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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Are there any good schools left that are actually fun and aren’t relentlessly grim? By “fun,” I don’t mean just pure parties (though that’s part of it). I also mean really engaging intellectual stimulation, the ability to actually have debates as opposed to heavily censored speech, parties that don’t require signed releases at the door, dorms that aren’t as quiet as crypts, students that can hear an opinion they don’t like without having tantrums, and a diversity of smart quirky kids with widely varied interests, not just armies of ruthless Tracy Flicks. In other words, speaking as someone who went to Stanford back when it was actually fun, [i]not[/i] this:

https://stanforddaily.com/2022/10/24/inside-stanfords-war-on-fun-tensions-mount-over-universitys-handling-of-social-life/

My kid is in 9th grade and although an excellent student in a hard school, does not have any interest in the hoops required for Stanford admission now (and I fully support that; Stanford is insufferable now from everything I hear). By the same token, the Ivies are out. But I would love my kid to find a place that is fun the way that college used to be fun: yes, hard work, yes challenging academics, but also just plain fun. Does that exist any more or has that concept for college been totally destroyed?[/quote]

Did you have "fun" in college? How about your alma mater to start with?[/quote]

OP went to Stanford, which has lost its fun.[/quote]

I am OP and yes, this is unfortunately correct.

I had such an amazing time there, but I recently visited Stanford and walked around the campus on a Friday night. I was absolutely shocked at how dead-quiet it was, not a single sound to be heard, nobody out and about. A crypt would have had more life.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far! [/quote]Hmm. I was at Harvard a few weeks ago and there were plenty of people out about having a good time. Maybe this is a Stanford thing?[/quote]Pffft. It's a Fox News thing.[/quote]

I’m OP and I’ve literally never seen Fox News except when it’s on in a waiting room. And I’ve been a registered Democrat my whole life.

But nonetheless, Stanford was shockingly quiet when I visited, and has been the last few times. I remember Friday nights full of kids running around the campus, going from dorm to dorm, hanging out at (and in!) the fountains, etc. I remember CoHo being so crowded that there was a line out the door, with lively intellectual conversations happening at tables around us and live music. Meanwhile the last time I was there, I walked straight into a dead-silent CoHo to get a drink. It was filled with kids with AirPods in their ears, silently working. It might as well have been Green. It was a depressing scene.

This isn’t just me. It’s bad enough that the student newspaper is writing about it. And there’s been a lot of discussion nationally about the sharp rise in depression and other mental illnesses of students on campuses across the country, particularly elite ones. I wish that everything wouldn’t be so political because I am not trying to make a political point, but I do not want my kids to go to college in a grim, soulless, relentlessly competitive environment with kids who never learned how to have fun. Part of the most important part of a college education is learning to hold your own intellectually and socially in a casual, fun environment. That’s as much as a skill as one’s major. [/quote]

DP.  Sounded pretty Fox News-like to me too. The problem is that you made sweeping judgments from one experience at one school with some fairly histrionic, baiting language. It wasn't posed as sincere question.  Whatever. [/quote]

Do you believe the sharp rise in depression, reported loneliness, self-harm, and other serious mental health issues on campuses is made up? You know that it is all well-documented, right?

Try not to see the whole world through your partisan lens, please. The relentless insistence on turning every single conversation into partisan politics is probably part of what is driving the misery on campuses. [/quote]

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