<p>My daughter and I went on campus visits this summer and we were really impressed by W&L. We loved the setting, the size, the info session and our tour guide. But the drinking question keeps on nagging at me. Do you think people at W&L drink more than people at other colleges? Is the pressure to drink great? Do kids drink to get "wasted" or is it more moderate drinking? My daughter is excited about the idea of joining a sorority although she doesn't know much about them.</p>
<p>Any and all insights would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>My little General doesn't drink to excess and she is in a GLO. Being in an NPC GLO (most of what you call sororities are actually women's fraternities) has been a very positive experience for her since she pledged as a freshman. I can speak to the long-term benefits of female fraternal membership as I pledged a different NPC GLO in college and have been very involved ever since through alumnae associations and even as an advisor to a couple of different college chapters of my group.</p>
<p>Sisterhood goes a long way beyond the 4 years of undergraduate active status.</p>
<p>There is, of course, drinking. Whether or not there is more drinking at W&L than at other colleges is difficult to say. Your daught her willl be exposed to, and offered, alcohol wherever she goes, although I can say that at W&L, alchohol is prevalent, there is very little overt pressure to drink. Many people in my sorority do not drink, and I know girls in every sorority that don't drink, or don't drink frequently, and nobody really minds. Realize that you're really not going to have a lot of say over your daughter's drinking habits once she leaves for school, and that's true wherever she will go.</p>
<p>Thank you for your replies, Motherdear and beautyistruth. She does not have a problem with others drinking. She just doesn't drink herself. Which isn't to say that things won't change in college. We both got great vibes from W&L, so if she gets in, she will definitely visit while school is in session.</p>
<p>From what I understand from my students, drinking is uber-prevalent. From what I hear from my house (I live near students), they certainly know how to have a good time. But I don't get the impression that women are pressured. The pressure on boys is a little more unclear to me.</p>
<p>That said, I don't think W&L has any more drinking than any other school. I've worked at other schools where the drinking caused problems in the classroom even at the upper-levels classes (not just freshmen pledging) and have faculty friends at other schools who experience students w/ signifcant issues.</p>
<p>Here's the deal w/ W&L's reputation for drinking. W&L is a social school w/ polite kids (faculty are "Professor Such-n-such") who manage themselves well. They are smart, and the culture here is "Push yourself in all things." The kids are aware that we don't have the name recognition that a UVA or a Duke has despite the fact that education is completely on par, and they kinda like it a little bit- "Call my school William and Lee, will you? Watch this- I'm gonna knock your socks off." That bias for pushing themselves manifests it in the Work Hard/Play Hard philosophy. So when that @#%@#% Princeton Review survey thing comes around (this is true) some stupid group of students (it's a specific group) sit and vote over and over again (no, PR does not control for this repeat voting, another in a long litany of non-science behind their "research", which we, the faculty hate b/c the survey also indicates we are great, which we'd like to believe) about being a drinking school just so they can SHOW you how hard they push themselves. It's completely ridiculous and far from representative of what the school is. </p>
<p>So yes, there's drinking. No, it's not unusual.</p>
<p>Thanks insideview! I am reassured by your post, and I hope that my D will visit W&L when school is in session to check the scene out personally.</p>