I'm poor and don't drink...

<p>hi!
im kinda new to college confidential, but i just wanted to say that im gonna go to williams :)and im in the same boat as well!
not poor - but will be after 4 years here...not that it makes me want to come to williams any less - i'm so excited!!!
asian from socal
non-drinker/smoker
straightedge
my kind of party is a movie night with my close friends, or driving an hour away in traffic to get boba
anyone up for that? :P</p>

<p>but i think williams will have tons of opportunities for everyone
and we can try so many new things at college that dont have to do with drugs/alcohol
for example, i do play a sport, and an instrument,
but i also want to try theater, or swing dance, or some other random things that i have never tried before in my life/never would have the guts to do at my high school
plus we can do community service, and all work together to try and pay off the bajillion dollars that it costs to come to a private
and i think one of the great things about williams is the school spirit - i agree with ChandlerBing that it would just be so fun to mob games and cheer and just get wrapped up in the spirit...oh and also to ChandlerBing, i heard that its mostly cross country skiing around williams, not sure though</p>

<p>we can reinvent ourselves to be whoever we want to be in college
there are so many opportunities</p>

<p>Cross country skiing is AGONY. Though I'm sure that instead of going, we can all just chill and watch a movie :P</p>

<p>I really want to go to Williams. We'll see if my parents let me.</p>

<p>Dude, I'm pumped for theater/swing dancing. I actually really like both, believe it or not... I did theater in middle school/freshman yr of HS but I had a terrible play director who ruined it for me. And swing dancing... there was this song that my parents played at some party of theirs (I was in my room, chilling of course) and I just kinda started dancing to this swing music and it was FUN. Swing dance/theater ftw.</p>

<p>So pumped for Williams!
Ephs games are probably so epic.</p>

<p>"We'll see if my parents let me"</p>

<p>Is that for fin reasons or just your parents making the decision for you? If its the latter then don't let that happen. If you love Williams, go to Williams. </p>

<p>But I am really pumped for Williams as well. I cant wait, I just want to get on campus.</p>

<p>^ LOL! Let's just say that instead of my parents helping me write essays, I help them write theirs.
No, it's purely for financial reasons that I wouldn't be able to attend Williams. I haven't gotten my aid package yet, I wonder when it will arrive?
I am set on going to Williams, but I have to keep in my mind the huge sacrifice my parents would be making to let me go there.</p>

<p>It's going to be a tough decision, but my heart bleeds purple and gold (with the occasional cow thrown in).</p>

<p>this is just strictly from my own experience- when i visited over spring break, i sampled two pretty disparate social groups. by day, i hung out with a really diverse group of friends (minorities with preps, yes) who engaged in a lot of intellectual conversation and liked watching funny youtube videos/ movies. their idea of spending the night was the latter, so i decided to take up an old acquaintance's invitation to a party- that was definitely more along the lines of what the OP was talking about. so in short, like any stereotypes i think there are probably enough exceptions to have an awesome time. williams is definitely a unique school...the students i encountered there are indescribable.</p>

<p>hmmmm I just hope I can find a good group of non-drinking friends to hang out on nights when I don't feel like being around drunk people. I've been around drunk people in a college party before, and even though it can be cool, it can be a little awkward and boring. Most people tell me "...oh, even though you don't drink now, you'll do it in college" but with me it's more like a physical condition. I can only have about half a glass of wine or maybe half a can of beer before I start getting very unpleasant headaches. :P</p>

<p>and ChandlerBing that was some very nice imagery with the heart and the colors. ;) </p>

<p>whitelily and goldenratio, we should definitely hang together if we all go to Williams. For now, I'm gonna attend the Previews weekend, ask around for what the social life is REALLY like, and then make my decision. :P </p>

<p>And this is one of the few times I LIKE being in the LOWER-middle-class. My fafsa EFC was $0 lol, but my family's gonna have to fork over a few grands anyways. And I'll have to do work-study and summer employment, but that's okay as long as I get to attend Williams almost for free. :D</p>

<p>heh I won't be drinking in college because I'll be entering at 17 and graduating at 20 :p</p>

<p>Could all you poor non-drinkers give me your impressions from Previews?</p>

<p>Teltar: I apologize for my insensitivity in the past, if I'm the parent you're referring to. Of course your experiences are valid, and again, I apologize if I implied otherwise.</p>

<p>Kids deciding: The bulk of Williams students don't post here. Reading blogs, the newspapers or trying to friend someone at Williams might be a more objective way to find out about the school.</p>

<p>I know my S was turned off by the blog of one of the schools he was interested in. For an elite school, he felt the subjects discussed were just too trivial. And he had visited.</p>

