“You said you never went to college. You gotta have at least one epic night out,” a student tells Steve Carrell, who plays a visiting professor at a fictional college in the current Amazon series Rooster.
“I am not going to succumb to peer pressure,” Carrell’s character says. But despite his protest, he ends up hanging out with students in a stereotypical college night of partying involving kegs, beer pong, minor trouble with the law, and people passing out and having things drawn on their faces.
For many students, partying is a key part of the college experience. Some spend their time at bars near campus that are cleverly named The Library, not finding their way to the actual library until the night before final exams.
With Friday being National College Decision Day, students across the country and at Moraine Valley are thinking about their future college or transfer school. They run to their computers, do their research, and are eager to make a choice. But how much of a factor in their decision is a college’s reputation for being a “party school”? And how can peer pressure play a role?
A “party school” is defined as one with a reputation for having a large number of students who regularly party and drink alcohol or use drugs, but do not spend much time studying.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is ranked no. 10 in the country on the annual list of Top Party Schools created by Niche, a website that profiles colleges and universities across America based on various criteria. The site says it “helps millions of students and families find and enroll in the right school for them.”
At party schools, students all around campus are hosting and attending parties continuously throughout the year. Most parties include some sort of substances, legal or illegal, and students of age or underage. The constant push for social interaction itself is almost like a drug for some students. But often, abusing an active party lifestyle leads to a decline in their academics.
A strong sports culture and Greek life are factors that contribute to a party culture. At the University of Illinois on March 27, concern over partying getting out of hand led the mayor of Champaign to enact a restriction on packaged alcohol sales during basketball season.
“The order was issued after local police expressed concerns about Illinois fans celebrating their team’s win over Houston in the Sweet 16 on Thursday and fears that the aftermath of Saturday’s game ‘may be a threat to the public health, safety and welfare from celebratory activities by members of the public within the geographic areas described,’” according to ESPN’s Myron Medcalf.
UIUC is a common transfer choice for many students at Moraine Valley, but students have different perspectives on party schools.
“It’s a big party school, known for their Greek life,” said Noorah Saleh, an accounting major planning to transfer to UIUC. “I would say 20 percent of my decision was based on that. I know I’ll have a fun experience.”
Many students have seen their peers fall into partying too much and becoming addicted to substances, and have watched it affect their education.
“I’ve never had issues with over partying, but I have seen people struggle with their academics,” said Maja Natan, who is majoring in information sciences and data science at UIUC. “They’ll miss assignment deadlines and drop grades because of partying.
“People don’t realize how much of a toll partying and drinking can take on them when it’s overdone. They usually lose their focus on academics. The culture around drinking, particularly binge drinking, seems to be the main issue of partying getting in the way of education.”
Parties hosted by young adults at universities often include substances like alcohol, marijuana, and more. Getting addicted to substances at a young age can be especially harmful because it’s more difficult to quit.
On top of the partying itself, the social aspect of keeping up with the lifestyle can be addicting. Some students become addicted to posting on social media with their friends, constantly texting, and staying connected during these parties and events.
“I would say 20 percent of my decision was based on that. I know I’ll have a fun experience.”
Noorah Saleh, accounting major planning to transfer to UIUC.
“A lot of what we’re seeing is not just substance use but addiction to the internet and social media,” said Moraine Valley addiction studies professor Anni Rasmussen. “When you are engaging in these types of behaviors, it’s designed to be addictive, it’s designed to keep you going, it’s designed to give you instant gratification.”
Although students at these schools can get addicted to socializing, many believe it’s possible to balance fun with academics.
“If you’re in engineering, you’ll most likely party less,” said Dylan Labudiong, a mechanical engineering student at Moraine Valley. “But if you’re in business school, then you most likely have the chance to party more. But there could be a balance.”
Drinking has actually been declining overall among young adults, according to Gallup, “Young adults in the U.S. have become progressively less likely to use alcohol over the past two decades, with the percentages of 18- to 34-year-olds saying they ever drink, that they drank in the past week and that they sometimes drink more than they should all lower today.”
Gallup also reports that “fewer young drinkers today (22%) than in the 2000s or 2010s (28%) report they sometimes drink ‘more than they think they should.’”
The trend toward drinking less is reflected at UIUC. According to the university’s 2025 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, the number of liquor law violations referred for disciplinary action reported in 2024 was 224, down from 342 in 2023 and 354 in 2022.
Meanwhile, at Moraine Valley, where people are not living on campus together, the lifestyle is different than at a university. There have been no liquor law violations referred for disciplinary actions in the past couple of years, according to the college’s Annual Crime Statistics and Security Report.
Although drinking may be going down overall, the use of stronger or different substances could be a concerning trend.
“The statistics show that there are fewer (people) that drink alcohol than their parents’ generation, but there is an increase in vaping and stimuli misuse by younger people,” Rasmussen said. “We have to wait and see if that is a passing trend or if it will continue.”
When students make their choice on Decision Day, they will need to weigh the factors that will benefit them and their wellbeing, says Zack Zemeckis, a Moraine Valley student planning to transfer to UIUC for chemical engineering.
“You just have to know yourself really well,” he said. “It’s easy to get lost.”
Velocity 
Leave a comment