Colgate University Top Questions

There are a lot of popular student groups and activities. Many students are involved in some kind of athletics, whether it be varsity, club, or intramural. Likewise, Greek-life has a fairly large presence on campus. These groups participate in leadership and service activities. It also is a really good chance to familiarize with and expand the amount of your social cohorts. Additionally, there are a lot of students that are active at the COVE (the community service center). The COVE has a lot of different service opportunities. There are chances to tutor, clean-up the earth, work with under-privileged children and adults, to build sites, and to travel the country for service. It is a great resource that I have loved being involved with.

There are a lot of popular student groups and activities. Many students are involved in some kind of athletics, whether it be varsity, club, or intramural. Likewise, Greek-life has a fairly large presence on campus. These groups participate in leadership and service activities. It also is a really good chance to familiarize with and expand the amount of your social cohorts. Additionally, there are a lot of students that are active at the COVE (the community service center). The COVE has a lot of different service opportunities. There are chances to tutor, clean-up the earth, work with under-privileged children and adults, to build sites, and to travel the country for service. It is a great resource that I have loved being involved with.

The greek system tends to dominate the social scene. There is always at least one house having a party every Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday. When the weather is nice on Saturdays, day drinking, aka Fraterdays are popular. Once you turn 19, you can get into the Jug, which is about as embedded in the culture of the school as Adam and Eve (our swans). Its a bar/dancefloor, using the term loosely, where the mixture of too many drinks and horny co-eds turns into magic. Remember: jug make outs don't count. Although usually you can't remember these in the first place....

We are in upstate New York so most students spend little time outside of the 'Colgate Bubble'- on campus or downtown. The social scene mainly consists of beer soaked frat parties and the six bars downtown, but we make the most of it and have a great time doing so. Kids at Colgate rarely date, and if they do, its only after hooking up for awhile before hand. Social events revolve around drinking and its pretty safe to say this contributes to the hook up culture. You quickly learn how to deal with seeing the person you hooked up with the night before in the sober light of day. Those who do not drink or are unwilling to go out frequently may want to consider looking elsewhere.

A senior tries his hand at the chubby bunny challenge, with raucous background support from some crazy Colgate kids.

There is a large social life on campus, if that is what you are looking for but there are a million ways to get around the drinking scene and still have fun. There are greek organizations at Colgate yet they do not dominate everyones life, I personally was not part of them yet still was able to attend events and have a great time. There is a super small dating scene at colgate, most people are just there to study, have fun, and make great friends.

Many activities are available around campus, and are encouraged to join them. Social life is drinking, with more drinking sometimes available. SPRING PARTY WEEKEND.

Freshman year involves a lot of drinking in dorm rooms. Greek life is pretty big on campus. Off campus houses are also good for parties, but more for upperclassmen. There is more random hooking up than dating at Colgate, although old fashioned dating does happen. Intramurals are extremely competitive. I made some of my best friends through my intramural football team. There is nothing on a Saturday that doesn't involve drinking. Yea, I smoke cigarettes that I roll myself, if you catch my drift. Supposedly there is cocaine use in the frat houses, but I have no experience with it myself. Alot of kids have tried shrooms. I mean, its college.

The ice hockey team and lacrosse team are very good and draw a big fan base. We aren't known for football but considering our size, tailgates draw in a massive crowd. People tend to go out 3 times a week on average (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday). Fraternity life is really big as is the COVE, the outreach volunteer center. The COVE is the place to go when it comes time to narrow down which volunteer organizations you want to join. Students do leave their dorm rooms open. Acapella groups and Dancefest, the dance event held each semester draw massive, massive groups to see both the talented singer and dancers that live among us but also to cheer on friends, roommates and classmates. Colgate is the perfect size when it comes to meeting people. It may take a while to find your niche but Colgate is self-contained making it very easy to meet people, and see known and unknown faces throughout your 4 years.

There are fraternities and sororities at Colgate, but students are not allowed to pledge until their sophomore year. This allows students to make friends their freshman year before joining a greek organization. There have been great guest speakers this year including Ben Stein and the Dalai Lama. It is typical for a Colgate student to go out three nights a week and still maintain a great GPA. The campus feels extremely safe, and it's normal for students to wave, smile and say hello across the quad between classes.

