<p>at a large state university at the time that has a heavy drinking culture.</p>
<p>* I’ve heard that there is a lot of drinking at Williams,*</p>
<p>This is the problem that I see…typically the words, “large state university” have the spoken/unspoken words “heavy drinking culture” automatically attached.</p>
<p>However, rarely is there such an appendage added to top schools that also have a drinking culture. Are we suggesting/implying that it is somehow more dignified when SAT 2400 kids party hardy on weekends, but not so much when SAT 1800 kids do it?</p>
<p>Whoa, holy moly! I wasn’t implying anything! I was responding to levirm that the cause of my nieces’ pancreatitis 5 1/2 years ago, where he/she said it might not be connected to drinking, was actually definitely connected to drinking. She was told she should not drink in the future as she was at risk. She was someone who frequently partied. And yes, her campus has a drinking culture (not blaming the school, she made her own choices). We had just visited the week before and she was talking of all the parties. She is into that scene. My mention of her college lifestyle IN NO WAY meant ANYTHING about large state schools vs. small privates or elite colleges! It was simply facts about HER situation in and of itself and had no implications or comparisons to private or elite schools! She went to Penn State, by the way. Um, my own kid applied and was admitted there but did not attend. Nothing against the school! </p>
<p>A significant drinking culture is prevalent at many types of colleges…state U’s, Greek saturated schools, rural small privates, etc. Please do not read anything into my comment about my niece’s illness and the setting in which it occurred. No comparisons were intended. It was just factual information in her case. Her school was a big drinking school. It doesn’t mean that other types of schools are not as well.</p>
<p>oh Soozie…I wasn’t implying that you think this way. :)</p>
<p>I was kind of “using” the phrase to illustrate how state schools are often perceived by people at large and how elites seem to get a pass because they’re filled with high stats kids.</p>
<p>*Is there a college with a big Greek scene that isn’t a big drinking school? I understand that there are non-Greek drinking schools, of course. *</p>
<p>Is there a non-Greek school that doesn’t have a drinking scene (besides bible kind of schools)?</p>
<p>“Is there a non-Greek school that doesn’t have a drinking scene (besides bible kind of schools)?”</p>
<p>Hunt asked about a BIG drinking scene. Yes, there are many secular schools that don’t have a big drinking scene. Among selective schools, Bard, Oberlin, Bryn Mawr, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Barnard, Bennington, Sarah Lawrence, Brandeis, all come to mind.</p>
<p>Of course students drink at those schools. There’s just no way you can compare the drinking scenes there to places like Washington & Lee or Wisconsin. Empirically, there’s a huge difference.</p>
<p>No, as far as I can tell, there isn’t a college with a big Greek presence that doesn’t have a big drinking scene.</p>
<p>Some of it is the kid and some of it is the setting/culture of the school. But it is not really about “stats” of the student. Going back to my niece…she was an A student but she drank in HS and in fact, drank on a school trip and was suspended for a week and not allowed to attend prom or graduation. She wasn’t engaged in ECs during HS except a waitress job. She did well in college but drank a lot and partied a lot at Penn State. That seemed to be the culture of her EC life, other than a part time job. </p>
<p>One of my D’s applied to Penn State for their extremely competitive BFA in musical theater program. My D’s “stats” were MUCH higher than my niece’s. While my D got in, she did not choose to attend. But had she attended, you could not blame behavior on “stats” as having any relation per se. But both my D’s led very different lifestyles than my niece in HS, in college, and beyond. My niece is bright and was a good student, though she is into parties and having fun. She drank in HS, college, and beyond. She is not career oriented. She also had no ECs, other than work. My kids did not drink in HS (I know people will say how do I know that but I do know it). My kids’ lifestyle in HS, college, and now post grad are very different than niece’s. Their schedules are jam packed with either work, school, or ECs that they would not have time to party hardy. They are very driven and heavily involved in activities and such. Their college experiences were very different than niece’s. They were in school or ECs round the clock. They drank socially in college, likely once a week but not getting drunk (they had to be up very early even on weekends). Their schedules since graduating are still jam packed and while they may drink here and there, it is not a daily thing, not big parties, and not to get drunk. It is very low on their list and they have