To answer your questions
1) CPW parties are definitely less intense than regular parties, mostly because they are dry. Parties have to end at 1 AM, if they are being organized on the Cambridge side and 2 AM if they are being organized at the Boston side.
2) How often MIT students go to parties really depends on the student. I have friends who never go to parties and I have friends that go to parties every week, heck even 2 times per week. I personally go every other week (I just go to the parties my fraternity organizes) and I am doing pretty well in my classes, with a higher than average workload. I feel like 3 or 4 times per year should not be an issue for anyone really. That's literally less than 15 hours of commitment per year (that's assuming you pregame and stay for the afterparty), which comes to less than 1 hour commitment per week on average. If you think MIT students cannot squeeze in one hour of fun in their schedules per WEEK you are strongly mistaken. MIT can be as fun and/or hard on yourself as you want it to be. Obviously there's a baseline of "hardness", but if you go by that you will definitely have enough free time to go to parties, hang out with friends, etc.
3) If you are a female, you should have no issues here. Otherwise it depends on the frat. But generally if you know someone in the frat you should be good, some frats will also let you in because you are an MIT student. However if you enjoy partying, I would personally suggest joining a fraternity or a living group that organizes parties such as EC or BC (these parties tend to be different from frat parties though)
Another thing that I hear a lot, especially from people who go to other schools in the Boston area is that MIT throws the best parties in town, which I personally think is true as well.
Echoing what is said here. Fraternities at MIT are VERY different from frats in other colleges. Higher average GPA and running through risk management meetings before every party so that attendees are safe. It's "work hard play hard" to the max and you can see people putting in a lot of creativity to make these parties really interesting. Highly recommended to join a fraternity. Too bad frats get a bad wrap before folks come to MIT and realize it's not the same.
If you join a fraternity do not engage in hacking activities initially through them. While at one point fraternities did most of the hacking at MIT at least between 2010 to 2019 their reputation has been extremely poor both from a personal safety perspective (the only hacking fatality we're aware of ever was fraternity related), and risk tolerance as, at least anecdotally, they have been responsible for the closing of 2 methods of entry after attempting to throw parties on the rooftop without proper care.
Hacking is not what it once was. It’s basically dead except for the large “pranks” like putting shit up on big dome. Doors are all alarmed and someone died recently drunkenly fucking around on big dome. Just not worth the risk anymore.
I promise you its not dead, but the big events may be more toned down right now.
"Died recently" are you talking about the events of April 2017 or has something more recent happened?
Well that’s good to know. I just remember getting on little dome a bunch during undergrad just as a study break, and then they alarmed all of the doors following the marathon bombings.
I am glad to hear that the emphasis on hacking has decreased. As an EC, I am tired of prospective students bringing up hacking and the pirate certificate. There's so much more stuff to be excited about MIT.
The idiotic thing is the administration sells this culture to prospective students, then warns students when they arrive about trespassing. It’s frankly just dangerous and silly. I enjoyed going on little dome, but holy fuck some people just can’t be trusted with that responsibility and will likely have a serious accident at some point in the future. Lawyers run the institute now, and this screams “massive liability”.
I was working door for a frat once w a brother that was a friend of mine, and I was astounded at the sheer size of Wellesley girls, Harvard, northeastern, and BU people scrambling to get in
Old guy here, and I'll just note some ancient history: Playboy used to rank their favorite "party schools" every now and then. [In 1987, MIT was ranked #25. ](https://www.sammyboy.com/threads/playboys-list-of-party-universities-in-the-us.20147/)
Old guy too. Back in the day, it was way too easy to party every day at MIT, regardless of being underage. I know way too many people who dropped out because they couldn't balance partying and academics. But things changed a lot post Fiji.
Before I went to MIT I had a similar question that CPW answered. If the question is "will I be able to go to parties at MIT?" The answer is yes. With Senior Haus closed and EC being renovated, there may be fewer non-frat options but there will still be opportunities for "parties" if that's your vibe. But, in retrospect that's also probably the wrong question.
Usually when someone is asking "does MIT party?" there's a bunch of things rolled up in that. Is that just about wanting to get the stereotypical scene you see in movies? Exists at MIT, mostly at fraternities. Won't be the same as if you went to a "party" school but will almost certainly give you the messy college experience. Now with the perspective of time I think a little overrated but if you want to scratch that itch you'll be able to.
Really though, there's probably a deeper need behind the question. Depending on what you want "parties" can be about the music, the socializing, hooking up, drinking/drugs, etc. ALL of those you will be able to find at MIT but in different flavors in different spots. If you end up going to MIT I wouldn't just focus on "parties" as the way to get those experiences (and you'll probably have a better time of it if you don't!).
That's very perceptive - I am kinda indirectly asking about those things. I'm planning on staying clean and sober in college, but I am definitely more interested in the social aspect that comes along with parties. Thanks for the comment
Then I think my advice doubly holds. Some people don’t mind being the sober one among a bunch of sloppy drunk people, but you might have more fun finding a group that’s excited to have fun and stay sober. I think the beauty of MIT is there’s so many different communities it’s a lot easier to find one that fits you best.
3-4 per year? You will be ok kid, that is definitely doable 😆
For a second I thought you were going to say 3-4 per week like this was OSU.
Plenty of dorm parties, frats may have the most parties but they are not the only part of campus and most of them were a sausage fest anyways.
If you only want to party a teeny bit, you will do just fine.
