Princeton University Top Questions

Princeton's social life is getting better, but to be honest, I found it rather one-dimensional. Even now, if you don't join an eating club or know several people in a club that you can always go out with, your options are quite limited. There aren't really bars or clubs in town that people go to, and New York is too far away to visit often. 99{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of "going out" consists of walking up and down The Street and picking from one of about a dozen parties that never really change. That's not to say that it can't be fun, but it can get old. And going to The Street involves alcohol unless you consciously abstain. It's not like you can't create your own fun without drinking, but there's not a huge dry contingent on campus.

Dodgeball tournament is one of the largest events. It starts at 5pm and goes until 2am.

View of the gym lobby during the Dodgeball tournament, with free food and students milling about to check the brackets.

View of the small teams currently playing in the Princeton Dodgeball tournament, some of the smaller clubs.

The Princeton Dodgeball tournament is a big annual event on campus.

Aquina talks about her extracurriculars, which include figure skating and volunteering.

Bracket for dodgeball tournament.

Princeton students lovingly refer to the isolated campus phenomenon as being in the Orange Bubble. Mostly, they use this phrase when making excuses for why they have no idea what's going in the real world after extended periods at Princeton. More than anything, this demonstrates Princeton's ability to grab and completely hold your attention while attending. On top of the classes and large (and often interesting) workloads, Princeton offers innumerable opportunities for extracurricular activities, entertaining events, and general interaction with peers (and faculty). To give you an idea of why I was never bored there, here's a sample of my extracurricular schedule: Chapel choir (Monday and Thursday evenings, Sunday mornings), Bible study (Tuesday evenings), Paideia (Wednesday evenings), Kindred Spirit a cappella (Thursday evenings), Music Outreach [a cappella at local nursing homes] (Saturday afternoons), Ultimate frisbee with friends (Friday or Saturday afternoon), general chilling with friends/on campus performances/plays/movies (Friday and Saturday evenings), Free Writing Hour (Sunday afternoons), ... And there were also more long-term events, like tutoring, writing and editing for student magazines, and organizing the Undergraduate Research Symposium. On breaks, I found myself drawn into the break-trips organized by the Student Volunteer Council. These were week-long volunteering opportunities in places like Alabama (in the wake of Katrina) and Washington D.C. For those unsatisfied with the local fare, Princeton also offers a wide variety of study abroad programs. Does Princeton have a large drinking culture? Yes. Definitely. If anything, it is underestimated. The main social scene revolves around going to the eating clubs every Thursday and Saturday night to drink, party, and perhaps dance. I don't drink, but that didn't stop me from having fun at college. The key is to find others who are interested in more varied activities, and believe me, they're out there. While I did go to the eating clubs occasionally, to dance and talk to friends, I often opted for other activities: anything from board games to late night capture the flag to watching a movie. (Small room parties were also a popular option.) The statistics show that eating clubs do tend to divide campus, particularly along socioeconomic class lines, although the recent move to provide financial aid for eating club expenses may do something to mitigate the situation. On the other hand, the University instituted a four-year residential college system in the fall of 2007 which may provide a popular alternative to belonging to an eating club. I belonged to an eating club in my junior year (Charter Club) and was "independent" in my senior year. Independent students neither belong to an eating club nor use the University meal plan. There are a number of great options for independent students: they can cook for themselves (they are given first choice of rooms with full kitchens during room draw), eat out every day :), or join a campus co-op, which consists of groups of (~20) students who take turns cooking for one another on a weekly to monthly rotation. The costs of eating and cooking drop tremendously in the co-op situation, since you can buy all of your food in bulk and only need to do the cooking occasionally. I had many friends in co-ops, and they loved it. I chose the cook for myself option in my senior year, and I found that this suited me well. My main reason for not joining an eating club in my senior year was the expense. The bill for Charter club is rather hefty, and I was paying out of pocket. In addition, a number of my friends spontaneously decided to go independent. That's an interesting point to note: your choice of eating option may be largely determined by your group of friends.

There are many extracurricular opportunities at Princeton. The club sport scene is great for making friends and is much less stressful than high school sports. Everyone realizes that your priority in college is schoolwork and is very understanding. Having been a member of the Princeton University Band, I can say that the sporting events are not particularly well-attended. This is not Notre Dame for football or Duke for basketball. You can still go to the games and enjoy yourself (especially as part of the very friendly and off-the-wall band), but you might be one of the few Princeton students in the audience.

People party a lot, but that's college. The eating clubs are where it all goes down and they are possibly the most fun organizations in the world. Frats and sororities exist but they're extremely low key. Sports teams have as much social importance as your average frat. Most socially aware girls do a sorority, but compared to your average southern sorority, Princeton sororities are like the girl scouts. They're just a way for fun girls to hang out with other fun girls. If you want to get hammered every night of the week you'll be in good company, but if you never want to alcohol to touch your lips then you'll be fine too. No one goes off campus for much except to New York and Philly which is pretty common. Those trips could include anything from club hopping to visiting the Met to seeing a Yankees game. There are too many traditions to go into, but in short, it's a fun time here.