<p>Thanks to all who pm'd me on last post. I could still use some help here...
D has interest in bio. Recently attended lecture with bio teacher
on emerging viruses (?) and finds this exciting. She initially identified Lehigh as
a school with integrated majors, recent investment in bio/life sciences.
D however is concerned with the drinking culture there. She doesn't drink
and is a peer educator for freshmen and middle schoolers re: underage drinking. She enjoys school sponsored events, local coffee house, movies
with friends and non alcoholic dance nights at clubs. No interest in Greek thing. Is also a very decent competitive swimmer. Info as follows:
suburban competitive HS-grad '07
All AP/honors classes
No SAT as yet, expect 1900 or so if u can base on new PSAT (1870)?
96.5 un GPA
CR 30/473
Decent ECs, long term swim commitment
Of course alcohol is present on virtually all campuses, but
would appreciate suggestions for schools where alcohol doesn't dominate
the culture, with decent bio/life sciences. Prefer NE, MidAtl,
Any recommendations would be appreciated as I'm almost convinced
that very soon the most employable grads will be alcohol treatment counselors. Thank you.</p>
<p>well... i hope you don't mean she is looking for a school with no drinking- good luck with that. but even at a school with a lot of drinking, many kids don't participate. not drinking doesn't mean you won't have a social life. also, some schools have "substance free" dorms, wake forest being one example that i visited.</p>
<p>Thanks Emily, we've found schools with substance free dorms. I'd just like to see a school where students who don't drink aren't considered apart from
the main social scene. In her HS drinking is typical weekend behavior. Any big party can be counted on for kegs etc. (in some cases provided by the parents). Of course there are also the car accidents, arrests and gossip that go along with all of it. Thus, she is not participating in the main social activity and is not in reality part of the mainstream there. Just hoping for a school where non drinkers are not considered a sub group in need of special housing. Does anyone else find this disheartening?</p>
<p>Purdue University is a dry campus. If you have beer, your kicked out.</p>
<p>I understand where you are coming from mama. I am a senior going to a university next year where social activities are very alcohol-centered. I am very anti-alcohol, and I will feel very uncomfortable being around kids who drink heavily nearly every weekend. Good luck to you in finding a school that fits your daughter, I wish I had done more research before I applied, because I am definitely second guessing myself now.</p>
<p>Mamma:</p>
<p>The three woman's LACs: Bryn Mawr, Smith, and Mt. Holyoke all have strong science departments and are well-below national averages in surveyed heavy drinking rates. </p>
<p>All three are also terrific admissions values -- very good schools that are slightly easier to get into because they can only accept apps from half the population.</p>
<p>Hi mama! :-)
Seriously, you need to give up on that whole "no drinking" thing. Even though a lot of schools will say that have dry dorms or whatever, that doesn't mean anything really. All it means is that if a student gets caught they get punished...but getting caught is completely different from having it done. I currently go to a dry university...but seriously that's only a policy...the alcohol is everywhere.
My suggestion is that your daughter makes contact with current students at universities that she's interested in to find out what the culture of the campus is like. She might also like to look into schools in big cities because it's more likely that she'll be able to find concerts and clubs and the like to go. Once she finds them she should make an effort to do overnight weekend visits (not just in the day) so that she can get a real good feeling for what goes on.<br>
In college it's rare to find any type of social event that's non-alcoholic. The key is going to be for her to find friends that are going to respect her decision, won't be a burden if they've made a different decision.
I'm a non-drinker, go to a "dry" university in a big city, and only have one friend that doesn't drink either. It's hard, but not impossible. I'm actually graduating in two weeks and the senior class committee is doing "senior week." Too bad that really means "a big excuse for all those graduating to drink all day long and do last minute hook ups" week. Needless to say, I'll be spending those days going to see a few plays, a few movies, my favorite restaurants, and taking my family on tours around the city. What can I say? Some kids just have different priorities. :-)</p>
<p>there are dry campuses out there, most of them are religious like st. olaf. i'm pretty sure wheaton is too.</p>
<p>Idykydyd thanks. Best of luck to you. I didn't realize that non drinkers were
such a minority on campus. D tells me this is just the way it is and if I knew the half of it I'd probalby faint. She finds drunken behavior disrespectful and often dangerous and doesn't have any desire to go to bars, keg parties, or frat houses. She's just a nice kid who doesn't judge others, but doesn't want to engage in drinking or be constantly impacted by it. It would seem that the behavior is instutionalized. Thanks interesteddad, I agree and Smith is one I'd like her to consider. But she's just not there with Mt. H and Bryn M. As for the state schools, here at least, drinking is what it's all about every weekend.
To the point, 'wasted', is where its at. Despite riots, fires, hospitalizations,
thousands of non-students on campus for certain weekends, the U admin
fails to close the campus or curtail the behaviors. Even those HS students here who do drink will not consider our own state school. It is tough to
find the right match, and I'm saddened by that.</p>
<p>Congrats enygma on your impending graduation! Best wishes to you.