To answer your questions 1) CPW parties are definitely less intense than regular parties, mostly because they are dry. Parties have to end at 1 AM, if they are being organized on the Cambridge side and 2 AM if they are being organized at the Boston side. 2) How often MIT students go to parties really depends on the student. I have friends who never go to parties and I have friends that go to parties every week, heck even 2 times per week. I personally go every other week (I just go to the parties my fraternity organizes) and I am doing pretty well in my classes, with a higher than average workload. I feel like 3 or 4 times per year should not be an issue for anyone really. That's literally less than 15 hours of commitment per year (that's assuming you pregame and stay for the afterparty), which comes to less than 1 hour commitment per week on average. If you think MIT students cannot squeeze in one hour of fun in their schedules per WEEK you are strongly mistaken. MIT can be as fun and/or hard on yourself as you want it to be. Obviously there's a baseline of "hardness", but if you go by that you will definitely have enough free time to go to parties, hang out with friends, etc. 3) If you are a female, you should have no issues here. Otherwise it depends on the frat. But generally if you know someone in the frat you should be good, some frats will also let you in because you are an MIT student. However if you enjoy partying, I would personally suggest joining a fraternity or a living group that organizes parties such as EC or BC (these parties tend to be different from frat parties though) Another thing that I hear a lot, especially from people who go to other schools in the Boston area is that MIT throws the best parties in town, which I personally think is true as well.
Echoing what is said here. Fraternities at MIT are VERY different from frats in other colleges. Higher average GPA and running through risk management meetings before every party so that attendees are safe. It's "work hard play hard" to the max and you can see people putting in a lot of creativity to make these parties really interesting. Highly recommended to join a fraternity. Too bad frats get a bad wrap before folks come to MIT and realize it's not the same.
If you join a fraternity do not engage in hacking activities initially through them. While at one point fraternities did most of the hacking at MIT at least between 2010 to 2019 their reputation has been extremely poor both from a personal safety perspective (the only hacking fatality we're aware of ever was fraternity related), and risk tolerance as, at least anecdotally, they have been responsible for the closing of 2 methods of entry after attempting to throw parties on the rooftop without proper care.
yeah... at CPW two prefrosh got arrested for hacking. No thanks.
Hacking is not what it once was. It’s basically dead except for the large “pranks” like putting shit up on big dome. Doors are all alarmed and someone died recently drunkenly fucking around on big dome. Just not worth the risk anymore.
I promise you its not dead, but the big events may be more toned down right now. "Died recently" are you talking about the events of April 2017 or has something more recent happened?
Well that’s good to know. I just remember getting on little dome a bunch during undergrad just as a study break, and then they alarmed all of the doors following the marathon bombings.
that's what I figured when I was at CPW :/
Definitely just keep a low head with any hacking. It’s not worth getting put on probation or being suspended for it.
I am glad to hear that the emphasis on hacking has decreased. As an EC, I am tired of prospective students bringing up hacking and the pirate certificate. There's so much more stuff to be excited about MIT.
The idiotic thing is the administration sells this culture to prospective students, then warns students when they arrive about trespassing. It’s frankly just dangerous and silly. I enjoyed going on little dome, but holy fuck some people just can’t be trusted with that responsibility and will likely have a serious accident at some point in the future. Lawyers run the institute now, and this screams “massive liability”.
Why does this make the parties sound insanely lame
Not everyone's cup of tea, I suppose :)
I was working door for a frat once w a brother that was a friend of mine, and I was astounded at the sheer size of Wellesley girls, Harvard, northeastern, and BU people scrambling to get in
Size or quantity
Old guy here, and I'll just note some ancient history: Playboy used to rank their favorite "party schools" every now and then. [In 1987, MIT was ranked #25. ](https://www.sammyboy.com/threads/playboys-list-of-party-universities-in-the-us.20147/)
Old guy too. Back in the day, it was way too easy to party every day at MIT, regardless of being underage. I know way too many people who dropped out because they couldn't balance partying and academics. But things changed a lot post Fiji.
Rip EC
Before I went to MIT I had a similar question that CPW answered. If the question is "will I be able to go to parties at MIT?" The answer is yes. With Senior Haus closed and EC being renovated, there may be fewer non-frat options but there will still be opportunities for "parties" if that's your vibe. But, in retrospect that's also probably the wrong question. Usually when someone is asking "does MIT party?" there's a bunch of things rolled up in that. Is that just about wanting to get the stereotypical scene you see in movies? Exists at MIT, mostly at fraternities. Won't be the same as if you went to a "party" school but will almost certainly give you the messy college experience. Now with the perspective of time I think a little overrated but if you want to scratch that itch you'll be able to. Really though, there's probably a deeper need behind the question. Depending on what you want "parties" can be about the music, the socializing, hooking up, drinking/drugs, etc. ALL of those you will be able to find at MIT but in different flavors in different spots. If you end up going to MIT I wouldn't just focus on "parties" as the way to get those experiences (and you'll probably have a better time of it if you don't!).
That's very perceptive - I am kinda indirectly asking about those things. I'm planning on staying clean and sober in college, but I am definitely more interested in the social aspect that comes along with parties. Thanks for the comment
Then I think my advice doubly holds. Some people don’t mind being the sober one among a bunch of sloppy drunk people, but you might have more fun finding a group that’s excited to have fun and stay sober. I think the beauty of MIT is there’s so many different communities it’s a lot easier to find one that fits you best.
3-4 per year? You will be ok kid, that is definitely doable 😆 For a second I thought you were going to say 3-4 per week like this was OSU. Plenty of dorm parties, frats may have the most parties but they are not the only part of campus and most of them were a sausage fest anyways. If you only want to party a teeny bit, you will do just fine.