<p>Course catalogues are another way to gain insight. After all, the academic part of the experience is important in its own right. By requirements for particular majors you can learn a lot about how something is taught at a particular school.</p>

<p>For instance, my S wanted to be a music major. He thought school A had too old fashioned and formal approach and school be too loose an approach with not enough emphasis on classical music.</p>

<p>These decisions are purely subjective, but it might help you decide.</p>

<p>haha, hey guys! i am also a non-drinking minority student, with a $0 EFC and am considering attending Williams over Dartmouth next year. Right now I am stuck between Williams and Dartmouth but have found more non-drinkers at Williams…hehe surprise? hardly. Also, i hear that Hanover is closer to Boston and NYC and also has more things to do. albeit, Hanover is more expensive than Williamstown, I hear Williamstown is more college student friendly and is overall a better college town. idk. </p>

<p>Honestly, I just want an awesome college experience and i don’t want to feel as if there’s nothing else to do if i’m not drinking on saturday nights. is anyone else in this position? and which school do you guys think offers more things to do outside of drunken keggars?</p>

<p>Both do. The HOP (Dartmouth) or the 62 Center (Williams) usually have things to do Saturday nights. At Williams there is often a movie at Paresky, Images Cinema in W’town has movies. There are definitely things to do if you want to.</p>

<p>My S usually just hangs out with his GF, watches movies rented from Sawyer and eats chocolate with her. They don’t drink.</p>

<p>Last year as a frosh he often went to parties where a lot of kids drank and watched over his friends. He enjoyed being sober and available if anyone got into trouble.</p>

<p>I guarantee that at both schools there is more to do than you will have the energy or desire for.</p>

<p>blueskyangel - honestly, I think you need to look at a map. neither Hanover NH nor Billtown are particularly close to New York City and Boston. Nor are they towns in any real sense of the word. At most, they are a block or two of shops and restaurants located on the only streets that aren’t owned by the college.</p>

<p>The Dartmouth campus may have a bit more buzz simply because there are more people there. But, as others have suggested, it’s also much more competitive politically, socially and, athletically than Williams. That may or may not be what you want.</p>

<p>my bad johnwesley. I’m a southerner so i guess its apparent idk my way around new england. i was told that dartmouth was closer to those cities than williamstown, i guess i need to check things out for myself. thanks for the correction :)</p>

<p>I know what you mean; all my relatives down south call to find out how I’m doing everytime there’s a blizzard in Buffalo (I live in Brooklyn.) :p</p>

<p>In fairness, us Southerners are used to just hopping on an interstate highway. 135 miles to Atlanta means 2 hours. I don’t think people really have any idea how long 135 miles takes on Route 2 – up and over the Mohawk Trail and into Boston (which is is own inconceivable driving challenge).</p>

<p><a href=“I%20live%20in%20Brooklyn.”>quote=johnwesley</a>

[/quote]

Another reason to go to Wesleyan, no problem blending in with the rest of the proletarians in hipsterville.<br>
[Brooklyn</a> Virgin Discovers Naked Dancing: Kate Ahlborn | Vanity Fair](<a href=“http://www.vanityfair.com/online/culture/2009/04/03/brooklyn-virgin-discovers-naked-dancing.html#entry-more]Brooklyn”>http://www.vanityfair.com/online/culture/2009/04/03/brooklyn-virgin-discovers-naked-dancing.html#entry-more)</p>

<p>you have to luv the comments.</p>

<p>…anyways, all of us non-drunks and $0 EFC’ers should meet up during Previews. :slight_smile: hehe it seems like there are more of us than I thought!</p>

<p>Yep, I’m also a nondrinker, except I never even thought of this as a problem…the drinking thing I mean. I just assumed I could always find someone who didn’t drink. Especially since I’m also going to finish college when I’m 20! Are you all guys? Maybe this is a bigger problem among guys than girls…</p>

<p>Goldenratiophi, I will definitely give you my opinion about the previews :)</p>

<p>You are poor and you do not drink. Is this relationship doomed?</p>

<p>What does being poor and not accustomed to victuals mean here?</p>

<p>How are we to interpret your position about how you perceive yourself with regards to your perceptions formed about the Williams College student body?</p>

<p>Why not approach the College with confidence and drop your presumptions. No one here will define you but yourself. If you position yourself as I hear you, whatever school you find yourself in, you will be the beneficiary of all real and imagined allusions to your person.</p>

<p>Each one of us comes here as individuals. Accept the challenge of being different and you will succeed wherever you find yourself.</p>

<p>STOP HORSERADISH! I CAN’t TAKE IT ANY MORE</p>