Just visited HMC with my D for Admitted Students weekend. It was an awesome experience. Loved the academics. However my D had some real concerns about the drinking and partying on campus. Is there a lot of pressure to drink and party? Are there any kids who don’t want to drink/party? Is that culturally accepted? She came home feeling really nervous, and we are getting close to declaring where she should go. She feels she is unable to commit until she has some resolution to this issue. Would love to hear from students or parents what their perspective is. TIA.
My Mudder son graduated a few years ago, but there was no pressure for him or anyone else to drink as far as I could tell. They have very supportive culture there, and pressuring someone to drink/party would be something that would be contrary to that culture. There is a pretty high introvert quotient there, so non-partyers are not going to be alone. Also, to show support for the incoming class (most of which is underage), Mudd does not allow any events the first week that even involve alcohol. In fact, if I recall correctly, I think no drinking is supposed to occur in the dorms period that first week. Another thing to keep in mind, is that different dorms have different personalities and one thing that Mudd does really really well is match students to the dorm and roommates. If your daughter mentions in her housing questionnaire that she would rather be paired with fellow non-drinkers/non-partiers, it is likely that is where she would end up. As a practical matter there is only so much partying that they can do. The work load is very heavy. You can’t party all the time and pass your courses. Good luck to daughter. Mudd is a great place.
I cannot speak to the culture on campus as my daughter is also prefrosh. However, I would like to say that I know my daughter very well. She is looking forward to the work hard play hard environment and is hoping to be placed in West or North because they look like party dorms. That said, she also has a very strong personality and would not only never pressure anyone to drink or party but would stand up for someone she thought was feeling pressure. I think what I’m trying to say is that there are kids who will enjoy parties but it seems like Mudd does a good job choosing students with good character. If your daughter needed a friend to study with (instead of attending a party) my daughter is the type to stay back. My guess is there are many others like my daughter and also many others like your daughter.
Are there parties and drinking? Yes…but…
My S is a frosh this year. He does not drink and has not felt any pressure to do so. He seems to have found like minded friends. As azalia said each dorm has it’s own culture and they do a good job of matching people not only with a roommate but to a dorm. As it turns out my S will be rooming with his current roommate in the same dorm next year, so they must have done a good job. I doubt there is any dorm without any drinking, but the amount of drinking and level (and frequency) of noise would differ by dorm.
The atmosphere at Mudd is very supportive and collaborative, plus there is a honor code that is taken very seriously. I think all of these play into an atmosphere where your D would not have to worry about the pressure.
BTW, just last week East Dorm had what I would personally call a “kid’s party” - a ball pit, cotton candy, other kid like entertainment and no alcohol.
Just to confirm what azalia said, there is a dry week the first week of school. It is followed at all the campus’s.
@socalmom, I think Linde is the biggest party dorm (you walk by their windows and they are lined with liquor bottles, and my kid confirms that reputation). She rolls her eyes at Linde. @Claremontmom, my kid went to that East party last week after a brutal midterm – she texted me happily that they had smoothies (non-alcoholic). She also said the smoothies didn’t taste good together with the cotton candy. 
Sontag dorm actually has a ball pit in their common room.
My son happened to be in one of the “party dorms”, and was part of a band that played at some of the parties. His circle of friends is still predominantly Mudd alums, and his band continued to play together after graduation, until a couple of members finished grad school and moved onto their new positions.
Yes, there is partying and drinking at Mudd, but there are also groups of students who do not drink, or drink very little. Your D can find her group of friends with whom she feels compatible and comfortable. Partier or non-partier, all of the students have to, and want to work hard, so they do look out for each other.
@AlmaKayan We attended this weekend as well and DD came home with concern about drinking and more on campus. I think this is a problem not just for this school, but since campus is so small it was more visible.
@Ballerina016, my kid doesn’t drink (doesn’t like the taste), and most of her Mudd friends are non-drinkers. She also worked way too hard her first year and a half even if she wanted to party – literally no time to be drunk or hungover even if she were inclined. I am curious about what dorms your prospies were hosted in.
@intparent I don’t think that’s info I need to share with her
The part about too busy to party? To be fair, my kid came in with less prep than a lot of her peers. No science APs at her HS, and only Calc AB. Core was pretty brutal for her, but she still has loved Mudd from the moment she got there. She has pretty much “caught up” with her peers and has some free time this year (junior year). She is already hating the idea of graduating.
