Stanford University Top Questions

What are the most popular student activities/groups?

asa

ski

Rebecca

Football!

Danny

Everyone at Stanford knows the marching band, LSJUMB. They are a high-spirited marching band that play at sporting events and it's something everyone looks forward too. Other popular student activities/groups include the a capella groups and dance groups. Their performances attract hundreds of students.

Yasmine

Stanford has a wide array of student groups - some of the most popular are Green oriented (e.g. SSS - Students for a Sustainable Stanford) and range from advocacy oriented (e.g. MAAN: Men Against Abuse Now) to debate centric (e.g. AHA: Atheists, Humanists, and Agnostics) to more artistic groups (e.g., acting, juggling, and dance groups). It's easy enough to start your own group and get funding - I know from personal experience as co-president of a food justice group on campus for two years. The difficulty lies in garnering enough help from members to make the group successful. It's a common complaint from student group presidents (me included) that unless Stanford students have an official high ranking title in the group, things won't get done. This goes for the more advocacy oriented groups than the artistic ones. Speaking of artistic groups - Stanford has an AWESOME tight-nit dance community. As a member of a salsa group on campus, and as someone who takes part in alot of the dance events at Stanford, I can say that if you love dance (or want to learn!) Stanford's a great place to be. In terms of the social scene - there's definitely a place for everybody, but Stanford isn't known to be that "happening" if you're into clubs and bar hopping (which I am, so that was a bit of a disappointment for me :)). When people refer to Stanford as a bubble it's in large part because students tend to stay on campus for their social needs. And most students are happy with what Stanford has to offer. Every week there's at least one or two campus wide parties in dorms or on "the row" (the upperclassman houses considered to be the best place to live) by co-ops, fraternities, and sororities. Those who are feeling motivated will head to the city (SF) about 40 minutes away by car, or downtown Palo Alto (10 minutes), though the latter has fewer options. For those who don't drink, you'll be happy to know that around 1/5th of Stanford students don't drink, and there's very little peer pressure to do so (I know from personal experience). If you want to have fun on the weekends without drinking and hard core partying it's very easy! As mentioned before there's a great dance community which throws socials on the weekends. Additionally, many Stanford students can enjoy relatively tame nights with their friends in their dorm rooms. All in all, Stanford's social scene is pretty good. I should repeat, though, that if you enjoy more exciting and eclectic nights out, Stanford isn't exactly the right place - largely due to the "bubble" phenomenon and its distance from SF.

Cameron

The social life at Stanford, though really big and rambunctious, is pretty unidimensional. Either you get f*cked up on the weekend, every weekend, or you sit in your room and study. It's pretty much hit or miss that way. Frats and sororities are the major social events on campus for freshmen, but as you get older it is less so.

Jessie

A walk around the student activities fair in White Plaza.

Paige

Social life is friday and saturday night when people start drinking at 10 go out to a frat party and home paired up with some other loser by 12:30 or else just giving up on the night. Partying is self-medication not something to enjoy for it's own sake

Sasha

One thing that Stanford students have to lean, is that there is always something going on and one cannot attended every event. Around the year there are speeches of famous people held in auditoriums on campus and as a student with limited spare time one had to decide very carefully which events to attend. So no worried, there is enough going on. Freshman students usually live in dorms with sizes between 80 to 150 students. By the end of the first quarter one got to know all there people and many more outside of the residence. This is a very good way to get to know a lot of people in very short time and allows for a vivid social life in ones vicinity. Parties are usually held at by fraternities, ranging from pure drinking parties to dancing parties. Additionally every imaginable interest has a student group on campus (and when there isn't, just create it!) So whatever your interests are, you will find people with just the same interest right on campus and get to pursue your activity further. Or you might decide to dive into something completely new by taking up an activity you might have never dreamed of before.

Tate

Freshman Year Social Life: Trying to get beer at frat parties, playing beer pong. Very liberal policy at Stanford where RA's are more hands off in enforcing no underage drinking, although because of a consistent stream of hospital visits for alcohol poisoning, this may change in future years. Sophomore Year: Some frat parties, hanging out with the close group of friends you made freshman year, exploring off campus more frequently. If you're into co-ops, co-op parties (way better than frat parties). Junior Year: Mostly hanging out with close group of friends + off-campus activities. Hosting room parties. Senior Year: Often more focused on academics, honors thesis, graduate school, find a job, etc. But also a lot of fun senior events to attend (formals, Pub Night). Summary: Stanford is really social, you won't lack for opportunities to party here.

Sarah

The fact that Stanford is so isolated makes having a balanced social life hard. Unless you want to go to frat parties weekend after weekend, there is not a lot to do on weekends. You have to show a lot of initiative to get off campus or organize your own social gathering, which can be hard, especially for students without cars and freshman who don't know many people.

