be doing an overnight visit the 10th to 11th. We are 99.9% sure she will be accepting at Colgate, but are waiting for the visit to confirm. We’re in Southern CA, and I’m already looking online for winter wardrobe items (something we’ve never had to worry about before). I would love any suggestions people might have for the absolute essentials she will need for Colgate weather. We know it’s going to be cold, but I don’t think she really understands how cold 
WestVirginia- LLBean boots are a must have!
As a junior at Colgate, I’ll attempt to answer your questions.
- The student body is overwhelming white and wealthy. Religiously, the school tends to border on apathy, but we have a thriving Catholic, and Jewish community. The Muslim Student Association is also fantastic. We mantain a lot of cultural diversity by admitting a lot of international students and having a robust study abroad program. All in all, Colgate is whatd you expect from an elite LAC.
- I am a white, male, frat guy and ive never found the school to be cliquey. The school is simply to small for iron-tight friend groups to form. The only clique-ish aspects are greek life and acapella groups and even they intermix within each other.
- As a woman, you'll be able to party as much as you want, wherever you want, even as a GDI. Sororities will give you mixers, but mixers are heavily overrated. For men reading this, it depends what you mean by party. If you like big parties with crazy dancing and drunkin' hookups, you have to be in greek life. There are no places to find that otherwise. (The local club being a small exception). Do you have to be in greeklife to have fun? Nope.
- Drugs are like any other college. We arent a very left leaning school like Wesleyan, Reed, etc. So the focus is more on alcohol than drugs. If you hangout with wealthy northeast people though, you are likely to find more hard drugs than other schools, but as anyone working in NYC can tell you, thats a fact of life for 'elites' in the Northeast.
I love the school. The academics are unbeatable and you will get opportunities for advancement here that no other school can offer. Hope this synopsis helps’
@Punumscott hi! thank you so much for your response! it was very insightful. i visited colgate this weekend and loved it
@ctgirl1001 Glad that your visit went well! Let me know if you have futher questions. Oh, and Go 'gate!
@Punumscott hey so uhh do black guys really join the frats ? and if so , can a freshman join , or can a freshman be invited
@badmind001 Yes. Black men do join fraternities. Unfortunately, the fraternities still arent as diverse as many of us would like. One particular fraternity has quite a few men of color. The rest usually have one or two in class of 20-25. A big reason for this is that men of color often choose not to rush. I can say with certainty that if you choose to rush, race will not be a consideration for most fraternities. In reality, most of them tend to be more classist than anything. However, it is up to you to decide if you’d like to rush in the first place.
We also have Brothers, which is an association for the empowerment of men of color on campus. They dont really throw social events of the same calibre as fraternities, but its a fantastic group of people. You can be both in this organization and a fraternity if you would like.
Finally, freshmen are not allowed to join fraternities, as rush does not begin until sophomore year. For this reason, freshmen will never be seen at frat parties in the fall. In the spring? I cannot confirm nor deny anything.
Hope that helps!
There are 5 fraternities and 3 sororities at Colgate. So it won’t take long to determine where there is a fit for you and your friends sophomore year.