<p>I'm just wondering how much freshman really drink - in and out of dorms.<br>
How does Harvard really deal with it...and do students ever get disciplined or even kicked out?</p>
<p>Oops…meant Alcohol…</p>
<p>I’m curious too.</p>
<p>Perceptions from having two kids there - alcohol use is prevalent, as it is at all campuses. Binge drinking isn’t unknown but may be somewhat lower given the relative consequence-awareness of most of the students. There’s not much enforcement on campus and the campus police - appropriately, I think - are more focused on safety than enforcement.</p>
<p>Thanks but I was hoping for the inside scoop from actual students…</p>
<p>gadad HAS 2 students there and I’m quite sure he knows what is going on. Your comment was rude and uncalled for. He was kind enough to respond to you.</p>
<p>I am really sorry. I didn’t mean it at all that way!!! I just suspect there may be a lot going on that parents might not be aware of. My thanks was sincere, not meant to be a dig. Sorry again!</p>
<p>From the perspective of my kid, there is just as much drinking and drugs as anyplace else.</p>
<p>Sounds horrible.</p>
<p>I don’t know what type of special answer you’re hoping to get from a student… <em>psssttt Huge parties go on EVERY night in the middle of the old yard, but no one knows about them. So don’t tell</em></p>
<p>In all seriousness, it is exactly like what other posters have said. Kids drink, just like (almost) every college. Heck my friend goes to a college (religious) that doesn’t even allow alcohol on school grounds and he got drunk there most weekends. Now on average, I imagine that most Harvard students drink less then students at other schools. Most parties happen on Friday and Saturday night, but thursday might also happen. The rest of the week tends to be quiet for MOST students. Are there people who drink alot more, probably. But there are ALOT of people who don’t drink at all. Alot of drinking takes place around organizations like: sports teams, final clubs, college dems/republicans. But like I said, I found that there was little pressure to drink, especially outside of the sports crowd. Most freshman boys who aren’t on sports teams drink in their dorms over movies or video games. Most freshman girls drink at final clubs. You have to be really, really blatant/stupid for Harvard to enforce any type of drinking rule. HUPD comes to dorm parties if they get too loud, but doesn’t check IDs. Harvard is very supportive of students taking responsibility for themselves, so they try to stay out of it unless it becomes too much to ignore. They also have a strong amnesty commitment if you bring a sick student in.</p>
<p>So like most schools, you can drink if you want to, but you don’t have to. And you’re unlikely to get in any trouble for it.</p>
<p>Bilguun, The freshman student body is representative of the society it is drawn from. If you
find that ‘horrible’ maybe you should move one planet over? :)</p>
<p>There is more of a tendency to binge after the last midterm and the last final than
through the rest of the term. I am of the opinion that our Primal Scream is a much
better way to release the tension 
he, he.</p>
<p>A few entryways within your dorm may have dedicated practioners in the art of
getting high. The last 2 years Grays has had the reputation for wild parties. Campus
police are focused on ensuring the safety of the students rather than charging
them as white rabbit points out. </p>
<p>Proctors are likely to tell you to leave the windows up and the fan on if they smell
a high concentration of you-know-what in the air. So in the middle of winter if you
see a window propped open with a fan running on high you know what is going on.</p>
<p>Drug abuse is more related to keeping awake than anything really serious (to my limited
knowledge). After the two sophomore deaths last year though this probably has come
down significantly I would speculate.</p>
<p>Checking yourself into Mt.Auburn can help if you are going to wake up with a really
bad hangover. UHS is respectful of your privacy as well.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>I guess I find it “horrible” because in my country we’re not allowed to drink until 21, and if many freshmen who have just turned 18 binge drink, I suppose many drink underage too.</p>
<p>People aren’t allowed to drink in America until they are 21 as well, but once you get in College, alcohol is pretty much available. I’m not too fond of the idea myself, but it is what it is, and it is the way it will always be.</p>
<p>What about Clubs? I mean real clubs not bars…I think its just important to let loose and recover from the academics on the weekends. I am not talking about getting wasted but about belvedere and house (It’s part of our culture for god’s sake, everybody portrays alcohol likes its evil; its just carelessness and stupidity on part of the person ). While I stayed in Boston we wanted to reserve a table at Venu on Warrenton Street but our hotel said it was closed that night. I realize you have to be 21, but while we stayed at Columbia we managed to get into Cielo and Marquee, so there can’t be THAT hard door politics a few miles up. I am just curious whether there exists the possibility of having a nice, out-of-protocol, eccentric night until 7. Any inputs or experiences?</p>
<p>greetins from the blazing athens</p>
<p>Boston doesn’t have many under 21 clubs… so the club scene isn’t really an option. Believe me. I have never gone clubbin’ but I have tons of friends who have tried and failed. </p>
<p>When it comes to alcohol, its there. I don’t drink but I ended up “hopping” alot from room party to room party and the alcohol was really present. Also I have friends who always found a way to get their hands on alcohol. I mean its there, you just got to be safe about it.</p>
<p>felixbloch - I think you’ll fit right in with the Woodbridge Society (+ then possibly the Spee club). Lots of international students who are very crafty in their ways around American drinking laws :-P</p>
<p>The Boston clubbing scene is nothing like New York’s (and neither are my scene), but there are definitely groups of Harvard students of all ages who get tables not too infrequently.</p>
<p>I recently returned from an Ivy League Tour. My friend, who stayed over at Harvard, said that EVERYONE was drinking and some were smoking pot. He was even introduced to a professor who was stoned. He said that their motto was ,“Work Hard, Play Hard.” I was horrified, and shocked by his answer. I didn’t believe it myself, because I figured that smart people don’t drink and do drugs. I decided to stay at Yale, and experienced the partying first hand, now I believe my friend 100%.</p>
<p>My only knowledge of on campus experience is through my daughter’s admitted student weekend. She made friends with a number of students and therefore shared their experiences also. Of about 10+ admitted students, only one ended up in a room of a serious partier. My daughter’s host was busy with her ECs and studying while my daughter was there. I think that input on this thread from the current Harvard students is the most valuable. On any campus you can find groups like Ajrover’s friend encountered, but if this were across the whole campus the current Harvard CCers would share that information.</p>
<p>Ajrover, if you “recently” returned from a tour, you were there during the summer with summer school students. I would not base my understanding of any college community on a summer visit.</p>
<p>@ just<em>forget</em>me, haha I can so imagine that:</p>
<p>One random night in a Harvard dorm…</p>
<p>[Harvard Student I] So whats up for today?
[Harvard Student II| I think strategy II would be best fitting…
[Harvard Student I] The one with the disguise and red herring?
[Another Harvard Student] I think the ventilation shaft is better for this one…</p>
<p>;)</p>