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Top 50 Party Schools


Vic Mackey

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East Carolina might seem random for folks who aren’t from around there. But I grew up about two hours away, and went to undergrad my first two years at NC State before finishing up at Texas. And the No. 16 ranking is about right. Huge party school and not exactly known for its academic prowess. We used to call it Easy U or Easy Credit University.

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4 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Any school that has several thousand 18-23 year olds more or less unsupervised is a party school.  Ranking them is stupid. 

To some extent, but I have a friend that went to Harvard who proudly recounts his junior year when he finally got laid.  

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On 3/27/2022 at 6:40 PM, Pato del Muerto said:

Any school that has several thousand 18-23 year olds more or less unsupervised is a party school.  Ranking them is stupid. 

You haven’t lived if you’ve never done Halloween at Ohio U. That’s a recommended road trip for any college age kid. It’s a scene, man. 

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On 3/26/2022 at 11:31 PM, shadow_operative2.0 said:

Chico St, huh. 

I know a guy who went to Chico St. and apparently it's maniacal. It's upstate close to Oregon and basically like the TTU of Cal State in that there is nothing to do but drink for 5 years straight.

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On 3/27/2022 at 5:02 PM, South Austin said:

East Carolina might seem random for folks who aren’t from around there. But I grew up about two hours away, and went to undergrad my first two years at NC State before finishing up at Texas. And the No. 16 ranking is about right. Huge party school and not exactly known for its academic prowess. We used to call it Easy U or Easy Credit University.

The most fun and sloppy people I know are the ECU and James Madison undergrads who somehow figured out how to be charming enough to get decent consulting gigs and then get a good grad degree. It's now how you start, it's how you finish, I guess-- but the party animal never changes their stripes at the end of the day.

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Iowa?  They think they party.  It's a bunch of kids from Chicago who couldn't get into Illinois doing blow in bathrooms of loud dance clubs.  They can't really drink like a rural Midwest native.  Iowa's Top 50 for sure, but they aren't ahead of ISU and they aren't Top 10.

Wisconsin should absolutely be Top 5.  WVU is accurate - those people are insane (in the best way possible).  ISU absolutely should be on this list.  K State should be on this list and ahead of KU - similar dynamic to ISU/Iowa.  Mizzou is utterly average at everything.  Their Homecoming is a good time, I guess.  Texas should be higher on the basis of being in Austin alone.  OK State should be higher than OU.

CU Boulder is a joke.  It is without question the most overrated college town I've ever experienced.  There were more Boomers out when I visited than college kids.

Edited by Al_4_ISU
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17 minutes ago, TurkeyChew said:

I know a guy who went to Chico St. and apparently it's maniacal. It's upstate close to Oregon and basically like the TTU of Cal State in that there is nothing to do but drink for 5 years straight.

That's not true.

chasing pussy...

and shooting things are noble activities.

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6 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Blocking off all of downtown of a city of 24,000 people that is home to a university of 21,000 students. You got me, sounds unrivaled.

‘Grrrr...let me google up some numbers to support my argument.’ It’s not like the things people say on here about 6th Street aren’t public. But, “We’re Texas!” So there. Provincialism über alles.

Ohio State has a student body of 60,000+ and a lot of us made the trip to Athens for Halloween because it was such a great party. I’ve been to a lot of Halloween parties, even hosted some. I’ve been to some legendary Halloween concerts, from New York to Chicago to San Francisco to Atlanta to Las Vegas. Halloween in Athens is pretty unique. If you’re a young person, it’s worth the trip. Don’t go if you’re not in costume. And try to come up with something clever. 

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I know a guy who went to Chico St. and apparently it's maniacal. It's upstate close to Oregon and basically like the TTU of Cal State in that there is nothing to do but drink for 5 years straight.

My wife’s cousin got his brewing degree from Chico. Nothing says party school like majoring in beer.
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57 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

Iowa?  They think they party.  It's a bunch of kids from Chicago who couldn't get into Illinois doing blow in bathrooms of loud dance clubs.  They can't really drink like a rural Midwest native.  Iowa's Top 50 for sure, but they aren't ahead of ISU and they aren't Top 10.

Wisconsin should absolutely be Top 5.  WVU is accurate - those people are insane (in the best way possible).  ISU absolutely should be on this list.  K State should be on this list and ahead of KU - similar dynamic to ISU/Iowa.  Mizzou is utterly average at everything.  Their Homecoming is a good time, I guess.  Texas should be higher on the basis of being in Austin alone.  OK State should be higher than OU.

CU Boulder is a joke.  It is without question the most overrated college town I've ever experienced.  There were more Boomers out when I visited than college kids.

What year?

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12 minutes ago, 66BUFF said:

What year?

2019.  Spent a Saturday night there while school was in session.  Was really surprised by how few kids I saw out and the crowd was much more what you'd see in a regular city.

I've heard it was wild in it's day, but I suspect as it's become overrun with trust fund kids from California who just get stoned and sit in their room, the actual partying has declined from the hey day.  A reputation vote most likely.

Edited by Al_4_ISU
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4 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

2019.  Spent a Saturday night there while school was in session.  Was really surprised by how few kids I saw out and the crowd was much more what you'd see in a regular city.

I've heard it was wild in it's day, but I suspect as it's become overrun with trust fund kids from California who just get stoned and sit in their room, the actual partying has declined from the hey day.  A reputation vote most likely.

Spot on.  It was awesome in the 80's and 90's.  Still decent after a football game but nothing like the old days.

