Spring break, beer pong and frat parties: What it’s like to go to uni in the US

As an American at an English university, I constantly get asked what college is like in the US – “Oh my god, is it just like in the films and on TV?”

The truth is, I don’t fucking know. I missed out on things like spring break, beer pong, American football games – all the common American stereotypes. My friend Francine, though, does study in America. She’s at a gorgeous university in California called Santa Clara.

Set just outside of San Francisco, the senior Business Marketing and Management student decided to tell us what it’s really like to study in the US.
Hi Francine. So your family is Dutch – how often do you get Europeans quizzing you about what it’s like to go to uni in the states?

My Dutch family definitely thinks we all live in a spring break movie, which to a certain extent is actually true – but it’s not quite as crazy. Mass media definitely plays way too large a role in defining what people think of US universities.

We still live normal lives, we still just chill sometimes on Friday nights, cry with our best friends, and go to the library for three days straight. We just also happen to party our faces off every chance we get.

Do you think your high school experiences fit the perception of American movies like Mean Girls?

Mine was pretty close to that model actually. We drank every weekend, (occasionally) before school if there was a massive event on campus, and sometimes we smoked during the school day. None of us ever hung out without being somewhat intoxicated.

There were totally mean girls, douchey lacrosse bros, and impersonal teachers. The Birds and the Bees (the book Mean Girls was based on) was actually written by a school psychologist from the area I grew up. In some ways, yes, Mean Girls does ring true. I was bullied quite a bit, but weirdly also considered fairly popular –  it was like no matter where you were on the social ladder people were just cruel.

The kids who weren’t popular were treated worse of cours. I remember one time a kid got his car covered in tobacco dip because the bros thought it was too nice for how much of a loser he was. Don’t get me wrong, there were parts that were amazing – but we were too young, had too much alcohol, and insisted on being mean to each other too often.

Staples such as the lunch room, exclusive parties, random sex, football games, cheerleaders, and wild house parties all were a thing at my high school.

What’s your typical night out like?

Senior year has been slightly crazier than the last three years but typically: Sunday and Monday are chill and we just smoke and watch a movie. Tuesday is hut night and we all go to our local bar, Wednesday is all frat parties, Thursday is the other bar night (the shittier bars), Friday is frat parties, and Saturday is always reserved for day parties out in the California sun.

The frat parties are probably just as crazy as you imagine. We have DJs come and play outside in the back yards of the frat houses, and the guys make elaborate bars/pools/decorations to fit the theme of the party. One party was jungle themed so they built a huge pool and covered the whole yard with palm trees and blow up animals. Another party they built a huge maze that had different drinking games throughout the maze. I mean genuinely these guys should be winning awards for their dedication.

What did you do about the drinking age – was it all frat parties until you turned 21?

I’ve always had a fake. There was never a time I didn’t have a fake to be honest. In college I always got into the bars anyway so it didn’t really matter. Sophomores (2^nd years) and freshmen definitely go to the bars less and frat parties more. Once you’re older you go to less frat parties – my friends and I are just a bit of an exception and we just go to everything.

We’re banned from doing initiations, which you guys call hazing – what’s that like?

My school does not haze sororities at all. We can’t even have scavenger hunts because it’s considered hazing – really we just get showered with presents from the older girls. The frats do haze, but it’s not nearly as bad as other schools.

Here they have to do things like eat lunch with a blow up doll, bring a care bear to class, or just in general look like an idiot, plus of course they drink a lot. Frats at other schools definitely do haze much more. Indiana University was just involved in a scandal for forcing its pledges to eat out a stripper.

Other things that happen in the South is making girls sit on washing machines and having frat guys circle their fat, making guys do elephant walks, or making everyone drink so much they throw up and then making them drink the chunder. My school is a bit of the exception to this rule – in general the West coast is much nicer in terms of Greek life.

Are you just constantly at the beach and chilling in the sun? 

I tend to stay in the “Santa Clara bubble” meaning I don’t venture too far away from campus – and the beach is about a 45 minute drive.

We do go sometimes. Like for example we have an annual beach volleyball tournament with the Sigma Pi frat and we definitely go on adventures to the red woods, but overall we stay around Santa Clara. That being said, it is literally sunny every damn day and girls are always in their bikinis at Saturday parties or at the pool. You honestly can’t walk down the street without seeing a palm tree.

What’s your favourite thing about your university?

My favourite thing is how incredibly nice West coasters are. Fuck the East coast. People here care about you and are overall much nicer. I’ve made wonderful friends and I value them the most here.

Overall, binge drinking is incredibly prevalent at US colleges and depending on where you are in the country, the type of environment you have is very different. Boulder is drastically different from Vanderbilt and both are not at all like Indiana University – it’s all quite different.

Santa Clara, nicknamed “Claradise”, is a wonderful safe haven from the mean universities filled with the more pompous and douchey people. For that I will always be grateful.