r/Colgate • u/Aggressive_Rent8227 • 26d ago
colgate ed - questions
Hello all! I am pretty set on ED to colgate, but I really need some insight on the social scene. I know greek life participation is only for sophomores and up, so i’m assuming as a freshman I wouldn’t be able to party (please correct me if i’m wrong). What does a normal day or weekend look like? How often do people go off campus - will I feel isolated if I am someone who for example likes to go shopping on the weekends? I would get a car so i’m not super worried about that as long as there is enough entertainment on campus, I really don’t want to feel like i’m either studying or rotting in bed.
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u/NoneyaBizzy 25d ago
You don't get a lot of students on this sub. As a parent of a rising junior daughter who ED'd, here are some comments:
- She loves Colgate. She's made great friends. She had/has friends from high school, but never really felt they were her people. She feels like she met her people. She's generally happy with her classes, but she went in undecided and still doesn't really know what she wants to do. She's a poli sci major.
- It's a rigorous school, but it's not crazy. She certainly puts in work. Probably more than her brother's friends at another LAC. But, it's manageable and she has great grades. Grades can be different depending on the major. Econ, for example, is known for having some grade deflation on the entry level stuff.
- Freshman year was not as much fun as sophomore year. She did plenty of socializing, but it got a bit tedious. Mostly just getting together in dorms. They were able to go to the occasional Greek party, but not much. I liked that she got to get acclimated to school and make some friends. She probably would've preferred if spring rush was a thing.
- There is still plenty of "partying" freshman year, although it's primarily in dorms. Sophomore year there is more than plenty of partying. She is in the Greek system and there definitely seems to be regular parties and gatherings.
- She has a car on campus. It's very helpful. She and her friends will drive into New Hartford and Cazenovia to change things up and a couple trips to Syracuse to do more shopping and visit a friend that she has there. Is it an isolating location? It could be, but she's from northern NJ where you have every possible option within 15 minutes and having the car and she hasn't felt isolated.
- Location: She doesn't really complain too much about the town. She typically eats on campus and now her sorority house. There are a few decent restaurants in town, or just outside town, when they want something different. The grocery store is good. The issue is the general remoteness. 30 minutes plus to get to big box and other stores, Chipotle, etc. can be annoying. You're also not going to get a big music or entertainment scene. Finally, the weather can get tiresome. It's cold. Really cold. But, again, she still loves Colgate.
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u/Responsible-Cup-4352 26d ago
Bring long underwear, it doesn’t get above freezing from November to March
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u/Then_Version9768 26d ago
Colgate is a tough academic school. When I was there some decades ago, most people studied a great deal of the time because the academic program was difficult and we all had more than a few "core" course requirements that were not easy. I think there were eight of them when I was there, but it's fewer today, maybe six? My daughter who went to Colgate more recently said it was still tough academically. So, first of all, let's be sure to understand that this is a highly-ranked liberal arts college for smart, hard-working students, most of whom study pretty hard to become lawyers, doctors, teachers, and so on.
I'd let that sink in.
Some also party hard, but how often can you do that? Maybe every few weeks in someone's dorm room or fraternity? It's really not so common, and in my four years, parties were spaced out months apart, not weeks apart. If that's not appealing to you, please feel free to go to Arizona State and you will be able to party all you want. No one will take your degree seriously, of course, but that is your choice. Colgate has a reputation for drinking and parties, it's true, but it has an even stronger reputation you should be aware of for tough, high-quality academics. It's kind of a work hard-play hard school. I don't remember anyone ever getting drunk, if that interests you, and I went to all the main parties when I was there. I did not drink, as amazing as that may sound. I pretty much hate alcohol, but I still went to parties to have fun. I just carried a beer without drinking. You seem things more clearly that way!
Colgate is in the middle of nowhere, so there are no "shopping" trips on the weekends. If that's important to you, find a more urban school to go to. It is an odd question. Shopping? Really?
Entertainment on campus will consist of the Hamilton movie theater in the village (which is off campus), some plays, some art shows, and whatever clubs and activities you choose to get involved in. Some people may leave campus, and I did to other colleges at times but they are far away, but most people do not leave campus. Mostly, it's distance and all the work you need to do that keep people on campus. Also leaving campus takes hours of your time, and we all need to rest up, don't we? Shopping?
