<p>
True, but I never ask tour guides or those super-involved perfect students. Pick a range of students to discuss the atmosphere with.</p>
<p>wis75 – I totally agree with your second paragraph. My daughter is in a large public university, as was I, and I think they have a lot to offer. One of the best parts of a large public school is that you can always find people who share your values.</p>
<p>As for religious schools, the OP asked how to avoid an alcohol culture, and I was making a suggestion. I admitted that there would be students who wouldn’t feel comfortable in a religious school, and I said that even some of those are less strict on alcohol. I certainly wouldn’t want one of my children going to a religiously-affiliated college ONLY to avoid alcohol.</p>
<p>As for roommate matching, there is no way I would want one of my children to take potluck on roommates, and it’s not just because of drinking. The students I know now (or knew way back when I was in college) who were miserably unhappy with their roommates were the ones who have ended up with a smoker, a drinker, or someone whose boy/girlfriend slept over. No, you don’t have to be friends. You don’t even have to get along that well. I’m not going to worry if my child and his/her roommate aren’t buddy-buddy and even have their disagreements. That’s life. However, everyone should have the right not to live with someone who is poisoning their lungs, vomiting on the floor, or having sex in the next bed.</p>
<p>Students searching for roommates can prescreen potential roommates on those issues. Yes, some students will change and some will lie. However, you might be surprised (I have been) at how many college seniors freely discuss, on very public Internet forums, their plans to drink and have boy/girlfriends sleep over in college. A rising college freshman who wants to avoid problem roommates might as well at least check those pages to screen some potential roommates right out of consideration!</p>
<p>Most colleges seem to have plenty of drinking, but at some there is really nothing else, which can isolate those who don’t participate. Staying overnight is a good barometer, but hard to do for everyplace you look at. Schools with residential honors dorms seem to have more sense of community based on something other than alcohol, although there is plenty of alcohol available there too, it seems. You might look, at state schools, at the living/learning communities that are formed around an interest.</p>
<p>I think there are more people who made lifelong friends from random freshman roommates than those who had problems, but that’s just my impression.</p>
<p>Look at these two lists: <a href=“Scotch and Soda, Hold the Scotch | The Princeton Review”>Scotch and Soda, Hold the Scotch | The Princeton Review; and <a href=“Cancel the Keg | The Princeton Review”>Cancel the Keg | The Princeton Review;
<p>Though, half of those schools are religious/military</p>
<p>That was my experience, Hunt. My freshman friends from my dorm (men and women, completely random in 1979) are still my best friends ever.</p>
<p>agree with this
That said, some have indicated that schools that are in remote areas, where there is little to do off campus, thend to have more drinking on campus. It may be an overgeneralization, but its been repeated several times and makes sense.</p>