<p>So here is what my friend who went to Oberlin in the mid 60’s told me. There were parties and drinking at parties - but you had to look to find them. He was a two sport athlete (football & baseball) so he didn’t drink a lot. He also told me alcohol was not the most prevalent choice among students, pot was. And everyone smoked. </p>
<p>uskoolfish, that’s a good way to look at it (#95). </p>
<p>wis75 (#93), I do expect him to start drinking at some point. I worry about alcoholism, because there is a strong history of it in my (birth) family. I have never had a problem, and I drink minimally. DH has no family history, and I hope his genes prevail.</p>
<p>emilybee, I’ve heard that about Oberlin, too, that it’s “druggy.” I’m surprised that there was pot there at all in the mid-60’s. I was in college in MI from 1967-1971, and I never even heard about pot until junior year. By the time I graduated, almost everyone I knew had tried it, although very few had become regular users. I never touched it, but with a family full of alcoholics, I was very much against any kind of drugs. I never drank at all in college, either.</p>
<p>^ should have been more specific. Mid to late 60’s - he graduated in '69. </p>
<p>Every academically rigorous co-ed school I can think of suffers from some degree of substance abuse, if it’s not drinking it’s drugging. But that doesn’t mean that the students are at risk of becoming alcoholics or addicts or that drinking or drugging consumes the experience. They take their academics seriously, pursue multiple interests, spend an inordinate amount of time hanging out with their friends and go on to be happy, healthy and wise.</p>
<p>Bad things happen at good colleges, all of them. I wouldn’t worry so much about stereotypes and shocking headlines. Students who didn’t drink or smoke dope in high school may be tempted to experiment anywhere, but no one’s going to hold them down and force them to do anything they don’t want to do. As long as the school offers a balance of academics and activities that appeal, your son will find his place.</p>
<p>He should concentrate on finding colleges that are a good fit academically and socially. Think about how he likes to learn and what he sees himself doing when he’s not in class.</p>
<p>For someone interested in sciences and music he should definitely look at Williams. Excellent science departments with accessible research opportunities. Excellent music department with multiple performance opportunities even for non-majors – from the Jazz ensemble to the Berkshire Symphony plus many smaller groups. Although it’s a reach his intense music ECs would carry a lot of weight in admissions.
<a href=“http://music.williams.edu/ensembles/students”>http://music.williams.edu/ensembles/students</a></p>
<p>Though less politically activist than say Wesleyan or Oberlin, Williams has a deep and wide environmental and sustainability focus and no shortage vegan fare in the dining halls.</p>
<p>Did anyone mention Earlham and Wheaton yet? I’m sure University of Chicago has already been mentioned.</p>
<p>Wrong coast but I have heard Pepperdine is a very quiet campus on the week-ends.</p>
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<p>Big schools can have a small percentage of students in fraternities and sororities, but such students can be numerous enough to fill a lot of fraternity and sorority houses. For example, UT Austin has about 40,000 undergraduates, about 5% of whom are in fraternities and sororities. This means about 2,000 students in fraternities and sororities, nearly as many as the entire enrollment at DePauw (about 2,300), where 70% of students are in fraternities and sororities (about 1,600 in fraternities and sororities).</p>
<p>But a UT Austin student is likely to find many more other students with interests other than fraternities and sororities than a DePauw student is.</p>
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<p>Pepperdine has a reputation of being a conservative religious school (Churches of Christ affiliated).</p>
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<p>Pot and psychedelics were commonplace though not everyone smoked or did so when I attended during the mid-late '90s. I never did and have never had an issue turning down offered joints or other drugs with a polite “no thanks”.* There was no pressure and unlike campuses where partying with heavy drinking was prevalent, the hardcore stoners tended to keep to themselves and not cause serious noise issues, leave vomit, vandalize property, or try starting fights. </p>
<p>Major contrast to some colleges I visited where heavy drinking and partying was prevalent in their campus cultures and to some extent, what I observed from undergrads from nearby party schools in the greater Boston area in my own neighborhood and those of my colleagues/friends. Even the local cops admitted they were quite familiar with undergrads from those colleges and their antics. </p>
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<li>Interesting part about growing up in an urban neighborhood where one could see the effects of drugs and alcohol on a near daily basis, it really tends to take away any supposed allure associated with them.<br></li>
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<p>A “quiet campus on the weekends” is often a suitcase school. That can be a big disappointment if you’re not living within suitcase distance yourself, or if you wanted to be part of a more vibrant college community, and to spend your weekend pursuing activities related to your college.</p>
<p>I also think suitcasing it home (or to a friend’s house) for the weekend can really undermine academic progress. Weekend progress can be really crucial, depending on who you are and how well you manage time.</p>
<p>" and have never had an issue turning down offered joints or other drugs with a polite “no thanks”.* There was no pressure…"</p>
