8 Steps to Throwing the Best House Party in College

For a lot of kids, going off to college gives you that first taste of freedom. You have no parents to answer to when you stumble through the door at two in the morning a little buzzed from your night on the town. Then you get this bright idea to throw your own party. You can get lit and fall asleep without ever even leaving the comfort of your own home. The problem though? You never threw a party before. You wonder what it takes to make sure that people don’t just walk in and leave your house. But don’t worry, just follow these eight steps to make your party legendary.

Check out these tips to become a party legend on your college campus.

1. Find the perfect theme.

The 90s and all that, the 80s, rave party, costume party, these themes can make your party a success. Every weekend hundreds of kids throw house parties on college campuses. The key lies in figuring out how to make yours stand out, and a good theme makes for an easy key to success.“At my house we had a 90s themed party and everyone loved it. It mixes things up from that normal house party vibe and gives people a chance to be creative other than just on Halloween,” Temple sophomore Bren Maciel said. It gives people something to look forward to throughout the week and can provide a creative outlet that a lot of college kids crave. Whether people come as Risky Business from the 80s, Will Smith from Fresh Prince of Bel Air in the 90s or the Tune Squad from Space Jam, people will flock to your place. And word of your party will spread all around campus Monday morning.

2. Craft your perfect playlist.

Okay honesty time here, have you ever really gone to a party and heard country playing and said oh it’s lit? No, you most likely haven’t. Music sets the vibe for the whole night and will keep people at your party later if they vibe with it. Find music that people can dance to (rap and hip hop usually work best). Avoid EDM, techno and Rock and Roll music. Of course, these music genres have great songs, but most people do not want to (nor do they know how to) dance to it.“Certain music can kill a party like EDM or music that gets people in their feels. Then there is music that gets the party lit like hip hop and rap. Get together with a group of friends and make a playlist that caters to all people and your party will be a success,” Temple sophomore Kim Chi Byrne said. Pro tip: Let your friends add songs to your playlist so then you can get a little bit of everyone’s musical flavor. This way, you appeal to more people.

3. Don’t BYOB.

College kids have this saying, if it’s free it’s for me. The goal of your party should be to appeal to as many people as possible. Free alcohol will attract that freshmen group who only go to the frats because they have a keg or jungle juice. Yes, it sounds ridiculous because you live on that college budget and alcohol can get expensive, but you don’t need top of the line stuff. Just grab cheap beer and put it in your fridge, or a handle of liquor and throw it in fruit punch and Viola! there you go. Pro tip: Look on Go Puff and you can find deals for 30 packs of beer for $15 or $20 and if you split that with your roommates everyone’s bank account wins.

4. Invite Your Neighbors.

Nothing can kill a party quicker than the cops showing up at your doorstep. A lot of times neighbors call to complain because the music is to loud. People fall and bang stuff and make a ton of noise. Honestly, sometimes they just get mad because you didn’t invite them and they want to have fun too. Invite your neighbors no matter how close you are to them.“Nothing is more annoying than having boring neighbors. They can be the biggest buzz kills when you are just trying to live your best life. If you invite them they will feel more included and who knows maybe you can open whole other side to them that they didn’t even know existed,” Temple senior Alex Zaroyan said. You never know, maybe that party can kick start a friendship with them that you otherwise would not have entertained.

5. Never Invite the Goody Two Shoes.

Everyone has that one friend who can do no wrong and walks on the straight and narrow. Don’t get me wrong, we all need that one person to keep us grounded. However, if they can’t sacrifice going out of their comfort zone for you and go to a party, they can annoy you all night. They will kill your buzz in the blink of an eye with a million questions or concerns. Keep them as far away from the party as possible, and keep your sanity and lit-ness for the night.

6. Encourage everyone to mingle.

Parties make for a great social atmosphere (key word there…social). Not everyone goes to a party and knows every single person there, and some people don’t feel comfortable starting conversations. As the host, take people to meet each other. They say you can find love in a frat basement, well maybe people can find love and friendships at your house party with these new connections.

7. DECORATE.

Obviously, a house party can’t compare to the clubs of New York or Las Vegas or LA, but party lights can definitely help the mood. Black lights always look good especially if you can get people to wear bright neon colors. A party light that flashes to the beat of the music can add a nice touch since it really helps to enhance the vibe.“You ever hear an artist say they want things to be aesthetically pleasing, well that’s what you want your party to be like. The party lights will help the aesthetic and people can see the lights from outside and will feel enticed to come in. The more people you bring in the more lit your party is,” Temple junior Josh Campbell said. The aesthetic of a party can mean everything and party lights definitely help matters.

8. And of course, drinking games.

• Beer Pong

Walk into any college house party and I guarantee they have a pong table set up. Nothing screams tradition like Beer Pong. People can drink casually while embracing their competitive side. It gives people something to do if they don’t feel like dancing.

• Stack Cup

This game gets intense and gets intense quickly. You have pong balls bouncing everywhere, people chugging, cups falling and just utter chaos. So many things go on at one time in stack cup that gets you in the mood for a night of partying. Your blood will be pumping after this game for sure.

• Flip Cup

You need to accommodate all people at your party and that includes the college freshmen that never played a drinking game before in their life. Flip cup makes for a great and easy game to start with. No rules other than to chug the drink and flip your cup. The rules never change unlike pong which means you’ll know how to play no matter where you go or what house party you attend, and things get less intense than stack cup. Flip cup allows players to just get their feet wet and build up to those intense games.