<p>Oh, darling, pot is prevalent on every college campus. Maybe not at BYU or Bob Jones or wherever young fundamentalists gather.</p>
<p>Don't let that be a deciding factor! If you don't want to smoke pot, if you don't want to do heavy-drinking -- you don't have to. Base your decision on academic programs.</p>
<p>lol I know... I shouldn't be afraid of drugs and alcohol. haha And I'm not a young fundamentalist (:) haha) - I'm just like, one of those "really good" kids who study and do what their parents tell them and smile and sort of make room in their lives to do what they want to do, etc. I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing, but... Anyway, part of going to college is coming into your own. So when I go, I'll almost definitely change. I'm just... a little sheltered, and I'm the first to admit it. </p>
<p>You're right, Lolabelle, I should focus on the academics. It's just- I get a little wary when you look at college search sites like the Princeton Review and other ones and every student comment has something about pot. Like, I know you'll find it everywhere, and that's fine. But you'll find more of it at Weslyan, for example, than you'll find it at Swarthmore or Barnard.</p>
<p>
[quote]
But you'll find more of it at Weslyan, for example, than you'll find it at Swarthmore or Barnard.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't know. Maybe pot. I know that I've never seen as much drugs at any school campus than I have at Harvard -- pot and harder drugs. (I once saw a gaggle of undergrads do coke off a portrait of JFK at Harvard. Lovely, eh?) But would you not go to Harvard, if accepted because of that? My guess is "no" and you ought to give fabulous schools like Wesleyan and Brown the same chance.</p>
<p>I have friends who fit your bill at Harvard at Brown at other top schools with hippy reps, etc. who have never had to even say no to a joint, because it's never been passed to them. It's all about who surround yourself with. Don't worry too much about this.</p>
<p>I'd have to disagree with some people here. There are ALOT more drugs at Wesleyan than some other schools. Sure there are exceptions, but you can't deny that there are overall campus culture.</p>
<p>If I got accepted to Harvard, I wouldn't go because undergrads usually don't get the teachers it's so known for and over half of the school is depressed. I heard it's not really such a warm school, anyway. I'd say yes to Harvard or Princeton, though.</p>
<p>I'm not worrying too much about drug use, but I think that it is something to consider because it does contribute to the school atmosphere. So even if I went to Wesleyan and didn't do drugs, I'd still feel it.</p>
<p>Oh, please. You people need to check yourselves. Fact: Wesleyan had fewer in-house drug infractions over a recent three year period than Amherst or Williams. And, Swarthmore had just as many actual arrests for drugs as Wesleyan over the same period:
Drug Law Disciplinary referrals:</p>
<p>Amherst 49
Swarthmore 8
Williams 74</p>
<p>Drug Law arrests:</p>
<p>Amherst 8
Swarthmore 5
Williams 8</p>
<p>Is that including alcohol?</p>
<p>"It's a little too open for me, anyway, in terms of requirements and stuff. Like, one good thing about loose requirements is that you get some sort of direction if you get confused or something, and Brown doesn't really have that."</p>
<p>Oh, please. I don't know about Brown but I go to Amherst, which also has an open curriculum. We do have advisors, you know. It's not at though we lack direction if we're in need of it.</p>
<p>You really seem very unaware about these schools. Again, I suggest that you visit a few.</p>
<p>I'm going to visit all of them over spring break. And I started this post because I know very little about most of these schools. I wanted to learn about them. I don't have brochures and the websites seem kind of hard to navigate and they don't seem to tell you much (or it takes a long time to find good info) so I figured CC could help me on this one. :) lol</p>
<br>
<p>Is that including alcohol?<</p>
<br>
<p>No. Here's the rest of Interesteddad's post at "If you Were Forced" on the Amherst CC Forum (note that the only outlier is Swarthmore and the low number of liquor law in-house infractions there):</p>
<p>Liquor Law Disciplinary referrals:</p>
<p>Amherst 454
Swarthmore 23
Williams 376</p>
<p>Liquor Law arrests:</p>
<p>Amherst 35
Swarthmore 34
Williams 20</p>
<p>Illegal Weapons Disciplinary referrals:</p>
