<p>Can nondrinkers/nonsmokers be happy at Grinnell? Is the partying culture just so dominant that it crowds out the other folk?</p>
<p>And she loved it.</p>
<p>She lived there when things were more loose. So do not feel that the sober, nonsmoking, meat eating serious students of this world need apply elsewhere.</p>
<p>I've been hoping someone else would respond to this. My daughter got accepted at Grinnell and that is one of her concerns. She's a non-drinking non-smoking athlete and wonders how she would fit in.</p>
<p>Our daughter does not smoke or drink (she's also not an athlete). She fits in fine. Grinnell is very accepting and has all kinds. Besides, unless you go to a Christian school you cannot escape alcohol in college.</p>
<p>Thanks, I told her basically the same thing and that she needs to look at how everyone is accepted.</p>
<p>My son (sophomore) is a non-smoker but I am quite certain that he is drinking moderately. My sense is that at Grinnell, unlike a lot of other schools, the weekend does not begin on Thursday. My sense is that about half of his friends are essentially non-drinkers(he has a very international friendship group)- and that they manage to have plenty of fun. Last Saturday he was deciding between a large party on campus, a visiting Jazz group, a Bollywood movie and something else...I think this is pretty typical- we usually speak with him on the weekends and I have a sense that by Sunday morning (whenever morning starts!) it is back to work. I think the social scene is very relaxed, after the first quarter of his freshman year he felt the drinking decreased considerably. Another boy I know, now a 2nd semester freshman, is a complete non-drinker, abolutely having a great time socially with a very eclectic mix of kids... </p>
<p>From my perspective (at the other end of the phone line far away) son is finding Grinnell much as he expected...I think for an individual kid it may or may not be the right fit, but I think it plays as billed....</p>
<p>My daughter went off to Grinnell much like yours -- a non-drinking, non-smoking athlete who was worried about the drinking scene. That didn't last long. I'm certain there was a fair amount of partying her 1st year, and I can't tell you what's going on now - but I'm hopeful that she's being responsible. I also have the sense that non-drinkers are comfortable, that the <em>students</em> are pushing for more substance-free housing, and that the binge drinking rates for Grinnell are lower than the national average. Alcohol is everywhere -- so parents need to talk to their kids about responsible drinking and also kids need to know that they have to look out for each other.</p>
<p>I appreciate all of the responses. Since this is the third one I've sent off to college, I understand that there is alcohol on most campuses. My D was concerned after visiting another campus, that she would feel uncomfortable to be the one who didn't drink. (She has one brother who definitely drank in college, and another who definitely did not.)</p>
<p>According to my daughter, there has been a change in the administration's approach to underage drinking. She thinks they're cracking down more and that the local police are also taking more of an interest. When I've heard the administration talk about alcohol in the past, they've said their approach was not a punative one - they don't want the students to be afraid to get help when a fellow student is seriously in trouble with alcohol. I imagine the new student center and the new fitness center are intended in part to give students some healthy alternatives. There's also been discussion about a new bookstore, but I think that's stalled.</p>