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5 minutes ago, 66BUFF said:

Spot on.  It was awesome in the 80's and 90's.  Still decent after a football game but nothing like the old days.

I remember a Nebraska/CU game in the Big 12 days where the student section had to be removed from Folsom for throwing garbage onto the field.  Doubt that happens today.

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Iowa?  They think they party.  It's a bunch of kids from Chicago who couldn't get into Illinois doing blow in bathrooms of loud dance clubs.  They can't really drink like a rural Midwest native.  Iowa's Top 50 for sure, but they aren't ahead of ISU and they aren't Top 10.
Wisconsin should absolutely be Top 5.  WVU is accurate - those people are insane (in the best way possible).  ISU absolutely should be on this list.  K State should be on this list and ahead of KU - similar dynamic to ISU/Iowa.  Mizzou is utterly average at everything.  Their Homecoming is a good time, I guess.  Texas should be higher on the basis of being in Austin alone.  OK State should be higher than OU.
CU Boulder is a joke.  It is without question the most overrated college town I've ever experienced.  There were more Boomers out when I visited than college kids.

My favorite ISU drinking moment, and I think you were there or near there…was ndsu/ISU tailgate back in 08 when us ndsu fans, of course, beat the ISU students in a fierce game of survivor tippy cup. Except one ISU student took it to us one round and won. After we finally eliminated him and won…he said he had to go take a quiz and left.
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My favorite ISU drinking moment, and I think you were there or near there…was ndsu/ISU tailgate back in 08 when us ndsu fans, of course, beat the ISU students in a fierce game of survivor tippy cup. Except one ISU student took it to us one round and won. After we finally eliminated him and won…he said he had to go take a quiz and left.

That’s quite likely. That game was on a Thursday IIRC. I was still in law school at the time. NDSU is basically a colder version of ISU, IMO. Travel well and drink hard. Midwesterners don’t fuck around.

That was the same year we went to Aggy and played beer pong against Aggy students. They let us shoot first and then never got a shot off because we didn’t miss.
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I don't doubt that many of these small schools rage balls but I'd have a hard time going back and choosing a school that wasn't either in a major city or boasting major sports programs.  House parties can be wild for sure, but I feel like you're missing out on the full party experience if it's not complimented with other options.   

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1 hour ago, 40acredropout said:

I don't doubt that many of these small schools rage balls but I'd have a hard time going back and choosing a school that wasn't either in a major city or boasting major sports programs.  House parties can be wild for sure, but I feel like you're missing out on the full party experience if it's not complimented with other options.   

100% this.

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1 hour ago, 40acredropout said:

I don't doubt that many of these small schools rage balls but I'd have a hard time going back and choosing a school that wasn't either in a major city or boasting major sports programs.  House parties can be wild for sure, but I feel like you're missing out on the full party experience if it's not complimented with other options.   

This is totally true.  Freshman year I went and partied with some HS buddies at Winona State (smaller public school in Minnesota).  Half of my HS went there and I had a freaking blast.  Wild house parties, and a very favorable ratio.  I actually considered transferring there.

Then it was VEISHEA week and I was like "oh, yeah, this is why I go to a big school".  ISU had been very bad at sports that year and I hadn't gotten into the tailgate scene much.  Sophomore year my buddies and I really started tailgating in earnest and I never gave a small school another thought.  Between stuff like that and the difference in the types of concerts we got, the fact that there were a bunch of people I DIDN'T go to HS with, and everything that comes with going to a major school, I know I had a better experience.

And I could always go slum it for a weekend if I wanted.

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9 hours ago, Al_4_ISU said:

This is totally true.  Freshman year I went and partied with some HS buddies at Winona State (smaller public school in Minnesota).  Half of my HS went there and I had a freaking blast.  Wild house parties, and a very favorable ratio.  I actually considered transferring there.

Then it was VEISHEA week and I was like "oh, yeah, this is why I go to a big school".  ISU had been very bad at sports that year and I hadn't gotten into the tailgate scene much.  Sophomore year my buddies and I really started tailgating in earnest and I never gave a small school another thought.  Between stuff like that and the difference in the types of concerts we got, the fact that there were a bunch of people I DIDN'T go to HS with, and everything that comes with going to a major school, I know I had a better experience.

And I could always go slum it for a weekend if I wanted.

I think you are the small school the guy was talking about in his post.

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16 minutes ago, TurkeyChew said:

I think you are the small school the guy was talking about in his post.

Nah.  While not a "major" city, I give credit for reasonable proximity to Des Moines and also P5 affiliation.  

I was thinking schools like Chico, Maine, Bucknell, etc.   Places where the closest even medium sized city is 2+ hours away and the school will never be in national conversation in any sport.  Not saying these kids don't have fun (I know people who went to both Chico and Bucknell), it's just not as good of an overall experience as places that can offer more than the house / fraternity / college bar rager.

Edited by 40acredropout
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I think you are the small school the guy was talking about in his post.

If ISU is a small school there are like 10-15 big ones in the country. It’s the 2nd largest school in the conference currently.

There’s always something downstream I guess.
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On 3/27/2022 at 5:02 PM, South Austin said:

East Carolina might seem random for folks who aren’t from around there. But I grew up about two hours away, and went to undergrad my first two years at NC State before finishing up at Texas. And the No. 16 ranking is about right. Huge party school and not exactly known for its academic prowess. We used to call it Easy U or Easy Credit University.

I know two EC grads.  Both are lunatics.

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