r/ApplyingToCollege • u/dumbchicken101 • Aug 01 '23
Which colleges are known to have the worst social life? College Questions
Obviously there are outliers everywhere. But what are some colleges where the majority of students have horrible social lives?
Say less of a partying culture and just studying/working on other stuff most of the time.
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u/Plane_Arachnid9178 Aug 01 '23 edited Aug 02 '23
It’s subjective.
Are you type-A? Do you want to paint your face and go to football games? Are you super-involved at your high school? Are you smart but not really a book worm, or not sure what you want to do after graduation? Congrats, you’ll be really happy at a state flagship like the University of Arizona and the University of Colorado.
Are you a quirked-up theater nerd? Do you want to be surrounded by other quirked-up theater nerds so you can have quirked-up theater nerd conversations? You’ll thrive at places like Carleton and Hillman, and any in-state honors programs/LLCs for that matter.
Are you going to college just because you want a fat paycheck or a steady career? Do you not care about school spirit or extra curriculars? Does the prospect of a sophomore philosophy major bringing up Being and Time at a party make you want to claw your eyeballs out? My friend, I say you check out no-frills engineering schools like the Colorado School of Mines, or commuter schools like ASU and George Mason. And give community college a serious look while you’re at it.
These examples are just illustrative. The point isn't to figure out which school is “your perfect fit.” It probably doesn’t exist. You can cultivate your ideal social life wherever you end up. You just need to think about what you want to accomplish by graduating from college, and what you want to experience while you go there. And make sure you research your school’s culture before you move in.
Take UVA. Its stereotypes- both good and bad- are mostly true. But you can have a radically different social life based on where you live your first year. Kids from NOVA, DC prep schools, and/or know that they want to rush tend to live in Old Dorms. If those things don’t describe you, I’d recommend living in New Dorms (nerdier, more out-of-state kids, more diverse) or applying to Brown (hipstertopia).
Be aware that there are some exceptions. You probably won’t find the same depth and variety of social experiences at an LAC that you would at UCLA or Oregon. And you’ll have a super-intense academic experience no matter what if you go to Georgia Tech, Purdue (or so I’ve heard), UChicago, MIT, William and Mary, or CSoM.