<p>Pretty much the title, since i heard that Columbia's social life tends to function a lot more off-campus, like in the morning height bars, what is the importance of a fake id for those who want to drink? Will your social life be hampered if you don't have one?</p>
<p>Also how is the drinking policy on campus, is it pretty lenient?</p>
<p>Yes, you will be confined to the dungeons of carman and ostracized. </p>
<p>I'm kidding, obviously.</p>
<p>They've kind of cracked down on ID's, so if you find one, great: but those bouncers are getting sharper, and after a while I couldn't flirt my way in (i.e. before I turned 21), even if I looked like a skank (...)</p>
<p>Your social life will be FINE. Social life does not revolve around alcohol and drinking, there's plenty to do in NYC without alcohol</p>
<p>Drinking Policy: well, they try to enforce the no drinking till you're 21 rule, as well as crowd control, but as long as the party stays behind the door and doesn't wake up the entire building, you should be fine. Columbia had started cracking down on fun last year, but the student backlash pushed back.</p>
<p>Ditto what cerberus posted. </p>
<p>You'll be fine. Very few of my friends had a fake and those who did mainly used it to stock up for the parties in the dorms, not go bar-hopping. </p>
<p>If you like to go clubbing on a routine basis, you might need a fake. But, most clubs will allow 18+ in for big name acts.</p>
<p>
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Columbia had started cracking down on fun last year, but the student backlash pushed back.
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</p>
<p>Don't be so sure. River, Woodbridge, and Wein RAs were put on orders to break up all parties this weekend. Apparently it's going to go on a cycle tho so next week it'll be some different dorms.</p>
<p>Wait now I am getting a little concerned, is Columbia really cracking down on drinking? I understand their is all this stuff to do in NYC blah blah, but lets let be honest drinking and partying are fun ways to enjoy college as well.</p>
<p>Being a NYC HS senior who's lived here my entire life, I can assure it is very easy to get alcohol. Bars and getting alcohol in eateries/restaurants can be tough, but you can always get some from various bodegas (that's what you call a corner store ;) )</p>
<p>Right, but unless you're trying to re-enact a scene from a Hollywood college movie, you learn pretty quickly that drinking is not an end in itself - to enjoy some drinks, you need to be out with some friends at a place you like being at. And bodegas aren't that place, unless you're looking to score some weed.</p>
<p>If you want to drink socially at Columbia, dorm parties, frat parties, and house parties are the way to go. Even buying at some bodegas and brown-bagging it on college walk can be fun with a few buddies. Hell, I might get creepy points for this, but a couple friends of mine have done that fairly recently despite being 2 years out. It's a great place to drink. Another method is to go to a restaurant during dinner time, and just stay after dinner at the bar. Can be expensive and you can't hop around, but if you really really like, say, Radio Perfecto, or Brother Jimmy's, it can be a good way to spend the evening.</p>
<p>Then there's the truly mad-scientist route that I call the "Vesalvay solution". That kid scanned in his (foreign) passport, photoshopped the dates differently, printed it out, and presented it confidently to any bouncer who asks. If asked why he didn't have the original, he'd say "If I lose that I get deported - I'd rather not drink at your bar than risk losing my passport" and, according to him, had a 100% success rate.</p>
<p>haha thats really funny...
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f you want to drink socially at Columbia, dorm parties, frat parties, and house parties are the way to go.
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Would you say that on Friday and Saturday nights there are plenty of these going on?</p>
<p>You'd need a good foreign accent though.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Then there's the truly mad-scientist route that I call the "Vesalvay solution". That kid scanned in his (foreign) passport, photoshopped the dates differently, printed it out, and presented it confidently to any bouncer who asks. If asked why he didn't have the original, he'd say "If I lose that I get deported - I'd rather not drink at your bar than risk losing my passport" and, according to him, had a 100% success rate.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Probably not a good idea to do this with a US passport. You'd likely be in much more serious trouble if you're charged with some federal crime for falsifying a US passport than if you're caught with a fake McLovin Hawaii driver's license.</p>