- Yale isn't a huge party school, but we still know how to have fun on a night out.
- Most weekends, we go to frat parties and a local bar.
- Being a smaller campus, we tend to bounce around from place to place since everything is so close.
Like most Yale students, I'm swamped. Classes, political union debates, moot court competitions, improv shows, meetings with advisors, dinners, and brunches all occupy my calendar.
However, I still find time to go out and have fun. Despite the Ivy League's reputation as one big ivory tower, Yale students still love to throw a good party.
As far as I'm aware, there might not be constant project X-level ragers, but weekends at Yale can be much more fun than you might think.
Yale isn't a huge party school, but we still have parties
When choosing a school, the party scene wasn't very high on my priority list. I also didn't want to attend a school where my social life would be on life support. But I didn't put much stock in attending a school known for having a vibrant nightlife or party scene.
Yale seemed like a perfect fit. While touring, I found that the students were social, and there was the requisite infrastructure for me to enjoy myself while still being devoted to my studies. This wasn't a medieval cloister; it was just what you'd expect from any college despite the Ivy League status.
When I finally enrolled as a freshman Yalie, I found that to be true.
There are several different types of parties at Yale
On any given weekend, if my friends and I are going out, odds are I will end up at a frat party at some point. Sigma Chi, AEPi, and Chi Psi are usually safe bets because they are close to campus and host parties frequently. These frat houses are small, and parties are typically in backyards but usually well-attended. They can be fun for a solid hour or two.
Even closer to campus is Toad's Place, a club that hosts Yale-only Wednesday night parties and is free on Saturdays with a Yale ID. Students over 21 can buy drinks at suspiciously low prices.
These frats and Soads (Saturday at Toads) form the backbone when trying to have a good Saturday night out. They might not be the most memorable moments of your night, but they are good places to hop between or stop in.
But some of the best parties on campus have a little more planning. While frats and Soads are reliable, the most memorable parties I've been to are those with a little more anticipation and build-up.
A tradition in the directed studies program is to throw toga parties on our less busy weeks. While usually still in a frat backyard, seeing my classmates in Roman garb makes these parties much more fun.
There are also 12 Pack parties, thrown by a special 12-person suite in Saybrook College, funded by the college. These are rarer, typically have some theme, and aren't actually full of only Saybrook students.
The key is not staying anywhere too long
With all these potential options on any given Saturday, we Yalies should be paralyzed by choice. But in reality, we usually hit up all these options on most nights out.
The key to enjoying any given Saturday is to avoid sticking. Frat parties are fun; the 12-pack is excellent, but with everything on campus only a short walk apart, why stay somewhere the entire night when you can bounce around?
Being willing to explore new venues or hang out with new groups can turn a good night into a great one. I've been introduced to places I didn't even know existed by tagging along with friends I ran into in one spot, and those discoveries make for great stories.
Admittedly, these are freshman tendencies, but that's not a bad thing
As students get older, friend groups get more solid, and students turn 21, so suite parties with drinks and going to bars become more common.
But for all students, the joy of these parties is that they represent the liberation we associate with college more than being enjoyable rituals in and of themselves.
I don't enjoy going out because I like hearing OK music at incredible volumes, standing in a frat house backyard, seeing someone and thinking, "Wow, she is attractive," just to look down at my phone and refuse to make eye contact.
It's enjoyable because it feels like something I — as an 18-year-old college student — should be doing, and I do it with friends. As we go through this ritual together, we can enjoy the fun parts and laugh about its oddities.
Is this a pretentious, intellectualizing way to look at parties? Yes. But what else would you expect from a Yalie?