<p>Does anyone know if the drinking scene dominates the social culture at GW? My daughter just returned from orientation and was totally turned off by the number of kids drinking -- many totally out of control. I don't think she's a total non partier, but my sense is she wants to take school pretty seriously and is hoping to be around like-minded kids. She has been told to avoid one particular dorm, which apparently is a non-stop party, but I'm wondering if all the others are too? Can anyone help?</p>
<p>njmom, sorry about your d's bad experience. Maybe it was the group she was with or something wierd. My S just finished 4 years there, and party school is the last thing he would call it. It's a tough school with a pretty dedicated group of students. He says the only time he saw people really getting out of hand was when the Boston Red Sox won the pennant. But don't get me wrong - there's is always drinking at any school. Typically the schools where such things are huge problems are schools with little else to do than party. That cannot be said of GW. At GW, the biggest parties are held during national elections !</p>
<p>Thanks Hayden, that's reassuring. It may be that my daughter is just anxious about going off to college and focused on the one thing she didn't like at orientation. I'm well aware that drinking is a part of college life, but the reason she opted against big state schools was that she didn't want it to be the dominant social scene. She's not a totally straight-laced kid -- I suspect she'll want to do her share of partying -- especially on election night 2008 if a Democrat wins!) :)</p>
<p>oops, that comment (mchs) above was me. The computer logged me on automatically to my husband's account.</p>
<p>GW's freshman dorm, Thurston, is definitely a party dorm and noisy. My son could never study in his room as it was always noisy. Parties began on Thursday and continued through Sunday. He is a light drinker, not a a serious partier and had some very frustrating times with Thurston.</p>
<p>Yeah, thurston is apparently the dorm she's been told to avoid if she wants to sleep on weekends. There are other options for freshman, so hopefully she'll get one of those. She seemed to think most kids wanted to live in Thurston, so she's optimistic she'll get a room elsewhere. Fingers crossed.</p>
<p>how is bu and drinking?</p>
<p>An enormous amount of drinking goes on at GW, but no more than any other school.</p>
<p>I have no way of knowing the exact figure, but from my experience, I would say about 80% of GW students spend most of their free time drinking at parties or bars. Thurston should definitely be avoided if she wants to steer clear of alcohol, but you are still going to find alcohol in every dorm. </p>
<p>I am one of the few who do not touch alcohol, and it certainly limited my opportunities to meet people. However, one of the great things about GW is that there is always something to do, as you are living in the heart of DC. If your daughter does not want to drink, she could always go into the city and find something to do, which few other schools can really say.</p>
<p>I think it depends on what dorm your daughter lives in...</p>
<p>I know that Thurston was a huge, wild drinking dorm when I was a freshman. It was amusing at times, but I would not have wanted to live there. However, my dorm (HOVA -- I'm not sure if it's even still open) was the complete opposite. We were kind of the study-hard-overachiever types and then there was a group of students that was downright introverted. So, I think it really depends. </p>
<p>I didn't drink at all during college, and I had plenty of friends. We weren't the sorority/fraternity types, but we had plenty of fun. DC is definitely large enough to do your own thing.</p>
<p>I don't think GW is any more of a party school than anywhere else. In fact, I think it's less so. I lived in Thurston and even though it could get pretty noisy on weekends, it quieted down as the year went on. I think it matters more what kind of room you get, as if you're living in one of the 5 or 6-person rooms you probably won't get much work done whether it's a party school or not. Personally, I hated my CI and came back from it thinking that I would hate GW and would hate all the people. However, I was SO wrong and I found an amazing group of friends and have had an incredible experience thus far.</p>
<p>From what I've heard from friends at other schools (and visiting other schools, including Lehigh, a notorious party school) I think GW's party scene is pretty bad, especially because there's a ton of rich kids who are still connected to their parents' credit card. Call me biased because I'm not really a partier, but I would say a majority of GW kids put partying before their academics.</p>
<p>Hi I just finished my freshman year at GW living in Thurston and I do NOT think its a major party school. I, like your daughter; was not into that whole drinking scene and there were still tons of ppl with my same interests and tons of things for us to do. If your daughter makes an effort and really reaches out of her comfort zone to meet people, she will love GW. Its my home and I love it and I miss it!! </p>
<p>I also found classes etc to be very challenging andthat a majority of the students took their studying and grades very very seriously. Kids at this school know that it costs an arm and a leg to go here and most do not waste that by drinking it away. I came to GW from a HS GPA of a 4.0, National Merit, etc and I still struggle with studies. Its by NO means a party school</p>
<p>Glad to hear there are serious students like Marlene88. I hope my daughter finds friends like you. I am sure she wants to have some fun at school, but her idea of fun isn't getting plastered every Thurs-Sunday. She's requested what she has heard are quiet dorms (mitchell and strong) and will find out monday. Her fear is that she'll end up in a six-person room in Thurston with five party girls!</p>
<p>NJMom</p>
<p>Granted it would be very bad luck if she ended up in a six only because its difficult adapting to just one roommate nevermind five. However, a message to your daughter to keep in mind during her first few months at GW: she is totally going to learn and mature as she copes with however many roommates she has -- sometimes having just one can be more burdensome than having a few.</p>
<p>I had a horrible HORRIBLE roommate expereince first semester with the kind of girl who DID like to go otu and get plasterd (we are talking M-Sunday every NIGHT) but she and I both knew she was in the minority (and in the wrong) and with the thelp of the university, my other roommates, and my friends, we sorted out the sitaution. If your daughter does end up with a seemingly miserable roommate situation, its not the end of the world!! there are so many people who will want to help and I learned a great deal about myself while dealing with my roommate from hell.</p>
<p>I encourage your d to go out for as many clubs as possible (keepign in mind she will prob only stick with two or three for the year) and to not completely cross sororities off her list (i did, thinking itd be all about partying and i stereotyped the sorority girl) qnd i regret doing so. she will meet people at rush and she will meet girls just like her (GW sororities are very diff than other sororities). </p>
<p>what i had to do was just keep tellign myself to keep smiling and appreciate being in one of the best cities in the world!!! if your daughter keeps that positive attitude, other people will flock to her...the RIGHt kind of ppl.</p>
<p>best of luck and welcome to GW!</p>
<p>Compare GW to the University of Maryland, and you will see what a real party school is.</p>