Thanks. Gonna check your game later.
I've just asked because I know 0 about frat houses except for what I've seen in movies, TV shows, and games. They're a total alien concept in where I live. Even dorms aren't that common except in big public universities. Students normally will still live with their parents or, when not possible, rent a room, or join forces to rent a flat together.
It's funny also how things vary from country to country. There were no lockers in my school but there were many in my university (for rent). Also, the building's exteriors and the classes' interiors vary so much that you can't tell the difference between a high school and a university except for other factors, like, people usually wear uniforms in school; schools will usually also have elementary students, so you'll see very young people; there will be the name of the institution; but nothing in the building or classrooms that can distinguish them in most of the cases. Of course, in the case of universities with big campi, it's something noticeable, but there are also colleges and even small universities that are indistinguishable. But, since I live in an urban environment, some colleges will look more like business buildings than schools. It varies a lot.
Classrooms are also not decorated, except for kindergarten and, maybe elementary, so a high school classroom could pass as a college classroom easily (except that in uni I had some classes in an auditorium, but most classrooms were regular square ones with chairs with a table to write on; I think they used the auditoria because they were already there and there weren't events all the time, so, why not use it for classes too?).
Everything you said is.... pretty much the case. Or rather I should say, sometimes the case.
As with all things, with colleges, there's levels to it. There are local state schools, there are large universities, there's state schools, and there are all sorts of things inbetween.
Some schools are relatively small, nondescript, frat life is non-existent, and dorm housing is non-existent or very limited. (Local state schools usually fall into this category.) Then there's hybrid schools - usually the "State schools". It's sort of a mix of what you're thinking of and what you might see on TV - most students commute there and live nearby, frat life can exist but it's often limited, there is some limited dorm housing for students who choose to come from out of state but not too many, these schools tend to be the first level that have sports teams and stuff like that. (The local ones generally do not).
Then there's the major universities - these are a lot closer to the "TV" style of things. Generally lots of sports teams, lots of dorm housing since many students are not local, and frat life tends to be a bigger deal. These schools often tend to be more difficult to get into, and are often MUCH more expensive. ($30-90k/year is not uncommon depending on the school - the lower tier schools often cap out around 30k/yr, often lower, although it is definitely getting more expensive as time goes on). Many of these schools are privately owned as well - there's also a lot less of them - they're by far the rarest of the 3 major types.
The majority of time you'll see things in movie, TVs, and games, similar to the major university style - with the caveat that often it's much easier to get into in those works of fiction than it is in reality. (Either because of requirements the school has regarding either academic or athletic admissions, or just the pure cost of them). In reality, not a huge number of people go to those sort of schools - due to a combination of the more difficult admission requirements, and higher cost. Most people who attend college end up doing so either in local state schools (Many of which only offer 2 yr degrees, some extending to 4) - or the more accessible, and slightly less expensive state schools.
But the reason you'll see the major university style portrayed so often? Honestly, student life in the others is pretty fucking boring comparatively. Since there's limited frat life (if any), very little dorm housing, and often a limited focus on athletics, it tends to be a lot closer to what you'd expect from high school life than anything else.
Of course I only listed 3 major types - there's actually quite a bit more inbetween all of that, some that end up falling into multiple categories. But in the end we'll say this: The "College experience" portrayed in fiction, is often one not seen by a majority of people, since it tends to be limited to a certain type of university that not too many people attend. BUT what is portrayed, is often a lot closer to reality than you might expect - it's just not the reality for a majority of students.
