I have applied to CMC and HMC and am waiting to hear back. I am being recruited by the women’s soccer coach and she is going to use her save on me in admissions. I have visited the campus to watch one of the soccer games. I want to visit again but did get the feeling that partying is a huge part of the school.
I wanted to ask about this aspect. I have never been to party and have never been drunk. With that being said I am not against either. I have just not been comfortable with those subjects. I would like to go to some parties and get over this fear. I just want to know how caring the community at CMC is. I don’t want people to make fun of me for not being an avid party goer. I am afraid that I will have trouble making friends because of this environment. I want to go to a school that has a welcoming, supportive environment and am unsure based on what I have heard about the culture at CMC. Is this true? I love the location, the academics, the sport, and the coach. I am just scared socially and want to be able to make real friends. I just wanted to hear people’s opinions on this, if they have one. Anything will help.
I’m replying to this just to see if it will draw in any answerers. But anyways I’m sure that at any school, even cmc, there’s a big group of people who don’t party, and of course at least they won’t look down on you at al
There are plenty of people who don’t party, who do sometimes, and who do all the time. Everyone understands that other people have different preferences. You will do fine here, if partying is your only concern.
My D is a freshman at Scripps and loves that the 5Cs are so accepting to whatever you want to do. She is not a partier but usually goes to the Sat night 5C parties every weekend. Doesn’t drink and still has a great time. It’s probably easier to not be a partier at Scripps but your teammates will be from Scripps as well so you will have all those women in your world. Make sure you request the dorm that is not the known party dorm at CMC. (I don’t know the name)… D has a friend living there that says it’s fine but can be a bit much sometimes so she just heads over to Scripps to hang out. But overall everything she has told me, everyone is super accepting.
At any college you go to, there’s going to be some people who party and some people who don’t. But partying is much more central to the social life at CMC than it is at the other 5C’s or at most other more traditional liberal arts colleges. So your friends will probably be partying (especially if you’re joining the soccer team), and although they hopefully won’t make fun of you if you don’t join in, you may feel left out. Also, keep in mind that CMC is actively trying to rid itself of its reputation as the 5C’s fraternity, so the pamphlets/tours/other information you get from official admissions sources are going to downplay how much partying actually goes on there.
To second the statement above, CMC is trying to make the community less-fratty. However if I am not mistaken, most of the soccer girls live in North Quad which is where most ALL the parties take place. I’m not a athlete here at CMC, but I know that most of the sports teams are very close knit. There will probably be a few team sponsored parties and team pre-games you may want to go to. However, Nobody is going to be forcing drinks down your throat if that is what you are concerned about. People do not want to make you feel uncomfortable, and nobody is going to make fun of you for not wanting to drink. I can absolutely assure you that there are many freshmen who arrive on campus with no intentions of drinking and/or hitting up the party scene. Of course it can be hard to find such people because they are likely inside somewhere when the rest of the student body is out and about. If you are concerned about finding a friend group, you may want to try for housing in the substance-free tower: Stark. The demand for Stark has actually increased a lot this last year, so much so that they are actually going to designate some areas of some of the other dorms as substance-free areas. This is indicative of a (possibly growing?) cohort of people who are tired of partying.
Also, there is a tendency of freshmen, regardless of the college, to go crazy their first few weeks/months of college. To this, I just said “ok, whatever, let them do what they’re going to do” and just kind of went about my business.
If you’re curious as to anything else about CMC, PM me! I always like to chat. For reference, I’m currently a sophomore at CMC.
First of all, I applaud both your discipline and maturity, as well as your acceptance.
The problem often at college is a lack of maturity of being social (whether drinking alcohol or not) and being a partner (driving with reckless abandon, making it one’s routine, and limiting your genuine ability to maximize all that you and your parents are paying for. Sure, you are at colleges to mature and grow, socially. Drinking or using substances could be part of this, but it’s not the purpose of a $300K “education”. Trust me, you will have ample years to extend yourself socially beyond college years. Make your “party” attendance a social experiment, watch the interactions, make friends whether they drink or not, and enjoy soccer. On that note, you used the word “save” per the coach and admissions. Was that the actual word used at CMC (HM doesn’t have those)? What were your academic basic stats? Were you capable of playing at or near D1? Are you a goalie?
