We asked RU students what their first frat party was like

When I came to college, I had so many expectations of what parties were going to be like. All I had to base these expectations off were “I’m Shmacked” videos and College movies where the actors playing the students are obviously 35 years old. Basing it off this vast amount of knowledge I thought I had about frat parties, I thought I would get into any party I want, be given an unlimited amount of beer for free (because, why not? It’s a party), and the frats would be huge mansions with pillars in the front.

When I got here, it became clear that frat parties would not be what I had anticipated. My first frat party was not nearly as fun as I thought it would be and it can be summed up in a few short words -Failure to Pre-Game. I thought, ‘of course we’ll go to this party and there will be beer there, and of course the keg won’t be tapped in 5 minutes, and of course there won’t be any line to get in. It will all work out perfectly.’ How wrong I was would make my first frat party, a sober frat party, and if I made a list of the least fun things to do when you are sober, being in a frat basement would be at the top of the list.

I walked downstairs. where my ear drums were immediately torn open, and the sweating began. It seemed there were more people squeezed into this tiny basement than on an LX at 2:30 at Scott Hall. My first instinct was to find the keg; ‘ok there it is, across the whole fucking party of dancing idiots’, I thought to myself, as I proceeded to dance through the party, thinking it would make it easier. ‘Ok I’m at the keg, now where are the cups,’ was my next thought. I slowly realized that was a stupid question once I saw multiple people picking up dirty cups off the table, smelling them, and shrugging to indicate, ‘yeah I probably won’t get sick from drinking out of this.’

From that moment on I knew I had to prepare for ear piercing music, sweat, and I had to, just had to, bring some of my own alcohol in a water bottle next time.

I went out and asked other Rutgers students what their first frat party was like to see if any of their experiences matched my own:

Jon, 20, Junior

“The beer was foam and the jungle juice tasted like shit…but it was lit and an experience I’ll never forget. I also got a brother pissed off somehow. I think I stepped on a kid’s foot so I was terrified. Long story short I was a pussy.”

Becca, 20, Junior

“I guess I would say it’s ironic that typically my first and last frat experiences are the same. I got dressed up real nice and immediately sweat all the work I put in off, because I quickly learned all frats are hot….and crowded, not with brothers of the frat like you would expect, but with girls that are all just in it for some Jungle Juice that’s most likely already gone by the time you get there. However, from my first firat I realized they are also the move because quickly you’ll learn the etiquette of them (or lack there of). It’s awesome because there are no rules there compared to being in a bar where you have to keep up a standard of well being. My first of these parties was pretty overwhelming, and wound up with me getting too excited and drunk too soon. Not sure if anything has changed much though.”

Frankie, 18, Freshman

“I felt like everyone knew I was a freshman, but after a few drinks it didn’t matter to me. I met more people that night than I met all 4 years of high school. But overall, my first frat party was pretty much exactly how I expected it to be. Basically, a bunch of drunk people dancing to “Closer.”

Georgette, 20, Junior

“Walked into my first frat party, expected the complete typical movie portrayal of a frat party and that is what I got – people everywhere, free shots, a tightly packed dance room, and those people who couldn’t hang, slumped on a couch.”

Brendan, 20, Junior

“I tried so hard to act like a seasoned college student that I looked like I had no business being there. Drinking my beer was more mechanical than anything, I took a sip every 10-15 seconds like clockwork and stuck to the pong table because I didn’t even know how to start a conversation with girls in college. The place was packed and the music was so much louder than anything I had experienced at a high school aprty, all I wanted to do was make sure I didn’t get on anyone’s bad side.”

Joanna, 19, Sophomore

Mustafa, 20, Junior

“It was halloween – I was dressed up as a nerd, and we couldn’t get in because we didn’t have 4:1 ratio. They took our girls and left us standing there. Luckily they ended up letting us in for 5’s. As I walked in I was mesmerized by how popping it was. Girls dancing everywhere, plenty of free alcohol, and great music. I partied so hard, drank so much that I ended up blacking out and waking up the next day in my friend’s dorm hungover as fuuuuuuck.”

Alyssa, 20, Sophomore

“All I can remember from my first frat party was that it was unbearably hot. The cops came and wouldn’t let anyone leave….so we snuck out the window.”

Mo, 20, Junior

“I walked in through a back entrance. Once I stepped in the basement there was beer spilling all over me as I walked through a crowded basement trying to get to the bar. Once I finally got to the bar I was neglected by the bartender because I wasn’t a girl. I finally got a drink, chugged it, and then commenced talking to girls. Ended up having a great night once I had a little alcohol in me.”

Amber, 21, Senior

“It was on the first night we went out – first weekend freshman year the whole sha-bang. So we all walk into this frat and at first it was super disappointing, but we waited it out until it was packed. In the middle of dancing I left my group to venture off to find the bathroom. Naturally I go upstairs and start looking around for it. The first door I open had a huge table with all these guys around it doing lines of coke. So little freshman me freezes for a sec and then immediately closes the door and runs back to my friends to tell the tale. 10 minutes later the police broke up the party and you could hear everyone upstairs scrambling around.”