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<p>Then I guess you’ve proven that kids may or may not go wild no matter the type of school they go to or family they come from. I personally don’t see how anyone could disagree with that.</p>
<p>And of IMO it’s better support for the idea that you shouldn’t choose a school based on the danger of partying, but I’m sure conservatives could draw different conclusions from that.</p>
<p>Gotta love an advice thread where the OP doesn’t come back and there are still 75+ replies.</p>
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<p>My son is one such kid. He was looking for a school where binge drinking wasn’t the main social activity, but I feel sure he would not have been welcome at a religiously conservative school (something about his militant atheism probably would have put the other students off, I fear).</p>
<p>I know several other politically liberal teenagers who will be looking or were looking for schools with less than average drinking.</p>
<p>TCBH: My point was exactly that: glad you picked up on it. I felt someone had to make it since I rarely (never?) hear stories of “kids of permissive parents gone wild.”</p>
<p>I know many of the same kinds of kids, Cardinal Fang. It’s a shame there aren’t more options for them.</p>
<p>The point is it doesn’t matter whether you are permissive or strict, a kid is going to go wild if a kid does not have an inner compass. If a kid is secure, confident, know what he/she wants, it wouldn’t matter where he/she is at, he/she would still be true his/her self. I am so comfortable with how we raised D1, she could go anywhere in the world and I would know what she is not capable of. When we were looking for a college for her, the only thing that came to our mind was quality of education she would be receiving, we were not concerned about how she would be influenced by her new environment. At that point, we knew if she couldn’t be herself then it wouldn’t matter how hard we try to shelter her.</p>
<p>To me this is not a conservative or liberal thing. I just think by the time kids go to college it is not appropriate for parents to try to create an artificial bubble for them, may it be liberal or conservative.</p>
<p>I have no desire to create a bubble for my child. I had no worries that Fang Jr would go off to college and emerge in an alcoholic haze. He’s not interested in drinking. He comes by this naturally: Mr. Fang does not like alcohol, and when I was in college, I did not want to drink. </p>
<p>My concern was rather that I wanted Fang Jr. to find a college where he would have plenty of social and academic options to enjoy. If everyone else were off drinking all weekend, then what would he be doing? Better for him to have a larger group of potential friends and social contacts. </p>
<p>Why would you go to engineering school if you didn’t enjoy technical subjects? Why would you go to a heavy drinking school if you didn’t enjoy drinking?</p>
<p>Why would you go to engineering school if you didn’t enjoy technical subjects? Why would you go to a heavy drinking school if you didn’t enjoy drinking?</p>
<p>I presume engineering is mentioned in brochures. Is drinking?
Our kids are first -gen college.We didn’t hire a counselor- didn’t even happen on CC until after oldest was attending her college. We were concerned about drinking but as it isn’t legal for those under 21 to drink- what should we have looked for?</p>
<p>( I am also concerned about social issues besides illegal & legal substance abuse- sexual/ harrassment for example, support & access for those with physical/learning differences and provisions for campus activities for low income students)</p>
<p>I think this whole thread is somewhat unfair to the OP. If someone comes on here and says she’s looking for a women’s college, people don’t tell her that she shouldn’t look at them. If those are her priorities for her kid – and there’s no evidence that she’s shoving anything down her kid’s throat – what’s the problem? People ask for schools that meet certain criteria all the time.</p>
<p>@emeraldkity4- Many factors go into choosing a college. Also, the applicant might not know that a school was a heavy drinking school. All I’m saying is, it makes sense for parents and applicants to consider and research whether a potential college has a big drinking culture, if the applicant does not want that culture- not necessarily because the applicant is afraid of being drawn into drinking (though that could be a consideration if the applicant had a genetic disposition for alcoholism) but just because the applicant prefers a less boozy campus for whatever reason.</p>
<p>These factors are linked with higher-than-average binge drinking:</p>
<p>Colleges that are not religious
Colleges that are coed
Colleges that are residential
Colleges that have a large emphasis on spectator sports
Colleges that have fraternities
Rural colleges
Colleges with a richer than average student body
Colleges with a whiter than average student body</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang: Your screen name and your names for your offspring give your posts insouciance. It really is funny in a cute way.</p>
<p>I agree that the OP (who has been absent for the entire thread, hasn’t she?) can frame her questions about how to find an appropriate environment for her child in her own words and thoughts and deserves respect.</p>
<p>I think people were just not clear about exactly what the OP wanted.</p>
<p>I see no difficult in those who want a religious environment, for instance. It’s not my bent, nor my kids, but service and devotion are lovely concepts, and I can imagine wanting a college surrounded by people of this persuasion.</p>
<p>I think the problem came because we weren’t sure that that is exactly what the OP wanted.</p>
<p>And some may feel this is a “bubble” or “artificial” environment, but since we can somewhat choose our college environments they are probably all a bit of bubble, except maybe an inner city commuter college.</p>
<p>So, if we are choosing, it’s just sensible to choose the place the student will flourish the most. Perhaps the OP was presenting the child’s criterion.</p>
<p>My D’s: The school should be in NYC. That wouldn’t have been mine. (She did apply to other schools, but I’m not sure she really considered them.)</p>
<p>Many folks thought DD odd, and me odder for condoning this, but it wasn’t my choice.</p>
<p>The OP is absent from this thread.</p>
<p>The OP just opened this thread on Thursday. This is just Saturday morning. Perhaps she isn’t checking CC all of the time (like me). 
I am just a tiny bit addicted. sh…</p>
<p>Anything that’s said at this point has very little to do with OP since she hasn’t come back after the first post, so she really shouldn’t take any offense. It’s become more of a general discussion.</p>
<p>hypermom: Hopefully you have given your daughter some strong values that she can take with her to college. I suggest you trust her.</p>
<p>Of course, you should remind her (often) about safety, but you need to trust her.</p>
<p>I have no problem with someone deciding with their child to focus on schools that have more of a controlled environment than say the * atheism, communism & free love* that is “available” at a certain school on the left coast.</p>
<p>Since the OP has apparently gotten her child through the bulk of the teen years, I doubt that they are such a sensitive plant that they took offense at it being pointed out that college students are adults and should be part of the " deciding".</p>
<p>More likely she has other things to do 
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<p>I also think there is nothing to take offense from any of the replies. In any discussion people put forward their views which might be different from others.
It seems conservative people just can’t take someone else point of view and try calling it offensive. Liberals don’t do that they will listen to everyone with getting offended.</p>
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<p>Uh… because we like OTHER aspects of the school? As I’ve said before, I don’t drink but probably 80% of the school drinks at least something on the weekends. I love my U though. I didn’t go there based on ONE criteria. I loved my major (which is very unique), the professors, the ECs, location, etc. Who drank was an afterthought.</p>
<p>“It seems conservative people just can’t take someone else point of view and try calling it offensive. Liberals don’t do that they will listen to everyone with getting offended.”</p>
<p>What a tool!!!</p>
<p>^^^I thought that was supposed to be funny…</p>
<p>“they will listen to everyone WITH getting offended.”</p>
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<p>I’m very liberal, but even I know that there are a ton of liberals on here who won’t listen to the other side. I can’t tell if you’re being serious…</p>
<p>I know people do get offended but then you can’t call those people liberals.
True liberals don’t get offended.</p>
<p>Why can’t liberals get offended? We are still people… ??</p>