At ASU the dorm life is a lot of fun. You meet so many people living in the dorms and you meet your best friends there too. I lived in the Palo Verde East dorm in the North Campus community, which als includes Palo Verde West and Main, and Manzanita. The dorm experience that I had was a little less than perfect but I wouldn't trade it for anything. In the PV East dorm I met people that will be friends for life. The first room that I lived in was on the 3rd floor and the whole floor pretty much became a big family. We'd leav our doors open and people would just come in and out to hang out and relax. Then when I moved to the 2nd floor of the building I met the people who are now my best friends. When I met my suite mate, Leta, we were best friends right from the beginning. And it was because of her that I met the guys who lived next door to her, who also became two of my best friends. My friends and I do everything together, the six of us are basically a family at this point and if we could have found a six bedroom house we would have all lived together. At 2am I don't think any of us are ever asleep, even on weekdays. We're always up late watching movies or studying for exams together or just hanging out and talking about random stuff.
The dating scene at ASU is huge at ASU. I think we even had a singles page on facebook. It was pretty much go after whoever you want, whether you wanted a hookup with no strings attached or a serious relationship, you could find it at ASU. I met my boyfriend at ASU when I played for the women's collegiate water polo team. He played for them men's club team and our two teams went on a tubing trip down the salt river. We spent the whole six hour trip talking about just about anything we could think of, and by the next weekend we were dating. So a great way to meet people is to get involved in extra curricular activites that you enjoy because you'll meet someone who shares some of the same interests as you do so you already have a connection.
Now for the party scene. Yes there are a lot of parties, most of which are hosted by the fraternities or sororities. But other people have house parties or just invite a few friends over to have fun. AS for how often people party, it really depends on who you ask. If you ask a fraternity brother, its every night. But if you asked me, its usually only on the weekends. But even if you're not into drinking there's always something fun to do. At Tempe Marketplace, which is just a mile away from campus there's a movie theater that you can go to, or there are a number of bowling allies in the area which are always fun to go to on a saturday night for glow in the dark bowling, just make sure you make a reservation before you go.