<p>I’m agreeing on ^^^. Unless you go to Bob Jones or a similar school, you will find that partying is a part of college life. It DOESN:T mean you have to do it; you just have to navigate around it and find your own people. Both D’s went to a large public university; neither were partiers when they first arrived…one found people with similar interests in out-of-class activities right away; the other one took longer…maybe a month or so. The beginning of the first semester was especially bad; all the non-partying people went home for the first few weekends, but then they starting staying on campus and she had people to do things with … (that didn’t include going to a party and getting sickeningly drunk). For the rest of your life you will be around people who you don’t care to spend time with; the trick is navigating around them. Give it some time and attend club meetings…you also would probably benefit from making some friends that are a year or two older (where the new of being away from home with access to alcohol has worn off). The substance-free dorm will probably be a good start. Although D2 did make friends in her freshman dorm, she had to put up with obnoxiously loud and drunk people who arrived back on the floor every night Thurs-Sat (and some additional nights, just for kicks) as soon as the bars closed.</p>
<p>I agree that there are very few colleges that don’t have partying scenes. I think most of them that don’t have big drug scenes instead, which I doubt you’re looking for.</p>
<p>Apply to live in a substance-free dorm. If that still does not make life tolerable for you at this school, then start doing some serious, dispassionate research on schools that might meet your needs. There is plenty of information on this and other sites to help you avoid another boozy, preppy, party school.</p>
<p>Seconding what tk21769 said. When did the university administration say you could move into a substance-free dorm? You (and/or your parents) may need to keep up the pressure.</p>
<p>If you think you will be transferring, take look at these two:</p>
<p>Marlboro College (VT)
Bennington College (VT) </p>
<p>But it does not sound like you have given Loyola MD enough time.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, everyone! And, SLUMOM: I’ve heard of Bennington and I’ll definitely take a look at it. It’s very small and a little isolated, but if the student body is interesting, then that shouldn’t matter. Lewis and Clarke looks like an option too. I’m a little scared to go so far, but I’ve always been kind of interested in Northwestern cities like Portland and Seattle. I was also looking at Emerson College in Boston, but just learned that they don’t offer housing to transfer students. Very disappointing.</p>
<p>If you want to see what a much more serious school is like, you only need to take a short walk south on N. Charles St. and visit Hopkins. Hopkins is very hard to transfer into (@ 5% admit rate) but at least you can get an idea of whether you really prefer a more serious place.</p>
<p>Look into Oberlin - serious students, great english and creative writing depts. Oberlin forum here has profs and admission people who answer questions.</p>
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<p>What about schools which serve a high percentage of non-traditional or commuter students, such as non-flagship state universities and community colleges?</p>
<p>I’m surprised Brandeis wasn’t mentioned on here. It is near Boston, but you can’t really get into the city if you’re not willing to pay for the commuter rail on the weekdays. ($4.50 each way). It has intellectually curious and smart students. And, there isn’t a huge party scene (I think it is because of Shabbat on Friday nights). The school actually doesn’t allow frats, so though they have underground frats, they don’t dominate the social life. Most kids I know here go to Boston on the weekends. </p>
<p>A lot of the kids here are wealthy, but a lot are not as well. It’s an interesting mix of people.</p>
<p>If you’re into social justice and what not, the campus is good for you too. </p>
<p>Lastly, the school is very transfer friendly (over 40% acceptance rate), so you could get in.</p>
<p>Also, I know many transfers at Brandeis from Emerson, and the reason they transferred was because, though the classes were invigorating and the location was amazing, the student body was more concerned about fashion than intellectual things. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I feel as though you don’t want this.</p>
<p>Brandeis University?</p>
<p>Edit: Sorry, posted before I saw the person above me. :P</p>