<p>I know that Harvard is not really known for being a "party" school, but I wonder what anyone out there knows about partying and kids getting hurt or worse. </p>
<p>Which dorms are known for being the most rowdy or having the most trouble with drinking? (if any)</p>
<p>Is it possible for my son to stay "dry" during his school years at Harvard?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>My experience with my D is that you can avoid drugs etc but it is unrealistic to expect a kid to stay dry. The impression I get is that for the most part officials turn a blind eye to this behavior. Harvard like any school is made up of all kinds of kids, many times experimenting in new ways. This is normal adolescent behavior at every school.</p>
<p>I should also point out that they are probably somewhat safer from the standpoint that most don't have a car to drive around in drunk. The only other thing to point out is to watch your child for any type of issues associated with their mental health. I'm not impressed with how the school handles some of these situations and it leaves a lot to be desired.</p>
<p>harvard isn't any different from any other school from my visits. kids party, smoke, and drink. you don't have to, though. nobody looks down on you if you don't. and there's plenty of fun things to do other than drink. i remember one dorm being particularly "rowdy" but it was an upperclassmen house. i think people were drinking on the stairs or something the night i was there.</p>
<p>Kids getting hurt or worse is quite rare. Speaking as a one-beer-a-night kind of a girl, I was impressed by the lack of pressure to drink. In fact, two of my hallmates junior year were returned Mormon missionaries (and, of course, teetotalers). They came to parties and other events. All that being said, a kid who chooses not to drink will have to be tolerant of others who drink responsibly. People who drink irresponsibly can be reported to the proctor, who handles that kind of situation.</p>
<p>Harvard is really no different than any other school in this regard... it's all there if you want it. Some choose to participate and others choose to stay away from it.</p>
<p>The other thing to keep in mind about the "reputation" of a school in this regard is taking a look at some simple math. </p>
<p>If 10% of the students at a private school with 10,000 students have an alcohol or drug problem (a reasonable if not conservative estimate) then that's 1,000 students walking around campus and town with that problem and all the issues associated with it (e.g. public drunkenness, vandalism, puke on the sidewalks...).</p>
<p>However if 9% (less) of the students at a large public university with 45,000 students have the same issues then that's over 4,000 (4x as many) students walking around being drunk and disorderly. </p>
<p>Someone might say "oh yeah, private university X only has about a quarter the number of drug and alcohol related incidents than public university Y... but of course in reality it's actually the smaller school that has a bigger issue with drugs and alcohol."</p>
<p>So just trying to point out that newspaper articles, reputations and public perceptions can be a very misleading representation of reality.</p>
<p>Similar things often happen with crime statistics. Big city X may have more crimes than small town Y, but a person in small town Y may be more likely to be the victim of a crime that a person in big city X.</p>
<p>Absolutely. We live/work in Princeton. Ivy League colleges are not immune to the problems of excessive drinking and/or illegal drug use.</p>
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I was impressed by the lack of pressure to drink.
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<p>My freshman D echoed this sentiment. While drinking is prevalent, she felt no compulsion at all to partake.</p>
<p>It's more a matter of social group than dorms; freshman dorms obviously change from year to year, and you can't pick them anyway.</p>
<p>I've heard a lot of things about Finals Club parties... </p>
<p>I don't know how much of it is rumor though.</p>
<p>Luckily Finals Clubs are relatively insignificant....</p>
<p>What an odd way to ask the question: is it 'possible'. That's up to your son, isn't it? If every single undergrad were drinking, your son could abstain; if five of them were drinking, your son could join in.</p>
<p>Not odd at all. Don't read into things and don't analyze my post. I'm just a concerned parent with my oldest going off to college. It's been over 30 yrs since I've been to college and many many things have changed.</p>