Brandeis University Top Questions

There's a lot of popular groups, but I'd say the most popular is the Waltham Group, our community service organization. They work with children, with the elderly, with the community, etc. I am involved in Student Events, the student event planning committee on campus. We put on events like Thirsty Thursday, free food for all and free beer for 21+, wake-n-shakes where we hand out Dunkin Donuts before class, and Stressbusters, a relaxed environment before finals. We also bring artists like Guster, Fun, Childish Gambino and Far East Movement to campus. On a Saturday night, you can do so many things. See a friend in a play, go to a dance performance, an on-campus dance party, see a movie being played on campus, so many more!! Off campus I go to bars, go into Boston, see movies and plays, walk around Cambridge, shop....

There are hundreds of clubs on campus that range from Cooking to Martial Arts to various religious and cultural organizations. Students are never at a lack for things to do on this campus. Every student can participate in an activity if they so choose. For students who are not on an official sports team, there are tons of intramural sports that are incredibly popular such as soccer, football and volleyball. There is a vibrant theater community with performance groups that specialize in straight plays, musicals and Shakespeare to name a few. There is a student-run theater scene as well as the Department theater which means undergraduate and Graduate students together. Theater/dance/music performances are frequent and well attended. There are a variety of speakers that range from visiting Professors to members of the government and movie stars alike. There is a fraternity and sorority culture on campus where students can find parties on the weekends, but it is not overwhelming and certainly not the only place to find a party. On the weekends, there are plenty of movie screenings as well as trivia, bingo and dance parties for those that do not want to partake in drinking. There is also a free shuttle to Cambridge and Boston when you want to see a show, go shopping or have a nice meal off-campus!

We have a lot of active clubs on campus. Our student center is open 24/7 where most of our clubs meet. Some of our most active clubs include community service, event programming, student union, and theater groups. I also really like how open community living is in terms of security. At some schools they are really strict about guests and going to other residence halls. But, at Brandeis it is a really relaxed atmosphere, which makes really easy to go around campus. I don't have to worry about checking it at my friend's place at 2 or 3 in the morning. We don't have a lot of security issues to begin with, so I don't really mind walking about at night. We also have a lot of great events that are thrown by our student clubs, most of which are free and amazing.

One of the best parts of Brandeis is how active the student body is in campus life. Nearly everyone is involved in a club of some sort, and most people are involved in two or more. Unlike many schools, the clubs on campus are very active. However, even though Brandeis students are very involved in clubs, they are not full of traditional "school spirit." Not many students attend athletic events, and athletes are not put on a pedestal. Almost all partying happens on Friday and Saturday nights, however, most partying at Brandeis isn't like what you would see at a big state school. Most parties don't get too out of hand, and the frats are somewhat of a joke. Instead, most students go to parties in upperclassmen suites or townhouses. These parties are fun, but not crazy, and there are no kegs. There is also plenty do on the weekend that doesn't involve drinking, such as going to Cambridge or Boston, which the free shuttle service offers rides to on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

Dances are often held as fundraisers, which tend to be the most popular (and successful) student events on campus. Theater and music, especially a capella, are also overflowing on campus. I am active in Relay for Life, an annual fundraiser for cancer research. This event is always packed with students. It's really nice to see that different groups on campus come together for such an awesome cause. Writing is also prevalent on campus. I am a copy editor for a weekly newspaper called The Justice. There is another paper, The Hoot, which is also weekly. Greek life exists but the fraternities and sororities aren't officially recognized by the university. Because of this, the houses (and the parties) are located off campus. Basically, it's there if you're interested and it's not a big deal if you're not. Greek life definitely doesn't take over the school. Being close to Boston is great, but most students stay on campus during the weekends. There is so much to do on campus! It nice to have the city as a get away if Waltham ever gets to feel too small (it happens).

Oh ha ha ha. Let me start with an easy one. So Brandeis doesn't officially acknowledge any frats or sororities, so greek life is rather minimal. There are a couple of frats and sororities with houses off campus, and it's not hard to get involved if you want that, but it's not a big part of campus at all. Weekends at Brandeis: You can stay on campus and there's going to be a couple of parties; if you want to drink, there you go. I prefer to go off campus into Boston; Thursday, Friday, Saturday, & Sunday there's a shuttle that goes from Brandeis to Cambridge and Mass Ave every hour and a half until 2am. It's free for Brandeis students, and it's definately nice to get off campus; go into the city, shopping, dining, see a show, go to a club, just hang out. The athletics events are growing in popularity even since I came to Brandeis, mens basketball is by far the most popular, but it's not a huge thing here.

Almost nobody drinks or parties on school nights. Weekend parties are common, but non-drinkers will find plenty going on: lots of music, theater, guest speakers, etc.

