I have done a little bit of research on this topic and could not find any new info regarding the party scene at Columbia. Are people mostly focused on their academics? Are there official parties? Does anyone know what are the places Columbia students like to go to? Or students just go out in NYC and have fun?
I’m not a Columbia student, but I did talk to a friend who goes there about this. It’s kind of hard to explain, but it’s actually not bad. There are fraternities and sororities with backyards (crazy, right?), and they do have parties. They aren’t nearly as large as those at state schools though. Most students at Columbia who are into this sort of thing go to bars with their friends, which in my opinion would be way more fun than giant state school parties. It was also explained to me that Columbia students aren’t quite the Ivy League nerds you’d expect. Even though they are all brilliant, plenty of them party more and study less than they should. Sorry for not being very specific. I hope you find this helpful anyway.