Having the Dalai Lama was a guest speaker speaks to the prestige of the university. You can always find something to do at Colgate whether it be partying or school sponsored events. If your worried about being bored don't be.

Frats and sororities definitely seem to play a big part in the social atmosphere. As small as the school is, it seems like many students want to rush and join. When I lived in a dorm we usually locked our door. There are different cultural and ethnic events held throughout the year. There are concerts and dance fest twice a year, once in the fall and again in the spring. The Dalai Lama came to speak this past spring semester and there was definitely a lot of reception with that. However, it still seems to take a lot to get students to come to different events sponsored and held by the university. I'd say there's a pretty big party scene at Colgate. While the students are smart and work hard, they also know how to party hard.

There are plenty of ways to get involved but for a guy fraternities are pretty fun. As long as you find a group of people that you enjoy spending time with you will have plenty to do. While drinking and that scene is the most prevalent extracurricular activity there is plenty to do.

There are numerous students groups on campus and if one isnt available for the student to participate, they can start their own. Drinking is readily available for those who wish to partake, however, there are alternatives which are available for those who do not want to drink.

At Colgate, students are socially greek, play a sport, are black, or host their own house parties. Just about everyone gets wasted on the weekends, and Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday are also popular nights to go out. Spring Party Weekend and Alumni Weekend are always shitshows. As far as sports go, people care more about tailgating football than football but hockey games are always rowdy and fun. Personally I met my closest friends within my fraternity (I know I'm such a meathead) Theta Chi and I have memories there that I wouldn't trade for anything save living Hugh Hefner's life (before his Viagra days). Everyone at Colgate hooks up, and most hook up a lot. Its always funny walking down Broad Street and 8-9am Saturday morning in last nights outfit and exchanging knowing glances with those who walk by you. Oh and a Saturday night without drinking isn't a Saturday night at all. My typical Friday night would include pregaming at a townhouse, partying at my frat, heading downtown to the bars, and then going home with someone or settling for a piece of pizza at "Slices".

see the big picture

I spent the first semester of my freshman year sober. I almost want to say that I had a hard time avoiding alcohol, in order not to sound cliche, but really, I never felt much pressure to drink. Sure, it was available, so it wasn't simply a matter of not being able to obtain it. It was just that no one ever really made me feel like I was missing out. When I went to parties, I played beer pong with water in my cups, and the other team made sure to rinse the ball well. I played flip cup with soda, which was almost harder because of the carbonation. Of course, I wasn't much fun at games where the punishment or the purpose was to make someone drink, but that didn't bother me much. And if I didn't want to be around alcohol, there was always something else to do, besides. It's surprising that in a culture so devoted to drinking, I really didn't get the sense that I was unwelcome. I suppose that the quality of people says more about Colgate than the quantity of Keystone consumed does, in the end.

I would say Colgate is a very social campus but the majority of things revolve around partying. Athletic events do not get the turnout I would like and usually if I'm doing something social it's either hanging out in a friend's room or going to a party.

Colgate administration and student groups host tons of concerts, parties, and other events year round which are fun to go to, but Colgate there are certain things you absolutely cannot miss. Dancefest is an awesome concert twice a year when a bunch of dance clubs at Colgate perform in the Chapel in front of a jam packed audience. Spring Party Weekend is the most outrageous couple of days of your life, guaranteed. I can't think of words that can accurately describe it -- you have to experience it. Football games are somewhat popular to go to, as are the lacrosse games, if they are good that year. Hockey games are good too, especially when playing Cornell (SUNY-Ithaca). Actually, almost any sporting event is great to attend if you're hammered. The university has been trying hard to get students more passionate about sports teams. Frats parties are reliable for a good time. I've never been to a sorority party though; never really had to.

All athletic teams tend to spend their time together but this is not to say that athletes and non-athletes are not friends. There are parties almost every night in one place or another but Monday and Tuesday nights are the only ones that can be dead. Most people choose not to be in a relationship but that does not mean that relationships arent around. My closest friends were met in my freshman dorm, freshman classes and on my softball team. There are also many things to do for people who dont want to drink, there is a movie theater in town, a couple resteraunts and nearly every weekend there is an event of some kind put on by the school's many groups.