<p>Amherst 3
Swarthmore 0
Williams 11</p>
<p>Illegal weapons arrests:</p>
<p>Amherst 1
Swarthmore 0
Williams 2</p>
<br>
<p>(note that the only outlier is Swarthmore and the low number of liquor law in-house infractions there)<</p>
<br>
<p>CORRECTION: that, and the huge number of illegal weapons referrals at Williams (what were they doing, hunting bear in their L.L. Bean long johns????)</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm not worrying too much about drug use, but I think that it is something to consider because it does contribute to the school atmosphere. So even if I went to Wesleyan and didn't do drugs, I'd still feel it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I feel like that's true at most schools, though. If you're droping Wes (or any other school) because it doesn't offer what you want, that makes sense,* but honestly, from what I've heard from my friends at other colleges (many at schools on your list), there is going to be (significant) drug use at all of them. At most colleges (including Wes), people are accepting if you don't drink/smoke, but it's going to be hard to find one where you will be able to easily aviod it entirely. So I'd advise not dropping schools like Wes/Brown/Vassar/etc. because they particuarly have a rep for drug culture. </p>
<p>*Though you might want to learn more about our Psyc department. It's one of the few that we have grad students in, and since we have so few grad students, it means undergrads get a lot of reserach oportunities and such.</p>
<p>The psych dept. at Weslyan's good? What makes it special? Can you tell me more about it? Because if it's so much more amazing than the other schools I'm looking at for that, then I guess it might be worth looking into...?</p>
<p>What's the best school for undergrad psych (on my list and off it)?</p>
<p>That's a little bit like asking, "What's the best English Dept.?" A college has to try really hard to have a "bad" psych dept. "Neuroscience" is one buzzword these days and nearly all of the schools mentioned in this thread have excellent neuroscience programs. As I said before, Trinity, Colgate, and Middlebury are all fine colleges; Davidson, in North Carolina has milder winters. You may want to start your search with them.</p>
<p>Drugs are much more prevalent at larger universities. Don't believe all the rankings on PR. For example, when PR comes to socially liberal/ hippie Weslyan and asks who does pot... more people are apt to say yes just because its more accepted that a 'weslyan' type student would of course do pot. When PR comes to Harvard its the opposite. There is a stigma involved, not an internal stigma, but an outside stigma. The students would think 'on no what if daddy/the fortune 500 ceos/ the president found out, I better keep my mouth shut. People 'expect' people who go to Reed or other LACs to smoke. People expect Harvard people to be model citizens and members of the young republican club.</p>
<p>You should look into Rice and Vanderbilt, if you want a change of scenery. Small to medium sized universities, both are strong in the humanities. Social scene is great at Vanderbilt; Rice has its perks because it's in Houston.</p>
<p>I can't look into schools in the south+southwest+(west-california). I really want to stay in the northeast and if not the northeast, then at least the midwest. </p>
<p>I don't want to go to Texas so Rice is out of the picture, Vanderbilt is 2% Jewish, which is a little low for me, Davidson's in the south... I'll look at Middlebury, though. Trinity's name is enough for my parents not to let me go. </p>
<p>Davnasca, that's a really interesting theory. I never thought of it that way. I guess the only way to really figure out how major drug use is at most of these colleges is to visit... Still, I don't want to go to a school with too much of a druggie reputation because it might affect the way future employers think of me.</p>
<p>Vanderbiilt is not 2% jewish. they are bringing the number above 10%</p>
<p>...you crossed off Amherst because it's in the sticks, but you're goin to check out Middlebury?</p>
<p>???</p>
<br>
<p>Trinity's name is enough for my parents not to let me go. <</p>
<br>
<p>%-0</p>
<p>Okay, that was my bad. But, it does sound like you're asking for the next to impossible: a small college in the northeast that's in an urban environment but doesn't have drugs or alcohol -- and doesn't sound too Christian. That's a lot to ask for.:p</p>