<p>I enjoy an occasional party and a drink as much as the next person but i don't want my college experience to be dominated by it. Of course I accept that there will be drinking at every college - some of which i will take part in - but does more of a drinking culture mean less of an intellectual one? How does Pomona compare?</p>
<p>How does Pomona compare to what? I suppose the stereotype is that more drinking means less intelluctual discussion, but I don't know if that's really true. Social life at Pomona doesn't revolve around drinking if you don't want it to.</p>
<p>Oh, compared to other LACs I guess. The thing is, I don't want to live in sub-free housing or anything because I don't want to abstain altogether - just not have my college life be dominated by it.</p>
<p>So basically, I want to be around people who aren't against alcohol but on the other hand are more excited about the intellectual experience of college than the parties...so only drinking 1-2x a week, if at all. Could I find a community like that at Pomona??</p>
<p>You don't have to live in sub-free housing to enjoy a social life that doesn't revolve around drinking.</p>
<p>I'm a freshman. I'm not a hard partier, but I do drink sometimes. I've generally found that there are more of us than one would think and it's not hard to find stuff to do without drinking heavily. most of the partying here is Thursday-Saturday nights anyway. and most people here never let drinking interfere with their schoolwork. we go to a top LAC for a reason.</p>
<p>I don't live on sub free, btw and am very content with my living situation. :)</p>
<p>I'm also a freshman at Pomona now. I'm not much of a drinker/partier, and I contemplated applying for sub-free housing, but ultimately didn't. I ended up, by some odd twist of fate, on the school's second-biggest freshman party hall, lol. Even then, I don't feel awkward at all. Not everyone on my hall drinks and a lot of people are capable of drinking one or two beers and stopping instead of getting drunk and ridiculous. School-wide, I'd say most people drink on Friday and Saturday night, but there are a lot of sub-free events even for people who aren't living in sub free halls. I very often find myself up at 3 in the morning on a weeknight, not drinking but talking philosophy, politics, and home with my sponsor group.</p>
<p>Also, there is a decent percentage of Pomona kids who were the loveable nerds in high school. They have personality/social skills, but they tend to get into Arrested Development watching binges more than drinking binges. A few kids spend the first month testing the limits and getting drunk as much as possible (our policies are pretty lax), but that wares off and everyone goes back to more or less normal. Also, most kids respect sub free opening, which is keeping the first 2 weeks of school alcohol free while the freshies adjust. </p>
<p>Basically, 95% of Pomona kids are smart enough to balance "work" and "play." Skipping class is relatively rare. Intellectual "stuff" is a part of social life as much as is drinking, at least if you'd like it to be. I'm happy here, even on the party hall.</p>