My social life revolves around Brandeis Men's Ultimate Frisbee team. I imagine most people have a club or a group of friends that they hang out with on a regular basis, which adds structure to their social lives. The varsity sports teams tend to stick together, as do the club sports teams. Not in an exclusive way, but these are the people you see on a daily basis for practice, games, etc. My weekdays are spent on the Great Lawn throwing a disc around between and after classes (at least when it's nice out), and on weekends I try to catch a party down in the Mods or in Ziv, or hang out with my friends from Frisbee, or who live in my suite. Most of my very good friends were made freshmen year, and are guys who lived on the same hall as me. The 'open door' policy instated by our CA (Community Advisor) was great and meant that we had a very social hall. Most freshmen dorms are like this, with the exception of the hall run by the occasional super-awkward CA. Lots of clubs have outings on the weekends which you can join up on. The Mountain Club has an outing of some sort almost every weekend. Mountain biking, hiking, spelunking, hang gliding have all been done. Rock climbing is the norm, with trips to nice outdoor walls in the area, and MetroRock in Everett when the weather is bad. Once it gets cold and snowy, Alpine Snow Sports starts taking trips pretty much every weekend to mountains in the area (New Hampshire, Vermont). Fraternities and sororities are not officially endorsed or recognized by the university, so the few that we have are located off-campus, usually on South Street, or somewhere nearby. Because they aren't required to abide by the kinds of rules that clubs and other social organizations are, the greek organizations give next to nothing back to the campus community. Their only purpose, as far as I have been able to discern, is to provide a place for people to party and get drunk. The individuals in these organizations are generally pretty decent people, but if you get them in a group, the d-baggery increases exponentially. If you're the kind of person who needs to join a club to meet people, keep in mind that the greek organizations at Brandeis are generally just drinking clubs.

One great thing about Brandeis is that it is big enough to be able to offer many extracurriculars to choose from. Another great thing is that the school is small enough that it is easy to get involved and to gain experience in valuable leadership positions. Greek life is under-ground, but present. There are lots of things going on during the weekends that do not include partying and drinking as well. Students tend to form close friendships with people living in their dorms, but it is also easy to visit friends in other dorms because everyone has key access everywhere. Getting off-campus is easy (often free), and popular, too. Overall, there is a ton of stuff to do, but you have to be active in pursuing these opportunities in order to take full advantage and really have a fulfilling experience.

I'm involved in Student Sexuality Information Service, the most amazing group on campus. We provide sex education, peer counseling, books, and safer sex products. We sell cheap condoms and try to up awareness on campus. Theater is popular on campus. Sports exist. Frats play a limited role, since they are only off-campus and not actually accepted by the university. Activism groups are huge. Guest speakers are very popular, especially political ones. Many students like to go to parties on the weekends or just hang out with a few friends. Moody street is a popular destination full of shops, good food, some bars, and Lizzy's ice cream. Of course, there is always Boston.

Sports events have gotten more popular as the athletics program has improved even over just the past 2 years. The biggest party of the semester is Pachanga, which is actually school-sponsored (so pregaming is a necessity), and is held each semester. The dating scene is not fabulous...most people pair off right away or want to spend their years hooking up/avoiding commitment. I'm sure that is most schools though. Frats and sororities are not official, but they are certainly around, and they have some decent parties. Most are cool people and fun to hang out with, and there is no pressure to pledge one unless you want to. There are plenty of other ways to make friends. Most of mine I met through my classes, and then from there you sort of meet a friend of a friend and they become your friend etc... We do get some interesting guest speakers and there is usually an open lecture at least once a week about something relevant to the world today. My friends and I usually watch movies, drink usually 1 night a weekend (either fri or sat), go out to eat in Waltham or Cambridge, and work most of the week. The library is where you will find most people on week nights, so it's not really a place for someone who wants to party all week long, but we still have our fun.

Dorms or hallways are often a social group, although not everyone is necessarily best friends. Jewish religious activities are huge campuswide, especially on Friday nights. A lot of time is spent studying, but it's always possible to find a party on the weekends. The theater is really good here, and what the tour guide will tell you is true: there really is always something happening at Chums, the on-campus coffeehouse. There are a few recurring events: Pachanga, a huge club-style dance party with lots of drinking; Liquid Latex, a choreographed show with skits and incredible costumes; Culture X, where culture groups from every part of Brandeis perform... the list goes on.

Greek life is not official at Brandeis but there are underground sororities and fraternities. I am closest friends with those on my hall and those in my major. Everyone leaves their doors open and people in the hall are really talkative. It helps if you're on a co-ed floor, like me! I'm involved in a poetry group, I go to a lot of the live band shows, and I like going to the basketball games and cheering for our team. Dating is kind of hard at Brandeis. There aren't a whole lot of couples on campus, everyone kind of dates and has a good time, nothing serious though. People party every weekend. During the week it is WORK time. Some fun events we have are a Naked dance every fall where people wear their underwear, DiscoTent which is a huge party in the woods behind the school, Purim which is a Jewish holiday kind of like Halloween where you get to party in a Rabbi's house!, and Culture X where all the cultural groups and dance teams on campus perform in a big show in the spring. Life at Brandeis is never boring. There is always a speaker or a band playing or something going on. If you don't drink, that's not a problem. There's a late night diner where people hang out and get pancakes at 3am, karaoke, and plays to go to. Plus, Boston is only 9 miles away! It's fun to go out to dinner, go dancing, or shop on Newbury St. I love going to Brandeis.

international club!!!!