A discussion we’ve been having at our house:
Start with a class of 200. Once you take out the partiers and drinkers, as well as the quite introverted who prefer to largely be on their own, how many does that leave for DD to find her ‘tribe’ amongst?
A couple of problems with that initial premise (though I do I understand what you are getting at)…First is everyone is very welcoming. You’ll find friends of all class years. Second, there are 4 other schools and plenty of opportunity to meet them. May clubs and organizations span the 5 C’s and students take classes at other campuses all the time.
My S is neither a partier/drinker nor a quiet introvert and has done fine finding his “tribe”.
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with other Mudd parents (there is a great online community and it pours over into real life at Mudd events) and everyone (parents and students) seems really happy with Mudd. It’s really a great community.
Yes, the premise in #10 is too exclusionary, students don’t form groups to keep others out. Students will tend to form their tribe based on their classes, majors, and other interests. Overall, the students will be friendly with most everyone on campus because they are all working together to get through an intense educational experience.
There is a premise in #10 that partiers party all the time. They do not – they have too much work to do. For example, my D was good friends with the president of Linde dorm last year, the dorm that parties the most. They became friends because they were on a summer research project together and presented together at conferences. They saw each other in the lab, went out to get food in the village or to the grocery together, hung out at the coffee shop – the partiers aren’t drunk all the time! I do think Mudd if a little different in that you honestly can’t be a constant partier like at some schools… I don’t think there is much Wed/Sat/Sun drunkeness, or a student would probably flunk out. So my kid has some friends in North & Linde (and even had friends in North last year who had moved in soph year, and didn’t party – it was just their best choice in room draw for the year). But she has a lot of friends who don’t party – I can name a dozen of them easily right now, and I live over 1,000 miles from the school. She had no trouble making friends freshman year, too – first week she was chatting about her new friends from Portland and LA (who I now know are not partiers).
She was super active last fall with a group that played a board game together a couple nights a week (usually 8 people or so, it was a regular Fri/Sat thing, and they also played it a lot when she was on campus over the summer). She bakes in the suite kitchens a lot with her friends (like a couple of weeks ago they made cookies to give to the profs who had written their REU recommendations – but they didn’t turn out so great, so they fed them to their dormmates and they baked a different kind the next weekend and gave them to the profs).
One other thing to think about is that Mudd is set up so students don’t just socialize with people in their own class. The dorms are very intentionally set up with frosh sprinkled throughout. The older students are encouraged to help and mentor the younger students, and they take it pretty seriously. It also means that my D has older and younger friends. So the pool is bigger than 200 for friendships. My D insists on staying on campus for graduation so she can see her friends graduate. I have photos of her from freshman year graduation with a couple of seniors in gowns with their arms draped around her. She is still in touch with them, too. So they meet students from other classes in the dorms, in research, in classes like the Mudd humanities classes. My kid also has friends on other campuses – she has a few friends at Scripps she met from a class she took there, and a couple at Pitzer (I think she met them in her archery class).
Do you really think no one is partying at MIT or Caltech? Just wondering… And I am guessing that the party percentage is lower at Mudd than at any of the other 5Cs just due to workload alone, although apparently when they throw a party they tend to be considered “good” by those who like to attend. But that is because of special effects, like one where they fill a courtyard with foam…
To add to what @intparent said. I think college freshman learn a lot about who they are and do some growing and changing during their first year of college. Such that an introvert may become more outgoing and a kid that thinks they want to drink and party may find its not as fun as it sounded. It is important to find a college that is a good fit but the great thing about Mudd seems to be there is room for all different kinds- as long as they love Math and Science!
Also adding to @intparent’s comments…Not only are they too busy studying, they are just busy and involved students. I am constantly amazed at the extra curricular activities they manage to engage in. These students are involved in sports, music, community service, and have jobs.
Unfortunately, drinking exists on almost all college campuses. I’m not sure why the specific concern with Mudd. But I think we’ve answered the OP —NO there is no pressure to drink, YES there are plenty of kids who don’t and YES it is “culturally accepted” to abstain.
Thank you all for your useful feedback. I really appreciate it. My D saw a bunch of alcohol while there, and hence the concern. Clearly she has been reassured by your feedback, since she has now committed to Mudd!
Whoo hoo!!! Congratulations, and welcome!
Yay!!!
Best Wishes! Be on the lookout for the occasional parent or parent/alumni event in various locations around the country.