Hi I will be a freshman at the University of Maryland College Park. I heard that it is a party school. What do I do if the party serves alcohol? I do not drink alcohol for personal reasons. Will I get busted by the cops even if I do not drink liquor? (I am 18 so I am underage). What kind of music is played at college parties? What kind of dances to people do during college parties. What are popular songs these days at parties? How do I dance to them? (Youtube links would be great).
College parties don’t usually center around music or dancing, you’re overthinking this. Also, you just say “no thanks” to alcohol, most people won’t care.
I will say that I don’t see much fun in going to large college parties and not drinking. Not that you should drink, but rather I don’t think you’ll want to go to them in all likelihood. If you want parties and don’t want to drink, I would recommend smaller dorm / apartment parties with closer friends.
As far as being busted, if it happens you’ll probably be fine but there’s of course no guarantees. That said, college partying is barely overseen. As long as you aren’t causing trouble, most local cops or university cops / officials won’t look into parties any further and just leave them be.
Hey OP, I actually just finished my freshman year at UMD. Agreeing with PengsPhils (as usual), you’re overthinking it.
I’ll break this down.
It’s what you make of it. If you want to party, you’ll find opportunities to; if you don’t, you don’t have to. A lot of my friends go out three-four nights a week while others go out once a month or not at all.
If you don’t drink, you don’t drink and that’s fine. I have a lot of friends who don’t drink, and we usually watch movies/play Scrabble/bake cookies/etc. instead of going to parties. If you don’t drink and don’t want your friends drinking (I have a friend like this; she has some issues wrt alcohol), that might upset some people, and you might want to learn how to be around drunk people.
My first “real” party here was at a Lambda Chi satellite house, and it was busted about an hour through. There was a lot of “COPS COPS COPS!”, but they ushered everyone out in a line and didn’t cite anyone who wasn’t being extremely rowdy. My advice if your party gets busted: keep your head down, comply with the police officers, and hope for the best.
House/hip hop/popular music. Grind. You’re overthinking this. Just let loose, be yourself, and dance like the other people are. You’ll be absolutely fine.
If you go to a party where alcohol is being consumed and you do not want to consume any, then you simply don’t. Contrary to what so many people have been told, you are not likely to face anything like “peer pressure” to drink. Someone might ask you if you want a drink, in which case you simply say “No, thanks.” The person will likely just say “oh, okay, do you want a soda or something instead?”
What kind of music? This depends entirely on the people. Some parties might be playing gangster rap, others might be playing pop music, others might be playing Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. You do not need YouTube tutorials on how to dance at college parties. Just relax. You’re overthinking this.
@vctory. I do not mind if other people drink. Again I do not drink for personal reasons How do I act around drunk people? What kind of dances are popular in house, hip, hop and pop. Website links would be great. What is “grinding”? Is it where a girl dry-humps my crotch in a dance? Sorry to be crass. I would feel extremely uncomfortable participating in a dance like this.
Many thanks vctory
I apologize for overthinking this.
It doesn’t really seem like you’d be comfortable at a typical college party. Maybe there are other social activities that are more your kind that you could partake in?
The thing is college parties range from casual dinner get together to huge frat parties with 300+ people crammed into one house.
I am not a lawyer but I do not believe you can be cited for simply being in the presence of alcohol. Rather the cops must ascertain that you were drinking which should be easy enough to prove that you weren’t.
“Hey beetleman, do you want to take a shot?”
“No thanks, I’m good.”
“Ok cool. You sure, I have Saferides?”
“Yea I’m fine.”
"Alright cool.’
Hip-hop, pop, EDM, and if it’s a party hosted by the most stereotypical humanities majors around, upbeat hipster music.
Only some college parties feature dancing. Others, especially ones you have to know about ahead of time, usually just have people standing around talking. Sometimes these do have some awkward dancing. For college parties with dancing it’s usually just grinding, people jumping around, etc. Drunk people can’t dance well.
But in all seriousness, you don’t have to drink if you don’t want to. When around drunk people, don’t be patronizing unless you can see that they’re going to some dangerous places. Then do what you have to make sure they’re safe. When it comes to music, it’ll most likely be some of the recent pop/hip-hop music, but it may vary. With dancing, watch what people are doing around you and mimic them. And for the love of god don’t be that guy that pulls some random girl from behind and start grinding with her. It can be unsettling. =|
As many people have said, you’re overthinking this. It’s a party, just go with some friends, talk to new people, enjoy the music, dance if you want, and then go home. Tbh, it sounds like big parties aren’t your scene (which is fine), so maybe you’d have more fun watching movies, playing Xbox, going to sporting events, or enjoying the performing arts on campus. Lots more to do than hang out with loud drunks all night.
If the party serves alcohol, you do not have to drink it.
You will not get busted by the cops if you do not drink alcohol.
EDM and hiphop music.
If you’re with someone you like, grind on them. If you’re alone, nodding your head to the music or moving side to side ON BEAT with the music, should suffice.
Specific songs that are popular depend on your area, but basically if you’ve heard the song on a vine video, expect to hear it at a party.
Dances are fads, and you need to keep up with them. Learning how to whip and nae nae should be enough at the moment.