very little time for it, though are social and occasionally have a drink. Niece got a fun job that will allow her to snowboard and party and have fun. That is what she is into past college for the last few years. It is simply different. Has nothing to do with stats but more to do with how they spend their time. My kids’ peers in college were much like themselves and heavily engaged in ECs and studies and work ambitions that their lifestyle was different than my niece’s at Penn State. It is not due to Penn State, of course. My own kid could have attended but I know how the majority of her time would have been spent and it would not have been partying as much as my niece given the kinds of endeavors she is involved in. So, a lot is the person, not just the campus culture. But the campus culture can play a part. My kids’ peers at their colleges (at least their friends) were also busy 24/7 with school and ECs and didn’t have the kind of time niece had to party. Likely not the same inclination either.</p>
<p>Maybe the difference is this…schools with Greeks/big sports have a “larger parties” and schools that don’t have smaller parties. But, I don’t know if that necessarily is an indication of how much each individual student is consuming.</p>
<p>Perhaps schools that are more heavy female have a less big party scene…Or perhaps they’re partying on other campuses.</p>
<p>My gut tells me…If kids are having sex on a campus, then they’re likely drinking, too.</p>
<p>Kids drink at all colleges, but some colleges (of varying sizes) have partying as the main social event and parties are many nights of the week. That was how it was for my niece at her university. That was her EC other than a job. My own kids had structured ECs every night and weekend, and studies. They might take one night off to do a social thing. Their social life did not center on drinking, though they certainly had drinks during college. Their peers at their colleges (at least their friends) were also heavily engaged in ECs and studies and so partying was not the dominant activity every day of the week. They also could not afford to get drunk given their schedules. </p>
<p>The fact that someone has sex doesn’t indicate drinking, in my view. I know my D has had boyfriends throughout college and now beyond college. She does have sex with them. They drink very infrequently. Going out to get drunk is not really on their radar but they may have drinks at a gathering, but it is not a daily thing by any means. They are too busy! My D’s schedule post college even is mind boggling. Having a drink here or there is not the same as partying being a focus of social life and not the same as getting drunk. D is not into getting drunk and can’t afford to use her time that way anyway. She does have a boyfriend. I don’t see how sex with him relates to drinking. They don’t spend much time drinking.</p>
<p>My kiddos both attend a school well known for greeks & partying (USC), but neither have found that scene to be very enjoyable for themselves. They both sampled it sparingly & have moved on. Some of their friends dabble more in it than others–they know kids who have wasted their opportunities due to overindulging.</p>
<p>While culture of the campus is an issue, there are a lot of wonderful schools that have Greek & drinking cultures. For our kids, the school being large enough has allowed them to find their niche – it has worked for them. Neither has mentioned feeling excluded or like a pariah because they tend toward avoiding intoxication & drugs. My niece went to Notre Dame, where there was a LOT of drinking & partying. I believe she drank quite a bit but still made it to podiatry school where she is working harder than she ever did in her life. It really IS about the kid & how s/he deals with pressures & finds the niche that works for him/her.</p>
<p>Sex CAN accompany drinking but as was pointed out by the post above, the two are not necessarily linked. Drinking unquestionably lowers inhibitions and can cloud memories of what happened and create some serious health issues, even in young people.</p>
<p>I’m still waiting to hear about the Greek-heavy school that isn’t well known for binge drinking. It would be nice to know if there is one, but I’m doubtful. As somebody noted, even MIT is known for hard partying at the frat houses.</p>
<p>MIT has its share of drinking on the weekend. However compared to average type colleges you will not find drinking going on during the week such as the colleges I was referring to before. I do have a theory about academic rigor and times per week of partying which I would enjoy seeing in a study. The very rigorous schools may drink on the weekends but they are hitting the books during the day usually Fridays after classes and Sundays. The kids in these schools just seem to know when to stop the partying and hit the books. </p>
<p>Big school vs small to medium size school on compressed campus:
The key element is what else is there to do on these campus’ that are in the middle of no where with no college town or great events and diversions on campus. Again, my advice stay away from the small schools unless you really know it is your personality type. So many kids that are applying to college think they want a nice small campus only to discover the pitfalls of seeing the same faces everyday and nothing to do on these campus’. I would never recommend these types of schools to anyone anymore unless the student has some type of special needs.</p>
<p>Who would have guessed that a thread I started a long long time ago (5+ years!!!) would pop up again ???</p>
<p>This time, I would have to disagree about the small Jesuit school “stereotype”. My D is a non-drinker, and has found plenty to do at the school she attends! This school has no greek system, and she has found plenty to do on campus besides drink…</p>
<p>A kid who is prown to drinking will find the drinks at any school. My son attended a very “rigorous” school. Don’t kid yourself. The drinkers drank all week long! :eek:</p>
Doesn’t MIT have a strict policy regarding frats? Believe me, it’s not the kids who know when to stop partying. MIT has suffered the same unfortunate fate as numerous other schools.</p>
<p>MIT cracked down very hard after the death of a frat pledge about 13 years ago…they totally revamped the rush system and forcibly changed traditions that had been in place for over a century (like freshmen moving into the houses immediately). It ain’t like it used to be at MIT, though you can still find hard drinking at the frats.</p>
<p>So perhaps there may be differences in how closely the administration monitors and regulates fraternities? That might be something else worth looking at for college shoppers.</p>
<p>The fact that someone has sex doesn’t indicate drinking, in my view. I know my D has had boyfriends throughout college and now beyond college. She does have sex with them. They drink very infrequently.</p>
<p>Of course the fact that any one person or couple is having sex is not an indication of drinking. I was speaking in more general terms…not a direct correlation with any one person/couple. My point was that if there is frequent (casual) sex going on at a campus, I would expect that there is drinking going on as well on that campus. And, of course, some students will be drinking and not having sex.</p>
<p>*I’m still waiting to hear about the Greek-heavy school that isn’t well known for binge drinking.
*</p>
<p>I doubt there is a school with a fair % of Greeks that doesn’t have some weekend binge drinking going on. I doubt there’s a school without Greeks that doesn’t have some weekend binge drinking going on…unless it’s a bible school.</p>
<p>I don’t know if schools with Greeks tend to be larger schools (I know that some smaller schools also have greeks), but I imagine that very few large schools are Greek-free. So, just based on their sheer size, the publicity that surrounds Greek drinking is going to be more widely reported.</p>
<p>A kid who is prown to drinking will find the drinks at any school. My son attended a very “rigorous” school. Don’t kid yourself. The drinkers drank all week long!</p>
<p>I agree. Some might want to believe that the students at elites are saints during the school week and sinners on weekends, while “other” schools’ students are sinners all week long, but that’s just not true. Excessive drinking is not limited to the “less intelligent” which is what some seem to want to believe. </p>
<p>There are serious students who can moderate their partying on all campuses, and there are binge drinkers, kids with addictions, and other issues on all campuses. </p>
<p>*So perhaps there may be differences in how closely the administration monitors and regulates fraternities? That might be something else worth looking at for college shoppers. *</p>
<p>That might be of interest to those who are interested in joining a frat, but if you’re not going to join a frat, then it may not matter much. However, it might matter to find out what % of kids are in Greeks, if your child is not interested in joining. It probably would be an issue if a school is 60%+ Greeks and your child is not pledging.</p>
Well, sure. “Some” includes “a bit” and “a tremendous amount.”</p>
<p>Again, I see nobody wants to mention a Greek-heavy school that isn’t a big drinking school. The response is always the same–non-Greek schools drink too. Yeah, but…</p>
They drink very infrequently. Going out to get drunk is not really on their radar but they may have drinks at a gathering, but it is not a daily thing by any means. They are too busy! My D’s schedule post college even is mind boggling. Having a drink here or there is not the same as partying being a focus of social life and not the same as getting drunk. D is not into getting drunk and can’t afford to use her time that way anyway. She does have a boyfriend. I don’t see how sex with him relates to drinking. They don’t spend much time drinking.</p>