<p>I don't really know what they are, as I go to an LAC, but from what I heard, they sound pretty distateful, something like a fraternity system for meal plans? I heard you pay extra money to belong to an eating club, so you go to a particular house for every meal, and are wined and dined on white tablecloths, etc. Is this true?</p>
<p>Some are snobby and hard to get into. Others aren't- you just join. It seems to me that part of your money goes into funding parties and activities.</p>
<p>Are you serious? I never heard of that. is it at higher schools like Ivy leagues??</p>
<p>Eating clubs, as far as I know, are limited to Princeton. The vast majority of students belong to one the the ten, and although it generally costs $1000-2000 more than a meal plan does, students on financial aid get financial aid for joining the clubs.</p>
<p>The ten clubs are housed in mansions on Prospect Avenue, and they are entirely supported by alumni trusts. Generally they have very good food, but there is only one club where students sit down and are served by waiters (Ivy Club). There's also Tiger Inn at the opposite end of the spectrum, which serves cheap food like hamburgers and hot dogs all the time because the rest of the money goes to funding heavy partying (which is to be expected, as Tiger Inn has lots of football players/contact sport athletes.)</p>
<p>The clubs are not exclusive at all -- even the most exclusive of them takes 50% of the applicants, and half of the clubs are non-exclusive. There's no social "ranking" for them -- being a member of a sign-in club has no negative stigma. People generally just join whichever clubs have likeminded people, or whichever ones their group of friends join. All of the clubs are open to anybody on Thursdays and Saturdays (the party nights). Students often just go from club to club until they find a party/DJ they like.</p>
<p>The mansions on Prospect Ave, where the clubs are, are mostly just clubhouses. They usually have small libraries, computer clusters, pool tables, a small theater, and volleyball courts. Students hang out there to eat, study, and chill. Most of the clubs also use club funds to sponsor lawn concerts (which are open to everybody) -- some of the recent artists invited were Lifehouse, Maroon 5, Third Eye Blind, and Vanilla Ice.</p>
<p>sound like tone-downed versions of fraternities almost (people don't live in the houses, though, right?)</p>
<p>Vanilla Ice?!?!</p>
<p>
[quote]
sound like tone-downed versions of fraternities almost (people don't live in the houses, though, right?)
[/quote]
well, they're co-ed - and no one lives in the eating clubs except the officers. They're like fraternities in that they throw lots of parties and social activities for the campus.</p>
<p>Are you sure it was the REAL Vanilla Ice, or just a Vanilla Ice impersonator? Perhaps Vanilla Ice appeared because [M.C.] Hammer couldn't scrounge up the bus fare to get to Princeton? Whatever, I just lost a lot of respect for Princeton and the entire Ivy League.</p>
<p>Davidson College also has "eating houses".</p>
<p>Colonial Club is pretty well known for having invited the real Rob Van Winkle several times.</p>
<p>Forgive a parent for intruding, but Stanford also has Eating Clubs, (at least I believe they are still there) which are available to residents of Toyon Hall and certain other residences. Unlike the Ivy League, these are very informal, cost the same (or just a bit more) than the standard University Food Service, and are fantastic! I'm sure they have changed over the years, but they were a social entity unto themselves. Each club had its own cook, who prepared breakfast, lunch & dinner Monday through Friday. Breakfast was short order, so you could get pretty much whatever you wanted. On weekends, student cooking crews prepared dinners, and the students cleaned up after all the meals.</p>
<p>Each member has a key, so you have 24/7 access for coffee, snacks, sandwiches, burgers, etc. Great stereo system, TV and loft, and a nice place to type papers when pulling all-nighters. Each club had a full slate of social events, had their own IM sports teams, etc. We even had a sauna, built by an engineering student as his masters project!</p>
<p>Maroon 5. My favorite band. (That, and Disturbed) That would be awesome to meet with them. Too bad it sounds like it has "snob" written all over it.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>The clubs are not exclusive at all -- even the most exclusive of them takes 50% of the applicants, and half of the clubs are non-exclusive.<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>On what basis do they admit/reject applicants?</p>
<p>The selective clubs pick based on the underclassmen they're friends with -- usually people who are involved in the same kinds of activities and majors. For instance there is a club that has a lot of student newspaper people and improv comedy club people -- they are accepted because they know the upperclassmen and already hang out with them a lot. If you don't share interests with the members of a particular club, it's pointless to bicker it. </p>
<p>The nonselective ones pick blocks of names out of a hat if there isn't space for everyone at the club (blocks because you sign in or bicker as a group of friends so that no matter where you go, you won't be split up from your buddies.) Some clubs fill in the first round (notably Terrace and Colonial), others will still have space and students who did not become members of their first choice club can still join. Ultimately, there is space for everyone who wants to join a club to join one.</p>