Your suggestions are all good and an overnight is going to be an important part of her process I think. Even I'm not naive enough to think I'll find a 'no alcohol' campus. I was just hoping for a school with good academics where alcohol wasn't king, one where senior week
wasn't only about being drunk. Once again, best wishes for continued success, hope the family enjoys the city.</p>
<p>It is pretty hard to "close the campus" at a public university--you know, being public and all.</p>
<p>I know barrons, I just meant to at least try to put a stop to the car fires,
neighborhood trashing, etc. which sends some students home for the weekends (of course they're not able to enjoy the school sponsored events at their public university due to the probability of violence, riots and drunken
non students) or keeps them locked in their dorms. Most unfortunate and
I think a sad commentary on the admin there.</p>
<p>what are some schools with dry campuses?</p>
<p>i know wellesley is a fairly dry campus. it also has an excellent science program.</p>
<p>I think it's not so much a matter of finding a dry campus as it is finding a school where drinking is not the focus of social life. While it is true that drinking (and drugs) occur on almost every campus, there are degrees of intensity in terms of whether partying is necessary to have a social life.</p>
<p>St. Olaf in Minnesota would be a good choice. Dry campus (but still some drinking), strong science programs, wonderful study abroad opportunities. Larger than most LACs (3,000 students), Lutheran affiliated but not as conservative as many religious schools.</p>
<p>Earlham in Indiana is also a dry campus but students there have described it to me as more "pleasantly damp." Still, it's a school where it is OK not to drink or do drugs. Strong Quaker affiliation, strong science programs (one of the highest percentage of students going on to get PHDs in bio), very friendly student body. But, it's pretty liberal politically so may not be a choice for someone who is conservative that way.</p>
<p>As interesteddad already noted, The womens colleges tend to be drier than most: Smith, Wellesley, Scripps, Mills, etc.</p>
<p>A few schools where there tends to be less drinking and wild partying include: Furman U, Johns Hopkins, University of Rochester, UCSD, Tufts, some of the Ivies (Harvard, Yale), many of the engineering schools (Cal Tech, MIT, Rose-Hulman), but again, it is a matter of degree, not a complete absence of drinking on these campuses. </p>
<p>And, of course, there are many religiously conservative schools that enforce no alcohol policies: Calvin College, Wheaton College, Gordon College, Pepperdine U are some examples. Even at these schools, however, there will be students who bend the rules and drink.</p>
<p>Many larger state universities are good bets for non-drinkers, simply because there are more people to find folks with common desires. As you've noted, however, many publics, however, are quite the party schools. </p>
<p>A visit with overnight - even a few overnights - is important. Also, most colleges these days have substance free dorms. If someone truly doesn't want to be around alcohol or drugs, substance free dorms may be a solution at many colleges. (Bear in mind, however, that there are variations among what "substance free dorm" means on different campuses too!)</p>
<p>Thank you Carolyn. University of Rochester and Tufts were both considerations. Furman has been suggested by many and will be looking at Earlham. D is most likely considered politically liberal and might be interested even though it is outside NE, MidAtl area. Thanks again.</p>
<p>Maybe check out Emory? </p>
<p>If she plans on swimming in college, definitely have her fill out recruting forms, even if it's a Division III (I'm really big on D3 swimming because I looked into so many schools with D3 swimming) school so that she can talk to the coach and maybe get some help with admission. I'm a decent swimmer and pretty good student, probably not as studious as your daughter, and putting myself out there got me into Oberlin and NYU, probably U of Chicago if I had ended up applying as they're really looking to build their team, at least on the men's side. If a really good school is desperate for swimmers, even being just okay can help you get in if the swim team wants you. You can fill out the recruit forms as soon as the second semester of junior year and the earlier you start the better.</p>
<p>Swimming will probably help with Rochester and Tufts. Johns Hopkins is pretty good at getting recruits and they're pretty high in the standings, so your daughter might have to be pretty fast for swimming to be much of a push. As a matter of fact, teams like Emory or Denison or Kenyon it can make it harder. I was rejected from Denison even though my stats were a bit above average. They turn recruits away. Well, anyways, I hope this helps. I can talk about D3 swimming forever.</p>
<p>Hi Again, yes it does help! Please go on....what did you mean Kenyon and others turn away recruits? I'm not so familiar with all this, but I'm learning thanks to folks on CC willing to help me out..</p>
<p>i would tell your daughter to loosen up in college. perhaps the one who is afraid of her finding alcohol is you, and not her. Id let her make the decision for herself. Surrounding yourself with a bunch of straight laced dull people is no way to go through life. </p>
<p>I think a great mixture of a school that is not too intense on partying but good in science is University of Chicago. Itll be tough to get in to, but it has the best science departments in the world. </p>
<p>Ive never been much of a drinker or partier in high school, but i anticipated a change when college comes around.
College is a time for experimentation..blinding your daughter from what 99.9% of people would agree is a typical part of college life is not going to help her with anything. </p>
<p>On another note, its not even her junior year yet, if she were here, id be telling her to cool it and not worry about college yet. The fact that you are a parent doing this is rather discouraging. Your daughter is going to college, not you, so just relax and enjoy the summertime.</p>
<p>If you want your daughter to go to dry campus where alcohol is not present, go to Penn ST.NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>