Why I am tired of people calling Virginia Tech a ‘party school’

I’ve been at Virginia Tech for three years. Even before I was accepted to Tech, it made me cringe every time I heard someone refer to VT as a party school. I know that there is a party culture here, but I also know that a party culture exists at every single university across the country. Big or small. Public or private. I’ve heard crazy partying stories from people at Tech, but also from schools across the nation. While the stereotype of a “party school” implies a large, public university where students like to have a good time and academics maybe aren’t the top priority, there really can be no specific definition.

According to the Princeton Review 2016-2017 list of top party schools, five of the top ten are private universities. Four of those five have less than 10,000 students. So it is clear that so-called party schools, or schools that students enjoy, can be any type of university.

When someone uses the term party school, they are often suggesting that school maybe doesn’t have the smartest, most determined students. To suggest that “party schools” are not as academically recognized as other schools is just wrong. Virginia Tech has been ranked on some lists of “party schools,” but has so many more accredited rankings. We’ve ranked on lists of nations best colleges, happiest students, best quality of life and best campus food. To me, all of these rankings mean so much more than Tech having an active nightlife.

It may seem that bigger schools tend to be “bigger partiers,” but I really don’t understand this stereotype. On every college campus there are going to be students who really enjoy partying, and there are going to be students who hate partying. There are also going to be students who have incredible GPAs and are seriously dedicated to their academics, but also enjoy going out. In the end, it doesn’t matter how many students at a school like partying, or how many don’t. From publicity that partying stories get, especially if something goes wrong, it will always seem like more students at a school are partiers than aren’t.

All of these reasons are why I cringe every time I hear someone describe Virginia Tech as a party school. Yes, students here do go out, and the bar scene is very popular with upperclassmen. But Virginia Tech is ranked 74 of the Best Colleges, according to US News, and has so many other amazing attributes. Calling Tech a party school makes it sound like students priorities are only getting drunk, rather than working hard to maintain Tech’s status as an incredible university and being involved in the many other things college students do. As a Virginia Tech student, I can honestly say that I have never met one person on this campus who only came here to party. If that were the case, they would have failed out of school in their first semester. I see far more people who choose to study on Friday and Saturday nights rather than go out, because their classes are so demanding.

Using the term party school to mean a large public university only perpetuates stereotypes, and doesn’t give credit to where it is due academically. It’s time for people to stop judging how students let off steam, and retire the term “party school.”