<p>I hope my post didn’t suggest it did. Not my intention. </p>
<p>It’s pretty common, imo, that student’s who like to get stoned are pretty laid back. don’t go wild and don’t throw wild parties. They mostly sit around talking and listening to music. They may even drink a beer or two. </p>
<p>Not sure when Cobrat graduated, but in the 60’s Oberlin was a dry town, so it took some effort and a car to have wild parties. Obviously no longer the case. My D is a recent Oberlin grad. As Data10 described her situation exactly: sure, there were big parties, but they didn’t need to be the focus of anybody’s social life and they weren’t the focus of hers.</p>
<p>“so it took some effort and a car to have wild parties.”</p>
<p>My friend didn’t mention the dry town part but perhaps that is why he said, “one had to look for the parties.” I also don’t think, from his description, that the parties were “wild.” </p>
<p>The drinking age in Ohio was also 18 and I’m sure there were students who had cars - even way back then. </p>
<p>I’ve rethought the idea of suggesting substance-free housing for DS. First, I know that he has no intention of being substance-free. He is open about his interest in trying alcohol. I just hope that he drinks minimally and doesn’t use pot. Second, even if he did intend to be substance-free, he would not want that housing. He has friends and acquaintances who use things now and he would not want to be in a restrictive environment. I just have to find some schools where dorm life is not heavily impacted by others’ drug and alcohol use (noise, etc.) and where there are plenty of kids not spending Saturday nights getting blitzed. </p>
<p>^I went to college right across the river from Ohio and serveral of my sorority sisters were from there - I second all of that. </p>
<p>OP… .back again. I would recommend you visit the U of R and perhaps even make an appointment at the Music Dept to see the performance options. The music theory and history are all requirements to be a music major, not certain about a minor in music. I would think that the school is a good fit, however it is hardly a party-free environment. There are plenty of people who like to party, there are frats and so on… but there are plenty of people who enjoy having a good time without getting drunk or high all the time. People tend to find their niche.
I wouldn’t however view this as a safety school. It is more of a match school and a school in which showing interest is important. Their profile has been raised in the past few years and they have become a much more selective admit. Same goes for Brandeis. Older d is a Brandeis grad. I don’t know all that much about the current music performing groups at Brandeis as she graduated in 2007 and wasn’t a music kid. Also worth a visit and also is not party-free.</p>
<p>We visited Oberlin where younger d was waitlisted. I know that there is a lot to do on campus but for my taste it was too remote. We had a family member attend Kalamazoo and transferred out after freshman year as she found the student body too homogenous for her liking and did not have a positive experience.</p>
<p>bookmama, I initially thought of Rochester as a potential match. I found out a lot about it, and was very excited about having identified such a great possibly. Strong in sciences, strong academics, music school, good location for us. Most of my information came from CC posters. After learning that about a dozen graduates of the HS have been admitted in the last 3 years, though, most with lower stats than my son will probably have, I have to consider it a safety, the best kind, the one you’d like to attend. It’s not at all a last resort, if music opportunities are there for my son, then it will be a definite possibility.</p>
<p>He’s a strong candidate, 3.8 average so far, Chem SAT 2 score 760, from previous standardized tests I expect extremely high math scores and good verbal scores. Very strong music ECs. Deep thinker, will have interesting essays. His safeties won’t be bottom of the barrel schools.</p>
<p>I was hesitant to list URochester even though it did have strong STEM and music programs because from what I’ve heard and known from several people who are alums…including an older relative and a HS buddy, URochester does have more of a heavy drinking party scene than schools like the one I attended. </p>
<p>What’s more interesting was how it was the STEM majors, especially engineering majors who gravitated towards the partying and joining fraternities/sororities. </p>
<p>That’s not to say it’s a school deserving of the “party school” label, but something to consider. </p>
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<p>I wasn’t the one discussing Oberlin and presence of alcohol in the '60s. </p>
<p>Instead, I was relaying how in the mid-late '90s, pot and psychedelics were the vices of choice and alcohol widely disdained by most classmates as “too establishment/bourgeois” when I was there. </p>
<p>OP, Furman University has a good music/theater program, along with good science offerings and generally strong academics. It is a beautiful campus; I have been there a few times, and know a couple of students who attend there (they are fairly serious students, and not hard partiers; although you will find those kind there as well). Furman also has some decent opportunities for merit/other scholarship aid: <a href=“Furman University | Top Private Liberal Arts University in Greenville, SC”>Furman University | Top Private Liberal Arts University in Greenville, SC;
<p>But really, you will find hard-core partiers anywhere you go; because for some students, every school is a party school. At some point you will just have to trust that you have taught your children well, and they have learned well their lessons from you.</p>
<p>Best of luck with everything.</p>