<p>I agree about the commuter schools, intparent. He definitely needs a social life, but he’d be happier with kids who sit around debating ethids than kids who get drunk at every opportunity. Substance-free housing might be a good option, although I see the potential drawbacks, too. And I tend to think he won’t want to do this. He is very accepting. He is friendly (but not friends) with a kid at school who deals drugs - not just pot, but 'shrooms and things like that. He told me that the kid isn’t a bad kid. He is more likely to get to know a kid with problems and try to understand than to avoid him. He has been friends for years with a boy who has gotten into a lot of trouble. When they were very young, my son told me that this boy “had had a hard life.” He wouldn’t tell me the details, which he’d been told in confidence, but I do know that the boy was living with grandparents because there were problems with his parents. Over the years, he’s been in trouble for shoplifting, suspended from school for over a year and sent to a special school (which, fortunately, helped him). Now that he’s 17 (he is also older than most kids in his grade and 2 years older than my son) he is a heavy drinker. But he’s a very sweet kid and I understand why my son, and some of his friends, like him.</p>
<p>kiddie, thanks for the tip about checking on the predominance of Greek life. That is easy to find out, and a good way to get at least an initial read on the atmosphere at the school.</p>
<p>I would imagine that Haverford is similar to Swat in terms of the penchant for partying. </p>
<p>Wheaton College (outside of Chicago) is an excellent school academically that (if memory serves) is quite anti-party. It is also a Christian school, but that can run in both main directions politically and philosophically. The trick would be to avoid the “preachers”. Hehe </p>
<p>Here is the vegan friendly report card for colleges:
<a href=“http://www.peta2.com/feature/vegan-college-ranking/”>http://www.peta2.com/feature/vegan-college-ranking/</a></p>
<p>My daughter’s friends who were vegan all gave up on it in college as they would have starved if they had stuck to it.</p>
<p>Instead of substance free housing, look into a healthy living LLC which would have like minded kids.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, a big selling point for URochester was the Eastman School of Music. Since then, I’ve learned that not only would he not have the opportunity to participate in anything at the Eastman School, the Eastman students take all the good spots in the UR music groups.</p>
<p>Not necessarily so…</p>
<p>I don’t know what instrument your son plays however my d was double humanities graduate from Rochester in 2010 with music one of those degrees. She was in vocal performance. While it is true that you cannot perform in an Eastman ensemble, her chorus did perform along with the Eastman chorus. The UR music groups are quite strong, the instruction top-notch and by audition and for credit, you can continue to take lessons in your instrument with an Eastman grad/doctoral degree student. The music curriculum at Rochester is very rigorous in terms of theory, history, ear training. It was not my d’s experience as a vocalist that the Eastman students take all the good spots in the UR music groups although it could vary from performing group to performing group and from year to year… as maybe in need of an oboe player or a horn player or tuba or harp player and perhaps not as much talent to choose from for those instruments. </p>
<p>I think you said there was a preference for East Coast, but he might like Pitzer. Part of the Claremont Consortium. One of my kids goes to one of the other consortium colleges there (we are from the Midwest) and loves it.</p>
<p>Regarding Haverford, it does have a different vibe from Swat. It is very communal, in my opinion – my extroverted student loved it, my introvert was repelled. I realize this is not the party question the OP asked, but just an observation. I also think that while Haverford is a fine school academically, it is not as serious as some others mentioned here, and I don’t see social justice/animal rights as a big issue there.</p>
<p>I also find it hard to believe that a vegan can’t find a lot of good food at Oberlin – having eaten at the cafeteria there (and about 30 other colleges, literally), I suspect it would be the most vegan-friendly of all we visited.</p>
<p>Would getting into the honors program of a college be a solution? If they have their own housing that would tend to group the serious students together.</p>
<p>OP, I’m curious what you see as the drawbacks of sub-free housing.</p>
<p>You also are going to find students who are big on partying at nearly all colleges, as well as students who are not big on partying. You can probably identify colleges where fewer big parties occur by favoring smaller colleges that have a unique student bodies such as women’s colleges, religious colleges, colleges where most live at home, etc. However, one might have a better college experience by instead choosing to not attend such events and choosing to hang out with groups that are also not big on partying.</p>
<p>For example, when I was a student in college, I was not at all into partying. After strong encouragement from my freshman roommate, I did try attending a few events, but quickly found that I did not find it enjoyable, so I choose to not attend later events. After freshman year, I avoided choosing fraternity-type housing and instead I favored upperclassmen apartment/townhouse type housing on campus. During my final year, I lived in an area where married grad students with children were often housed. It had an atmosphere more like a quiet neighborhood than a college dorm. There were still many students on campus who were big on partying and many parties on campus, which I heard about from time to time, but I in no way felt pressure to attend, and they had little impact on my college experience.</p>
