<p>I just got back from a visit to Claremont Mckenna this week and I really enjoyed it and definately plan on applying. I do have a couple concerns about the social scene at CMC though. I am straight-edge and do not drink or do drugs. I am an athlete and do not want to mess up my body. Anyways, I understand that all colleges have alcohol, and I myself might drink socially when I get to college. What is the social life like at CMC? To what extent does alcohol affect the social scene at CMC?</p>
<p>I feel like I am a great fit for CMC, considering I am outgoing and am not worried about meeting new people and making friends, however I would not like to be pressured into drinking because that is the only option if i want something that resembles a social life. I have heard that CMC follows the "Work Hard, Play Hard" attitude, what does this entail?</p>
<p>CMC does have a lot of alcohol on campus, but there is very little pressure to drink. You can easily hang out with people who drink and not drink yourself or vice versa. I have a friend who also is an athlete and has decided not to drink. He still feels very comfortable being anywhere on campus at any time. CMCers "play hard" but everyone defines what that means for themselves, and decisions are always accepted by the community.</p>
<p>RedSox1988: Can you fill in a little more detail about the drinking culture at CMC? For example, if you had to guess, on a typical weekend, what percentage of the CMC students drink alcohol? What percentage drink until they are drunk? etc.? Thanks for any insight you can provide.</p>
<p>CMC is a beer school. Most Thursday night and Saturday night parties have beer. How many students get drunk-- a number figure would not suffice. Better to say that the school is a "wet campus" with many students out in front of their dorms hanging out. What is different about CMC than other schools is that we drink in public. People do not have to hide in their rooms to drink in fear of campus security or deans... it becomes more social. So, i believe the drinking is safer. And because it is a social activity, you can remove yourself from it. It is easy to go to a party and not drink or drink only one beer. It is really about the student and how much he/she chooses to drink. We are rated as a campus with lots of beer. But beer is a substitute for things you find on other campuses- and we drink socially.</p>
<p>This is a few years old, but still applicable, in my opinion: <a href="http://dos.claremontmckenna.edu/news/displaycontent.asp?id=19%5B/url%5D">http://dos.claremontmckenna.edu/news/displaycontent.asp?id=19</a></p>
<p>The social life on CMC does revolve largely around alcohol, but the social life across Claremont as a whole is more varied. As a non-drinker, I've never felt pressured, nor have I ever felt like I'm missing out much, but I have definitely had to work harder than some to find things to do on weekends. I do know multiple people who have left CMC because of alcohol and general campus atmosphere, but I also know non-partiers and light drinkers who have been perfectly happy there. It's really a matter of personal taste and tolerance. </p>
<p>In my Claremont experience, there has never been any direct pressure to drink, but that alone hasn't always made it easy to refrain or to tolerate. Just because I can stand at a keg and not be judged for what I do still doesn't make it very fun to stand there and socialize with drunk people. This is not-not-not to say or imply that this is CMC or Claremont's only social option, or even close to it. It IS to say you might have to put some effort into finding the right social circle, because sometimes the party scene just isn't that non-drinker friendly. Like I believe I said to you elsewhere, I'd really recommend staying a night, especially on a Thurs., which would allow for a good cross-section of academic and social life on campus. Your concerns aren't totally unfounded, but talking with current students and witnessing the scene for yourself might really be helpful.</p>
<p>Just a note: there's a big, big difference between being a non-drinker and being a light or a social drinker. I'd give heavier warnings to the former. I think that Elizzan characterized the situation well. </p>
<p>And Wakebrdr, I just read a post in which you questioned the source of negative stereotypes about Pomona students. If you're so concerned, then stop compounding the problem. Your comments, true or false, are neither helpful nor well-supported.</p>
<p>I know I addressed this in another thread that you started, skyhawk, but I'm really not liking this characterization of CMC as "a bunch of raving drunks."</p>
<p>Plenty of people drink only rarely or not at all. There are lots of nondrinking activities, and I don't think that anyone ever feels pressure to drink. Almost all of the larger parties occur on the North side of campus, so all you have to do is apply to live on the South end of campus, and you'll be able to avoid most of the drunken debauchery if you want to. And there is a substance free dorm, which is the newest, and one of the nicest on campus. </p>
<p>Sure, on a weekend night it won't be that hard to find people drinking beer, and drunken political debates are pretty much the school's official sport, but I really don't think drinking is that much more prevalent at CMC than Pomona or Mudd, or many other colleges. In fact, from the people I know at Mudd and Pomona, binge drinking and drug use seem to be more common at these schools than CMC (of course, this is only anecdotal evidence). CMC's drinking scene tends to be more about socially drinking out in the open. </p>
<p>The school has such a lax alcohol policy because the administrators believe that college students will drink no matter what. By allowing it openly, they hope to discourage unsafe binge drinking. CMC actually has an extremely low rate of alcohol poisoning, possibly because of this policy.</p>
<p>this makes me feel better, and I feel like I have some idea of what to expect at CMC. But I don't feel like I have very much knowledge about Pomona's social scene because from what I have heard there aren't that many parties, but there is just a lighter social atmosphere in general. Unfortunately, I still have no idea where I want to go. I love both Pomona and Claremont. ugh.</p>
<p>I have no idea about the drinking rates and habits of CMC vs. Pomona, but the atmospheres, especially on a weekend night, are very different, even if the actual stats are similar. I do think that this can be attributed to, more than anything, the fact that Pomona has only 300ish more students, but a much larger and more spread-out campus, so things just seem less <em>concentrated.</em> Whether you enter CMC from one side, or enter from the other and walk straight through, you just can't avoid North Quad (or the sights and sounds, thereof). You'll know what's going on. But you can walk all over Pomona and never stumble directly upon SCC basement or Lowry Court (random examples). Pomona also tends to have more variety on weekend nights (which is not a dig at CMC. Pomona is the hub for numerous campus groups that specialize in weekend events, and CMC students have access to the vast majority of events, wherever they happen to occur). Pomona also makes a concerted effort to hold and advertise a fair number of sub-free events for use by students of all the colleges. The social scene is, in general, friendlier to non-drinkers than the social scenes of some of the other colleges.</p>
<p>So while I agree that the characterization of CMCers as "a bunch of raving drunks" is less than fair, it's also not the case that CMC and Pomona have comparable social atmospheres, even if actual drinking stats might suggest otherwise (and I've no idea whether or not they do).</p>