Luke

There are things for everyone! I wish there was more of a social space for people to hang out on campus besides dorms at night. We have a new Student Union but it is very dry so far. It seems that most things on campus are structured so that you can work in them, not just hang out. That is a bit of a downer. People who party usually go out Friday or Saturday. If you party harder, you go out Friday and Saturday. Some will start partying on Thursday, and the big drinkers start Wednesday. I would say you get off campus once every two-four weeks during your first two years. It also really depends on if you have a car. There is a ton of stuff to do within an hour from campus, but very little five minutes away. If you have a car- go explore! Athletic events are very popular, but I have friends on almost every athletic team so it makes it hard to go to everything because every team is so good. Many who date date seriously for a long time. Then you have the casual daters/people who like to hook up. Then there is a big majority who don't date. It is tough to date because everyone is just so busy.

Jordan

No matter what kind of social scene you're into, you'll find it here. Its all what you make of it.

Jordan

My closest friends are almost all people who live very close to me, but that's more of a coincidence than anything. Basketball is a big deal as the team is usually pretty good. People party as much as they want to which ranges from never to nightly and it's accepted either way.

Peaches

Frat parties are, of course, very well attended. Drinking is very prevalent, but there doesn't seem to be much pressure to drink. I have friends that go out every weekend, some that only drink wine occasionally, and some who don't drink at all. Personally, I usually only go to band parties. Social dance (swing, waltz, etc) is pretty popular, the introductory classes can be hard to get into. There are a lot of traditions on campus like Full Moon on the Quad, Big Game, fountain hopping, and late night. The band is instrumental in many of these and is a tradition unto itself. Join Band! We love you.

Carrie

I really enjoyed my social life on campus. It is very campus-centric -- Palo Alto is NOT a college town -- but that also makes it really fun and interactive. I also met my boyfriend of 5 years on campus, so it is possible to build good relationships here.

John

A piece of advice for those considering a school like Stanford: Get out there and find activities and clubs that are interesting to you. Seek out people who challenge your views, and engage both students and professors in meaningful conversations. Go to basketball games. Go fountain hopping. If you're having difficulties finding your place at Stanford, talk to your Resident Fellow (RF) or your RA -- they took those jobs to help you!

Ben

Saturday-night fun without drinking is hard to come by; there are parties in frats and co-ops, and people throw room parties in dorms and houses pretty frequently. The dating scene isn't anything to write home about, and though gays and lesbians can be very open about their sexuality, the LGBQ scene isn't very much fun. Also, there are an extraordinary number of closeted gay men- I don't know why they don't come out, but probably at least half the gays on campus are in the closet (not many people will mention this because they simply aren't aware of it, but believe me, I know). Meeting people is pretty easy, but close friends tend to be made in freshmen dorms because that's where people have time to spend with each other. Depending on who you're friends with, weekends can start Wednesday night, Friday or Saturday (or never, if your friends don't like to party). There are a fair number of traditions- Band Run, fountain hopping- but participation is voluntary. Extracurriculars are numerous, loads of fun and totally worth getting involved with, but it can be really hard to balance them with academics. It's all about choosing carefully and investing time well- with parties, friends and extracurriculars.

Gene

Social activities are really diverse at Stanford. There are people who have weekend "study parties", and there are people who go to SF/Palo Alto to party. Then there are the campus "frat" parties, and then there are more laidback room parties. All in all, there's a lot going on... and pretty much whoever you are, you should be able to find people with similar interests. I think if we had more student bars or clubs, however, the social scene would have been a lot more active!

Parker

People like sports. People like drinking. People like doing their homework. That covers most of the bases. The other sliver that most Stanford students don't take part in, includes world class lectures, film screenings, poetry readings, fantastic hiking, and some of the most beautiful hills in the entire world.

Cameron

There are always enthusiasts for every event, from football games to guest speakers to dorm cookie decorating. Dorms are great for social life; there have been many instances when I'm staying up through the night just chilling with people and getting to know them. Stanford traditions are also a great way to bond with people. Big Game (Stanford vs. Cal football game) is a huge rallying force within the entire Stanford community. There is a huge range of social activity at Stanford. Even though there aren't nearby clubs to a large extent, people always find fun, non-drinking things to do on weekends, like get a band together and jam, or watch a movie on a big screen in the history corner, or play capture the flag in the middle of the night.

Reese

Popular groups: the Stanford band, frats/sororities, intramural sports. I was involved in the co-op community where we grew our own veggies and lived organically. I was minorly involved in the film society, but largely as a supporter of their projects, and not as a participant. Students in dorms sometimes leave their doors open - it depends on the dorm. Athletics are very popular. Guest speakers/theatre are a bit less popular. The dating scene is confusing and odd, but that's probably because students are young and unsure of their needs and wants. I met my closest friends in my dorms and in classes. If I'm awake at 2AM on a Tuesday, I'm watching Saved By The Bell with roomies. Traditions: Full Moon on the Quad, the Band Run, (others I'm forgetting). People party to different degrees: it could be 5 nights a week, or not a single one. Frats/Sororities seem to be important, but I wasn't in one. On a Saturday night, you could study. Off-campus, you can visit San Francisco and take a breather from the bubble. And then return.