<p>Some of the smaller midwestern colleges are less party-hearty. Wheaton is heavily religious, but others are not as heavily religious - Hope, Kalamazoo, Macalester spring to mind where there is a minimal party atmosphere. </p>
<p>Had Kalamazoo on the tip of my tongue… great idea. </p>
<p>Mac is excellent. </p>
<p>Another idea would be St. Olaf. I’ve heard good things about the music offerings there.</p>
<p>A high school friend of mine, who is not a partier, enjoyed his time at St. Olaf.</p>
<p>@NYMomof2 - Take a closer look at Rochester because it has a music department within their Arts/Sciences school. From their web site… “Many people wonder why there is a Music Department on the River Campus, in addition to the University’s Eastman School of Music in downtown Rochester. Partly it is because most of the students in Music Department classes are majoring in disciplines other than, or in addition to, music. Also, the Music Department takes a liberal arts approach to music study, with a strong emphasis on research and writing in addition to actual performance. And it examines a broad range of non-traditional, non-Western musical expressions.” </p>
<p>There are ensembles, etc within Rochester, separate from Eastman, that should provide ample opportunity. </p>
<p>Bard (my alma mater class of 78) has me very miffed right now because of their $64,000 price tag and a a talk I I I had with someone in FinAidd who said the most we would get given our income would be about 40K (making Bard unaffordable to us), and the discussions here on CC about Bard students being, sorry and wrong to generalize, unhappy loners, have made me rule out Bard for my DD. BUT and this is a BIG BUT you son sounds like an extrardinary young man and just the kind of outstanding/not “run of the mill” student Bard YEARNS for.Yes, there many be more than the average amount of students on campus going to therapy, compared to other colleges, but if Bard hasn’t changed from my day–and I don’t think it has THAT much, and I had a lot of friends–the typical Bard student is introspective, artistic, a deep and carerful thinker, and not a drinker.Parties were rare; soulful conversations were frequent. (I avoided drugs but they were there and no one bothered or encouraged me.) I would agressively pursue Bard–talk long and in detail to an Admissions Officer and “talk your way in”, talk to people in Financial Aid, sounds like this grades might not be tip top but Bard is THE school who looks at the WHOLE person with great scrutiny. When Bard is at its best, Bard would be perfect for your son. </p>
<p>He should also look at Hampshire. He will find lots of kindred spirits there, although there is a lot of weed smoking. But partying isn’t the dominant culture, and that’s really what you’re looking for. All schools have some partying, but it is possible to find a school where that’s not all the kids do for fun.</p>
<p>To me the question is why would any student want to attend school “without” a partying atmosphere. College is the best chance many students will have to let loose in an atmosphere where people are young, happy and single. Once college is over, life becomes filled with obligations, marriage, children, jobs, deadlines, etc. Plenty of time to be serious. In College you should work hard of course, but also play hard . . imho.</p>
<p>We live near St. Olaf and our high school sends a lot of kids there. I don’t see it as a school where poverty and animal rights are big factors in the mind of students… a little, but not as much as some other schools discussed here. It strong in music, though.</p>
<p>@letsbefrank, you (of course) are entitled to your own perspective on whether you want to “work hard/play hard” in college. At least one of my kids couldn’t wait to mostly work hard in college. She felt like her school environment up until that point had not been challenging enough (true), and she just wanted to be with the smartest, geekiest, hardest working group she could find. And she is VERY happy at a school with that reputation now. Just don’t assume your approach applies to every students, and that a student like the OP’s son doesn’t know what he wants.</p>
<p>
You can be all that without being at a party school. UCSD is not a party school and ranks 6th in happiness for college student.</p>
<p>Have you asked your son what’s most important to him? If his friends now tend to party and he still hangs out with them but doesn’t drink, then he may find that the same arrangement works for him in college. Generally the students at the more selective colleges are the least coercive when it comes to drinking and all, with the likely exception of some frats. While some strongly religious schools may have less of a party scene, they’re also likely not to have much selection for vegans. I agree with Brown and Oberlin for having the social consciousness he’ll likely seek. UR is good for the sciences he’s interested in, but I think there’s quite a bit of drinking there. If he doesn’t mind that as much as you think, it sounds like it may be a good fit as well. Cornell, while a big drinking school, is strong on animal rights and has great vegan dining. They are also likely to have a lot of research on animals along the lines of his interests. I would suggest he schedule some overnight visits when the colleges are in session to see what works for him.</p>
<p>U Wisconsin has produced the greatest number of Peace Corps volunteers of any college for years–something they’re proud of and foster. Definitely has a party school reputation but he should be able to find some non-partiers there. With rolling admissions and a pretty by-the-numbers admissions formula, your son would be able to find out pretty early in the fall how his stats stack up. </p>
<p>He could ferret some out, but my kids turned down U of W after visiting due to the party school atmosphere in spite of in-state tuition (from a state with reciprocity). Why would the OP pay OOS public tuition for a school with a party school reputation in hopes he could find his crowd there? </p>