I'm working on a story in which my character visits a party at either a frat house or sorority house. Since my school didn't have either one, and I was never big on parties to begin with, I'm a bit at a loss to describe this, so I'm looking for some real-world details on things from people who have been there. (I tried Googling about frat houses and parties at, but ended up with mostly references to movies or news articles about binge-drinking deaths - useful-phrase suggestions appreciated.)
1) Would this likely be an actual house, like a family moved out and they moved in? Or is it a dorm/apartment-like building in which the fraternity is housed?
2) Are the houses more likely to be on or off campus?
3) How often do they have large parties at which non-student (but college age) types might show up? Do they need special occasions, or just "it's the weekend"?
and finally, 4) If you have been to a party like this, what was it like? Are they really massive drinking orgies like on TV? What are the other people likely to be doing?
EDIT: Thank you, everyone who commented and gave such helpful details! ^_^