Torry

Students do really leave their doors open in the dorms, although we are discouraged from doing so. Theft does happen, and people do lose Ipods and laptops here and there. There is always some event to go to so it's impossible to be truly bored at Stanford; if you're bored, it's probably cuz you're procrastinating and too lazy to get up and do anything else. People are up at all hours of the night, and they can be doing anything, from studying, to partying randomly, to playing video games, to just talking. Weekend/weekday schedules are much less rigid in college than they are in high school or later in life. Some people study on Saturdays, some party on Wednesdays. If students leave campus, they usually have a purpose, like shopping at Walmart or Target. There isn't much to do in the town of Palo Alto. So people go to San Francisco, which is a cool city.

Nicole

Student groups are definitely a younger student dominated thing. Every freshmen joins every single group, but by senior year you realize that student groups are actually relatively inefficient and not worth your time, and you would rather focus more on your academics and save your free time to be with the people you care about. At least that is true for me and my friends. Students in dorms, at least freshmen dorms, definitely leave their doors open, and the same can be said for the coop communities. It is a very open place, and lots of people like to hang out in common areas and socialize. Events and speakers are definitely popular, but amongst certain groups of people. You will see the same crowd at the athletic events every time, and the same crowd at the Ethics in Society events every time. Dating is pretty non-existent, but I think that is a more general trend true of our generation (I could be wrong about that). People date seriously, but there is not a whole lot of casual, let's go out to dinner on friday or maybe a movie kind of dating. People party as much as they want to. There are always things happening on Wed-Sat nights, and Sun, Mon and Tues tend to be more studying nights, but people are more or less involved in the party scene depending on their preferences. Off campus I love to go into San Fransisco or Berkeley and study in a coffee shop or go to a museum, or go out for dinner and a few drinks. We also go camping/hiking a lot, go to the beach, go to concerts, etc. There is no end to the awesome things that can be done off campus in this area, although it definitely helps if one person in the group has a car because public transportation is not ideal. There is plenty to do on a Saturday night that doesn't involve drinking, including watching movies, seeing theatre performances either on campus (tons of great theatre stuff on campus) or off, hanging out with friends, going hot-tubbing, etc. I don't feel like there is any unnecessary pressure to drink in order to be social or have fun, and I feel like there are lots of creative people who do fun spontaneous things that don't involve any alcohol. There is a social scene for whatever you like, and if there isn't, you just create it. People are always down to go along with some plans you make that sound fun and interesting.

Jon

Freshman dorm is where you meet everyone. Alcohol policy is relatively loose compared to UC's, so people hang out and get to know each other. Friends for life are made in the freshman hall. Freshman year at STanford is summer camp. Flicks! movies every sunday night. People drink and yell at the screen during the movie. They throw paper. There's always a cartoon first. I was also in the Band freshman and sophomore year. They're crazy. lsjumb.stanford.edu. Crazy costumes and offensive halftime shows, they've been banned from major airlines and universities. I also met great friends doing hillel stuff, friday night shabbat dinners and israel speakers from Ehud Barack to Thomas Friedman. Met Muslims from all over the world I would not have had the chance to meet otherwise. I lived in a co-op junior and senior year. Vegetarian food. Consensus meetings. People who had traveled all over the world. Highest concentration of earth systems majors I had ever seen, including the earth systems building. A little crazier than I signed up for but good memories. Stanford was the 2nd university in the nation to divest from the worst companies doing business with Darfur. My buddy Ben Elberger wrote a 50-page divestment advocacy report to present to the Board of Trustees about the details of each company and their weapons-oil agreements with Sudan's government. I wrote about a paragraph of it. We raised tons of money. Apparently there's still a genocide. I saw a job posting once for "Beat Bush, Get Paid" or something like that and

Wyatt

I'm president of the Survey club, where we fill out surveys for two hours once a week

Tristan

Stanford is a competitive Division I school, so there are a lot of athletes. There are so many random clubs and organizations on campus, though, that most people seem to be involved in something or other, even if there’s not an athletic bone in their body. There are a lot of concerts and shows, from major productions at Frost Amphitheatre to little music gigs at the CoHo. It’s nice to have activities to break up your studies at night, and Stanford was good about that. The frat scene was also pretty big, but they are certainly not the only places to party. The Row, a main social spot, is made up of co-ops and theme houses as well. There are often dinners and theme parties that have nothing to do with the frat scene, but will happen alongside them.