No surprise here - Penn students still love their booze. But despite sometimes costly bar tabs, students remain unfazed and uninhibited.
Between financial assistance from parents, rationing of summer job money and school-year employment, students have found ways to keep their finances in check.
Noah, a College junior who did not want his full name used because he is not yet 21, said he goes out three to four nights a week.
On typical nights he doesn't arrive at bars until midnight or 12:30. Once there, he says, he and his friends keep spending under control by splitting pitchers of beer.
"We basically buy pitchers and use each other's pitchers - I try to keep it under $20," he said. Noah estimates that he spends between $30 and $60 a week.
The money comes out of grocery money from his parents and money he saved from his summer job.
"I wasn't planning on going out this much, it's just so much fun," he said.
While cheaper drinking can save students money, financial planners warn that consistent partying can still have an impact on long-term finances.
Shanley Rassler, president of Rassler's Financial Designers, said even small amounts of habitual spending can add up in the long run.
If students put $15 a week that they would normally spend on drinks in a mutual fund instead, they could save $50,000 over 15 years, Rassler said.
"If you save when you're young, it makes your whole life easier," she said. But, she added, a "culture of spending" can make it hard for college students to save money.
According to Smoke's owner Paul Ryan, students are spending money that they might not necessarily have by paying with credit cards.
"Most of my tabs are 10 to 12 bucks," he said, adding that "a fairly large contingent come in having pregamed."
Still, he maintains that the primary focus of his patrons is socializing rather than drinking, with live music as a major draw for students.
Feb Club has been one reason students might go out more than they would normally.
Vanessa Anderson, a Wharton senior, said she now goes out seven nights a week because of Feb Club activities.
Normally, though, she goes out about four nights a week, buying between four and 10 drinks, plus pitchers. She estimates she spends $50 a night and has increased the amount she's spent over her four years of college.
She pays for her partying herself, with the money she earns from a job at an area bank.
"This is the only time its socially acceptable to go out this often," she said. "I like to go out and meet as many people as possible - I think knowing a lot of people and networking will pay off."
Anderson said she has "no regrets" about her college partying habits and that it hasn't dramatically impacted her academics.
But she said that next year, when she'll be working in real estate and private equity after graduating with honors, she has no intention of partying as much.