Brandeis theater is really first rate for a liberal arts school. In the undergraduate world, we have the UTC (Undergraduate Theater Collective), a coalition of five theater groups which work together to plan the season. The five groups in the UTC are: Tympanium Euphorium or Tymp (musical theater), Brandeis Experimental/Ensemble Theater (BET), Brandeis Players, Hillel Theater Group (which is an option for shomer shabbas actors), and Boris' Kitchen (long form sketch). In addition, we also have Hold Thy Peace, which does Shakespeare and Deviant Culture, which is the resident "Rocky Horror Picture Show" troupe.

My social life revolves around the track team. Partying is very personal. Some of my friends do it every weekend, some of my friends ahve not had a drink in their life. On a Saturday night there is usually some kind of concert/show going on somewhere and plenty of people just hanging out who have no interest in drinking. Athletic events are becoming more popular as sports improve. The dating scene is one I'm not involved in...but there are a lot of UGLY people at Brandeis so a lot of people look to other places.

As I've said before, the most important part of the Brandeis social experience are clubs. We're not a party school but our clubs sort of function as our mini social networks. I'm a pretty active member of our debate team. We have competitions over the weekends at other schools and meetings twice a week for practice. There are about 30 of us and everyone's pretty much friends. We have bbq and parties and we had a novice kidnapping this year. A lot of what we do is work and competition but a lot is also bonding and fun. Most clubs are like that, a close social network based on a common interest. When students live on halls, they totally leave their door open. Freshman year, our door was only closed when we were changing, not in the room or asleep. This year, my hall has 5 other people on it, so we don't keep the doors open as much, but we do visit and socialize a lot. We get a lot of speakers on campus, actually a club just formed this year with the sole purpose of bringing speakers to campus. And after about the first 4 weeks of the semester until the week before exams, there's some sort of student theater performance every week. Almost every night, in the coffee house, there's acapella and improv. Personally, my closest friends are from my hall freshman year, the debate team or friends I met through people at some random event. Random happenings are a pretty big thing. I love the spontenteous hall parties that can happen on a Saturday if people are bored. But most people don't party too often, and when they do party, it's pretty much only on the weekends. Our Greek life is small and unofficial so people rely on themselves for fun since frat parties are not a huge thing. Our campus wide events- from Louis Louis spirit week in the fall to Bronstein Fest in the spring- are large and organized and a ton of fun. There's campus wide dances a couple times a semester and it's just all a lot of fun. In terms of off campus, it's really easy to go in Boston to go to a game or so shopping or see friends at other schools. I'm also a big fan of just going and wondering a Boston touristy area with friends. Nights like that have led to searching for the best Italian food in the North End, exploring Newbury street and driving from Lexington to Concorde in the middle of the night to celebrate Paul Revere.

Surprise surprise, the party scene at Brandeis is pretty low-key. Don't expect massive keggers every weekend. The average Brandeis party is about 20 or 30 people in a dorm suite drinking. Cool if you're with friends, less so if you don't know anybody. The theater/music scene is pretty good, with regular performances all around campus. Student pieces as well as classics. Sports are roundly ignored by everyone but the newspaper and those actually playing in them. Nice gym though. Frats/Sororities are technically not allowed, although a few of them do exist 'underground'. They never interested me so i couldn't tell you. The dating scene, alas, is usually like this: you meet someone you like freshman year, and you NEVER LET GO. EVER. Even if you can't stand eahh other. Most of the Brandeis couples I know are like that. It's actually rather sad. My average Saturday night was going to see my girlfriend at Wellesley, but at least we had the wherewithal to call it quits before it got ugly. Failing that, I'd go into Boston with some friends or see a play/concert at Brandeis. The parties (such as they were) took place late enough so I could do what I wanted to do and THEN go drink.

Party scene is whack. Fraternities play a surprisingly decent role on campus, providing many of the weekend parties.

Like I said before, social life is what you make of it. I've had a pretty vibrant social life, and I was Director of Social Affairs on the Student Union government's Executive Board, so I dedicated a lot of time to social life at Brandeis - maybe I'm biased. But we have a lot of opportunities, we just need students to take advantage of them. For instance, we offer two parties $50 each weekend. That's so cool! Most party schools don't pay you to throw a party. Clubs are the main part of social life though - club meetings, the friends you make in clubs, club events. That's where the social scene is. Though I've had luck in my dorms also. People here are generally friendly and willing to hang out.