<p>Does Duke's social life completely revolve around alcohol? Is there a population there that has fun without it? </p>
<p>Thanks. I know this is a weird question!</p>
<p>Not a weird question. I want to know!</p>
<p>i can't drink. me 2</p>
<p>haha im almost 100 percent going to duke...and i personally think beer pong should be an olympic sport im just saying</p>
<p>they keep on expanding the substance-free housing because the demand is going up with each incoming class, so i am sure you won't be alone. honestly, there are tons of kids here who don't drink and you're not going to feel alone or anything if you come here. that said, there are also tons of kids who enjoy drinking and do it on a regular basis...</p>
<p>There are many people at Duke who don't drink, they seem to be having a good time here. I think you'll be fine.</p>
<p>this is not about alcohol but more about social life in general. do duke students party too much? i'm trying to decide bwt nu and duke and i'm worried if I go to duke i'll party too much and not focus on academics enough whereas at northwestern, it's a lot more serious and i'll be forced to study more there. advice?</p>
<p>There is not a large enough difference between the social scenes of Duke and Northwestern to make that grave of a difference, so this shouldn't be a concern. There are plenty of people who party a lot at Northwestern AND Duke, and there are plenty of people who party very little and study a lot at Northwestern AND Duke. You can find people who are similar to you at both schools without a problem. The partying will not be thrown in your face at Duke if you choose not to participate.</p>
<p>Duke is like any school. Yes, there is alcohol, and yes, many students do drink. BUT there are, as stated, many students who do not, and many who choose to do so moderately. You can choose to do substance-free housing, which is a good option if you're positive the party-scene is something you want nothing to with. If you opt to stick with regular housing, know that you WILL find people with the same interests as you, but it MAY take a little bit longer than it seems like it takes most people to find their solid group of friends. Keep in mind that you can also go to parties and things like that without drinking...I promise you it's entirely possible (and oftentimes incredibly entertaining).</p>
<p>In terms of things to do, you'll find plenty of people just hanging out in dorms on weekend nights watching movies/talking/just doing nothing. There are movies playing in Griffith on weekend nights as well which are always fun. My friends and I also like to go out to dinner and a movie at Southpoint mall. </p>
<p>Partying too much...obviously there are students who, you might say, do, but never to the point where they're flunking classes, things like that. There are student bodies out there that party more, that party less, but in general college students just party everywhere, so in terms of choosing between NU and Duke via partying, I don't think it makes much of a difference because if you're going to party you're going to a party, basically. I find that it's pretty easy to go out in moderation here. While the students you see the most are the ones who are going out Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, etc etc, there are plenty of students who do exercise moderation. I'll probably go out 3 weekends or so a month and find that I'm working/just hanging out with friends the remaining nights. For me, it's been very easy to find a good balance of social/academic.</p>
<p>I guess just to give insight into an "average" student's social life (I'm not greek, I'm not pre-med, etc etc), this past weekend I went out one night to a club, spent Thursday night (no Friday classes so I count this as the weekend, like most college students) in my room watching a movie, and Saturday night had a movie night with my friends where we ate copious amounts of Chinese food and ice cream. Some of my friends went out 3 nights in a row. Some of them spent the weekend in the library. You can definitely find what you want in a social life, and still have that balance of academics/social here...I promise!</p>
<p>This is helpful thanks! My D was there over 4 days including last weekend and don't get me wrong, she loved Duke, but described a lot of drunk, loud people trying around and vomiting...She did spend some time at movies with others and felt really good about people inviting her to do that. Something about bringing your DVD's, and reclining chairs... again, this has been helpful, thanks!</p>
<p>@ loveDuke- thanks for posting that! i also went there a few weeks ago and was worried. Trust me- i love to party, but I REALLY love to chill out with some friends and movie,and on top of that, I really love my sleep.</p>
<p>Four months until move in!</p>
<p>If you choose to live in substance-free housing, does that mean you can't imbibe substances at all, or that you simply party elsewhere? Are there students in sub-free housing who drink a bit every few weeks?</p>
<p>Here's the thing with substance free housing (as far as I know-- it was never an option for me to live there) -- East Campus is technically a "dry" campus any way you slice it. If all the residents of East are freshmen, and therefore underage, alcohol isn't allowed -- so there shouldn't really be any significant partying going on in the East dorms. My dorm was a complete zoo and people binge drank regularly, but these things were always contained and kept behind closed doors (and as quiet as possible) since RAs can -- and do!! (my floor was lucky that our RA was the chillest person ever) -- write people up. </p>
<p>Drinking IN a substance free dorm means the punishments are far more severe, since you signed a written contract/promise that you'd be abstaining from alcohol. I'd imagine that if you got an alcohol infraction anywhere else (like getting written up in a friend's dorm, or getting sent to the hospital, or I'd imagine a citation from the ALE) also means the punishments are more severe. I've always known of a couple kids in Brown who drink a bit every once in a while, and there's always like that one kid who lived in sub free to please his/her parents, but for the most part, the kids really do abide by everything entailed in the substance free promises.</p>
<p>As for the more general drinking/social life questions -- yeah, if you're a non drinker or a very, very light drinker, there's still a place for you here -- especially if you keep an open mind and don't mind being around people who do choose to drink. I know people in fraternities and sororities who don't drink and still find themselves in integral roles in Greek life. And there's other things to do beside party and drink on campus.</p>
<p>I'm a second semester senior, I'm going to graduate having been on Dean's List most semesters, I have always gone out three nights a week, and senior year that three has become four or five. I'm involved on campus. It's a matter of time management and of knowing limits -- I learned very quickly freshman year due to my VERY social dorm that I couldn't accomplish work at night, so I spend the days working (library, coffee shops, student center, wherever) and have my nights free... and to me (and a lot of people), going out doesn't always equate to getting wasted (and in Durham, bars close at 2am). For my circle of friends and extended network, we very very very much live by the "work hard play hard" mantra and are all passionate, accomplished students with great, big things lined up for next year, but you'll see us out most nights of the week but that's because the senioritis has kicked in, and hey, when else in our lives can we do this?</p>
<p>Shrinkrap - One of my D's favorite activities is getting together with friends to watch movies. They all just get together and watch their favorite movies om DVD all night long until the sun comes up.</p>
<p>So I'm abroad right now, having a blast, and also realizing how much we lack in terms of a social scene at Duke. Don't get me wrong-- for some people, Duke's social scene is all they need, and I'm not saying that it's a bad scene. We just don't have clubs that are frequented by people other than Duke students and sketchy, older Durham men. Nor do I feel safe walking home after a night on the "town". The bar scene is pretty sad. If you don't have a car, you're kind of screwed (the whole "Find a friend with a car" thing works, yeah, but how often are you going to bum a ride when you want to go out/use your friends?). I also wish that our social scene DARED to be more alternative more often. I don't enjoy section parties in general, and although I agree with IrishDevil that beirut is fun (sorry, all due respect, it's NOT called beer pong!), I would love more fun things to do on campus than throw a germy ping pong ball into cups full of cheap beer that I hand to beer lovers to drink.</p>
<p>Also, the amount of alcohol is really not a big deal. I wouldn't worry about being surrounded by alcohol as the ease of getting bored with fun things to do (please, no one suggest lectures and intellectual things; I enjoy them during the week-- I saw every DUU major speaker possible-- but during the weekend, I just want to have fun).</p>