<p>I know a lot of people say this when they go off to college and totally change their minds, but I guarantee you I mean it when I say it: I don't want to drink or party. I just take a lot of personal issue with alcohol, etc. I don't have a problem with people who do decide they want to drink and party, I just don't want to be around them when they're doing it.</p>
<p>So, naturally going to UW Madison has me a little apprehensive. I've been doing my research and I've narrowed my dorm choices down to 2 - the Chadbourne Residential College/Learning Community or the Substance Free Housing at Olson House in Sullivan Hall.</p>
<p>Do any of you have experience in either of these dorms/communities and can offer advice as to which would be a better fit? </p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>So many factors other than drinking/partying reputations. Lakeshore versus highrise… You need to decide which location seems most like the place you would like to distress evenings and weekends. Every dorm has pros and cons. Those who party also need to study to survive. Look at the amenities near each and see which seem most important to you.</p>
<p>Parent of freshman here – agree that you should consider what else matters to you in addition to plenty of other non-partying students and, for most students, that starts with Lakeshore vs. southeast. </p>
<p>Lakeshore has the reputation for being quieter and less party-central, with Sellery and Witte being full of craziness. My son is in Sellery and certainly partakes, and even he says the hallway noise as students spill back into rooms on weekends (and thirsty thursdays) can be distracting. </p>
<p>From what I have heard, for students who want to be closer to State St etc, Chad offers a great balance, not the party scene of Sellery/Witte, but still a larger dorm (500-600 students) with the Residential College program and support. I have no information specifically about the sub-free housing at UW but have heard that at some schools – and again, keep in mind I have not heard anything at UW – this is where some families require their recovering or overdoing it kids to live and these are not necessarily kids who are voluntarily subfree. </p>
<p>There are lots of dorm threads on this site, search and read through to get a feel for various responses. Good luck, and congrats.</p>
<p>When 1000’s of young adults live in such a condensed area (SE or Lakeshore), you will have extreme partiers and people who don’t party mixed in.</p>
<p>If you feel very strongly about avoiding partying or anyone who chooses to party, I would suggest Wheaton College in Illinois. If you can tolerate attending a University that has a reputation for partying, but you choose to avoid the party scene, I would recommend the substance free dorm.</p>
<p>Contrary to what you read on CC, there is partying in Chad. I was there on Sat. night and room shots were taking place where 6 or 8 rooms on at least one floor had groups walking between rooms all sampling jello shots.</p>
<p>As other have posted, most students do what they want and don’t let other’s choices have a huge impact. Unless you lock yourself in Sullivan or go to Wheaton College, you will see drunk people and occasionally have to walk around puke on the weekends…but that doesn’t mean that you have to drink or be one of the people puking.</p>
<p>I agree with billywesty. If you are set on coming to Madison, choose the substance free dorm if you are so adverse to partying. My daughter is a freshman and lives in Chadbourne. It’s a great dorm but definitely not party free. In fact, a girl on her floor moved out just last week because she couldn’t stand her roommate’s drinking and smoking weed any longer. Chad is a very large dorm so there is going to be a mix of people living there.</p>
<p>I recently visited some friends who go to Madison and live in Chad, what a blast! Yes we participated in quite a bit of partying, but there were lots of people around who didn’t. In fact my friend’s roommate is very law-abiding, well behaved, and involved in student orgs and he seemed to love it in Chad. Even on a Friday night, there were always tons of gamers or people studying and everyone knew and was friendly with each other. And occasionally the whole floor got dinner or went to events together (this may just be a first semester thing). I don’t know much about the other dorms except that Witte and Sellery are supposed to be WAY more or party dorms than Chad.</p>