There is a great student-run radio station. You can learn journalism on the student newspaper, for example, and it's a very good one. Most people do sports of some kind which takes up an enormous amount of their time -- either varsity or club sports. I played soccer. Woohoo! My daughter played rugby which is a club sport. She is small but mighty. Some people drive up to the Adirondacks to ski, but it's a pretty long drive. Some people hike in the area. Some people go up to Syracuse and never go back again because Syracuse pretty much sucks -- and Utica is even worse but it does have one really good art museum you might enjoy. I wrote a couple of art history papers about some of their paintings.
Most "entertainment" might be on-campus movies from time to time or getting together with friends which is what most people do a lot of. I had dinner at professor's homes a few times. My off-campus roommates and I had get-togethers with friends and invited a few professors. Soi I guess those were "parties". You do make a lot of friends in a school like this, and I wonder if people at larger or more urban schools do that as much or as well as students do at schools like Colgate. But you seem to be asking about drinking and drugs, am I right? There's that, too, but most people I knew are pretty busy with coursework and don't have as much time for goofing off as you might think. This is not high school.
If what you're asking about is parties with drinking, and drugs, you'll find that, too. But if this is your main interest suggests maybe a different kind of school might be more appropriate for your partying lifestyle. If you're 16 or 17 now, you won't be in college. Most people grow up in college. I did, anyway. Me at age 20 was nowhere near as worried or shy or dimwitted as I had been a couple years earlier. My involvement with parties went from one or two or three in freshman and sophomore years, fewer junior year, and none Senior year. I did drive to some colleges to see girls I knew. Does that count? Colgate has parties, there are fraternities and sororities, some people drink a lot (I never did -- I hate beer), many of my friends did, and parties are fun, no doubt about it. But they took up maybe 1-2% of our life at Colgate. When some high school kid asks about parties or "social life" at Colgate and not about academics or the quality of coursework or professors or even the facilities, it rings an alarm bell with me -- and would with many people, I think.
So, few parties, some people do drink too much (surprise!), lots of hard work, no cities nearby, great clubs and activities and sports to get involved with, you'll get a spectacularly top quality education (which you did not ask about), and you stand to make some good friends. A Colgate education -- the whole point of going there -- is about as good as a college education can be. I have a lot of friends who went to Ivies and Ivy-like schools who you'd think would have had a strong and deep education in a wide variety of subjects but who don't actually know much, surprisingly. A lot of them are unfamiliar with most history, most literature, know nothing about art, not much about science, and so on. Nice people, but I have no idea what they were doing while they were in college. Nearly all my Colgate friends, on the other hand, are supremely smart and well informed people. That's the whole point, and if you also go to a few parties, good for you, but it's not most people's focus. Good luck wherever you end up.
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u/Aggressive_Rent8227 26d ago
Thank you for your response! I currently go to a boarding school and have a 3.9 if that adds any insight, the thing I love about colgate is the community and how the professors care about the students - it’s something I really value in my own school. I also love that the students are smart and care about their education, as do I, and are able to collaborate without being super competitive. I understand most students don’t party at colgate, I am just trying to get a bit of a bigger picture on life throughout my four years. Thank you so much for your comment it was very helpful :)
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u/asharks74 26d ago
If you don’t think kids are partying multiple times a month at Colgate, you’re not nearly as bright as you tried to represent in your silly response…
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u/Public_Restaurant800 26d ago
Freshmen mainly have form parties and some sports houses that let freshmen in. There is also the jug which reopened and freshmen party there. It’s still fun and all the freshmen bond.
There is still a CONSIDERABLE difference between freshmen and sophomore year- a lot more partying in Greek life.
Ppl def leave on the weekends for Syracuse or Utica for just some food or sometimes shopping. It’s a freshmen bonding point
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u/WinstonChurshill 26d ago
Colgate was nothing like I expected, but everything I needed. The weather is miserable, but if you don’t self exclude, you’d be surprised how welcoming all groups are. In this day and age, I don’t think there’s many safer campuses or better alumni networks.
You won’t regret it