10 Best Movies about College and College Students

Not all college movies portray specific college experiences. The part of students maturing to grownups gets missed sometimes. Many tend to focus on the loud parties and teenagers’ raging hormones. Regardless, they are still fun to watch. They remind us why the college experience is exciting. Other times, you will come across some with lifelong lessons to learn from.

We have compiled our top 10 best movies about college and college students.

Legally Blonde (2001)

Source: THR

Reese Witherspoon does the character of Elle Woods justice. She is a typical stereotype blonde who has everything going well for her. President of her sorority, Miss June in the school’s calendar and dates the handsome fraternity boy on campus. It gets interesting when she gets dumped by her boyfriend but decides to follow him to Harvard Law School to win him back. While at Harvard, she realizes that, here, it will talk more than her looks to sail through. In the event, she is surprised to learn that she is more than looks. She goes on to lawyerly glory.

The Social Network (2010)

Source: Fanart.tv

The college struggle is real. We all know Mark Zuckerberg as a billionaire, but he was also once treated as a typical nerd in college. It’s an Oscar winning story that follows him while he was a Harvard student and how he brought Facebook to life in his dorm room. The movie details how Mark Zuckerberg revolutionized human interaction for good. It also highlights the legal drama that unfolded from fellow students who claimed that he stole the idea from them. The casting was of brilliant actors including Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake and Jesse Eisenberg.

Accepted (2006)

Source: Universal

College application season is usually a stressful time for the applicants. Will I get into my dream college? What will I do once I get rejected? Well, that is what Accepted is all about. It relates to many students who have had these doubtful moments. After being rejected by every school they had applied to, a group of high school graduates decide to create their own college. The South Harmon Institute of Technology was the name of the university. It typically encourages students to do what they want to do. The scheme eventually blows into a full-blown scandal.

Revenge of the Nerds (1984)

Source: MentalFloss

This is another classic movie from the 80s. Sadly, being a nerd was never considered cool until Revenge of the Nerds came out. They didn’t just make it okay; they also made it so cool! The movie is about the competition of the academically inclined versus the athletically inclined. Who can score perfect grades and who can have the polished girlfriends? The fraternity leader of the Alpha Betas Jock Stan humiliated the nerds; they had to plot revenge. The film remains as among the funniest in the 1980s.

Pitch Perfect (2012)

Source: Empire

Pitch Perfect follows an all-female singing group, The Barden Bellas, trying to get their sound. They are set to compete with their rival all-male team. They are a cappella singing group thriving on their eloquent looks and female pop songs. After being defeated in their last competition, they regroup to try and find a different sound. It gets interesting when a freshman, Beca, who is an aspiring music producer reluctantly joins the group. Initially, she was unbothered about the college experience, but eventually, she becomes invested in it.

Animal House (1978)

Source: Stanford Daily

This is one of the greatest classic movies of all time. The film centers on the infamous Delta Tau Chi fraternity house. “Where are they now?” epilogue still is the funniest scene of the movie. Incoming freshman Pinto and Flounder face the usual rejection from the college fraternity Omega and are forced to pledge to Delta house. Delta House was the rejects fraternity. They are considered as the disrupters of the social ambiance of the school by Dean Wormer. He decides to find fault with them so that they can get expelled. He chooses to collaborate with the president of the Omega fraternity. They are tricked with enough rope to hang themselves, and they fall for it. They eventually get thrown out of school, but they return to revenge on the dean and the Omegas and anyone else who went behind their back.

Mean Girls (2004)

Source: Variety

This is a favorite of many college students. The movie sheds light on the sociological phenomena. It portrays real body issues faced by girls today. It stars Cady who has moved back from Africa. She is not conscious of her body image until she is taken in by “The Plastics.” They are Regina, Karen and Gretchen, who think that they are superior to all hence are considered mean. Regina is the queen bee whose main ambition is to always stay on top. Cady’s aim of joining the group was to spy on them, but she gets caught up in that world. Everyone begins to see the change in her attitude, but eventually, she disconnects herself from the group.

Superbad (2007)

Source: Letterboxd

Fun fact, did you know that Superbad was written directly from the writer’s experiences? The stars of the movie, Seth who is played by Jonah Hill and Evan played by Michael Cera, got named after them. They are two teenagers who are three weeks away from graduating from high school and three weeks to joining college. Before graduation, the boys plan to lose their virginities by joining parties. They believe that attending college as virgins would make them laughing stocks. Since they are social rejects, the mission to have sex proves more robust than expected. They hang out with Fogell who is a nerd and disinterested in having sex. They volunteer to bring alcohol to the school’s party because both of their respective crushes will be there. Fogell has a fake ID which he tries to buy the drinks with, but he gets caught. Seth and Evan are left to think to think he is arrested and proceed with the rest of the night which turns out different from what they expected.

Road Trip (2000)

Source: Alchetron

Did you know that 87% of daily trips take place in a personal vehicle in America? This is a movie of a fun road trip. It is a comedy film about a college student, Josh, who is on the road with his two buddies. They are headed to Texas from New York in efforts to try and save his long-distance relationship. On the way, they experience wacky adventures such as using a Ford Taurus to jump through broken bridges to stealing a school bus which belongs to a blind girl among others. If you enjoy road trips, then this is a fun movie to watch!

Rudy (1993)

RUDY, Sean Astin (center), 1993, ©TriStar Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection

This movie is for the lovers of sports. The film follows Rudy whose dream was to play football for Notre Dame University, but he neither has the tuition fee nor grades that can qualify him for sponsorship. His best friend who supported his dreams dies, and this is the point where he decides to follow his dreams no matter the obstacles to eventually play for Fighting Irish. At this point, his valuable primary asset is his effort. There are a few good victories which have nothing to do with the sports.

Some of the ten movies outlined in this article will go down the hall of fame as some of the greatest. Like mentioned previously, not all are just about fun but some do have lifelong teachings and pointers that can help a college student fit in effortlessly. For those who wish to reminisce their college days, these are the perfect movies to go down the memory lane. They can even form the basis of some good rhetorical analysis topics. What are your favorite college movies? Share your list with us.