100+ Things College Students Actually Do on Weekends

Weekends in college aren’t just a two-day blur of Instagram perfection. They’re a chaotic mix of brilliance, boredom, regret, growth, and legendary stupidity. Here’s the unfiltered list — grouped so you can find your tribe (or cringe at your past self).

The Productive & Weirdly Wise

1. Finally do laundry after three weeks
2. Meal-prep 17 identical chicken-and-rice containers
3. Deep-clean the dorm fridge (and discover new life forms)
4. Apply to summer internships at 2 a.m.
5. Rewrite résumé for the 19th time
6. Actually read the syllabus
7. Go to the career center (yes, it’s open Saturdays)
8. Tutor high-school kids for extra cash
9. Start a side hustle selling thrifted clothes on Depop
10. Attend a free campus yoga class
11. Volunteer at the animal shelter
12. Join a research lab meeting that “only happens Saturdays”
13. Take the GRE practice test hungover
14. Write the first draft of a senior thesis (then cry)
15. Learn Python on YouTube “for fun”

The Gloriously Lazy & Boring

16. Sleep until 3 p.m.
17. Watch an entire Netflix season in one sitting
18. Scroll TikTok for six straight hours
19. Eat cereal for all three meals
20. Wear the same sweatpants Friday–Monday
21. Have a three-hour FaceTime with a high-school friend
22. Nap in the library “for 20 minutes” and wake up at closing
23. Binge Wikipedia rabbit holes (today: serial killers)
24. Online shop for things they can’t afford
25. Rewatch Vine compilations and feel old
26. Lie in bed refreshing GroupMe drama
27. Attempt to “air out” clothes instead of washing them
28. Eat instant ramen with a spoon because every fork is dirty
29. Stare at the ceiling contemplating existence
30. Do absolutely nothing and feel zero guilt

The Classic Party & Chaos

31. Pregame in a dorm bathroom
32. Take 47 shots “because it’s someone’s birthday”
33. End up at three different house parties
34. Lose a shoe, find it on a roof
35. Drunk-text an ex at 2:14 a.m.
36. Cry in a frat basement to “Mr. Brightside”
37. Wake up in someone else’s clothes
38. Eat 4 a.m. pizza on a curb
39. Attempt the dining-hall tray sledding hill
40. Get written up for noise complaints
41. Play beer pong with questionable liquids
42. Dance on a table (and immediately regret it)
43. Take 400 Snapchat stories no one will ever watch
44. Invent a new drinking game that hospitalizes someone
45. Blackout and still make it home safely (miracle)

The Low-Key Social & Wholesome

46. Brunch that lasts four hours
47. Thrift shopping spree
48. Drive to the nearest In-N-Out at midnight
49. Target run that costs $127 somehow
50. Board game night that gets weirdly competitive
51. Watch the campus sunset from the roof
52. Impromptu Walmart fashion show
53. Make TikToks in the dining hall
54. Road-trip to the nearest city “just because”
55. Host a potluck where everyone brings bagels
56. Karaoke in someone’s apartment until 3 a.m.
57. Play Spikeball in the quad until security shows up
58. Coffee shop hop across town
59. Picnic with $40 of Trader Joe’s snacks
60. Attempt to cook a “fancy” Pinterest recipe (fails)

The Broke-Student Specials

61. Walk 2 miles to the only free campus event with food
62. Split one Chipotle bowl four ways
63. Hunt for free pizza at every club meeting
64. Use dining dollars on pure candy
65. Eat free samples at Costco for lunch
66. Sell plasma for $80
67. Return textbooks for grocery money
68. Do every survey that promises a $5 Amazon gift card
69. Drink the free coffee at church just for the donuts
70. Dumpster-dive free bread behind Panera (no judgment)

The Athletic & Outdoorsy

71. Run a spontaneous half-marathon distance
72. Hike to a waterfall at 6 a.m.
73. Play intramural flag football hungover
74. Rent campus kayaks for free
75. Attempt a 3 a.m. polar plunge in the fountain
76. Climb the rock wall until their hands bleed
77. Organize a 50-person ultimate Frisbee game
78. Bike 30 miles because “it seemed fun”
79. Surf an hour away even though they’ve never surfed
80. Yoga on the quad at sunrise

The Regretful & Downright Stupid

81. Get a stick-and-poke tattoo in a dorm
82. Jump off the library roof into snow (and break an ankle)
83. Eat an entire family-size bag of Takis on a dare
84. Shave eyebrows for $20
85. Attempt parkour and end up in the ER
86. Drink something out of a traffic cone
87. Start a small fire “for the vibes”
88. Try to crowd-surf at a coffee-shop open mic
89. Ghost ride a Lime scooter down a hill
90. Eat expired dining-hall sushi at 2 a.m.

The Unexpectedly Deep & Healing

91. Call their mom and cry for an hour
92. Journal for the first time in months
93. Go to church/temple/mosque for the first time since orientation
94. Sit alone at the lake and feel okay
95. Finally schedule therapy
96. Write apology letters they’ll never send
97. Delete social media for the weekend
98. Reconnect with a friend they ghosted
99. Watch the sunrise sober and actually enjoy it
100. Decide to change majors at 4 a.m.
101. Forgive themselves for something from freshman year
102. Adopt a campus cat (emotionally)
103. Have a two-hour conversation with a stranger on the quad
104. Realize they’re happier than they’ve been in months
105. Make a five-year plan on a napkin

Key Takeaways

College weekends are rarely just one thing. You might wake up determined to be productive, blackout by 11 p.m., meal-prep on Sunday while nursing a hangover, and still end the weekend feeling weirdly healed. That’s the magic — every weekend is a choose-your-own-adventure with 100+ possible endings.

Whatever you do (or don’t do), it’s all part of the chaotic, ridiculous, beautiful mess that is college. Ten years from now you’ll miss even the worst ones. So go ahead — sleep until 3 p.m., climb that stupid hill at sunrise, or do both. The weekend is yours.