<p>Any suggestions? She's very tolerant but has seen enough among her high school class to last a lifetime. It would be nice, though maybe impossible, to be in the majority as a nondrinker, rather than in the minority as one of few who abstain. She is an atheist and might not be comfortable in a place where kids don't drink (or drink secretly) because of a religious prohibition. Prefers Northeast, medium size, green campus.</p>
<p>She should take a look at the women’s colleges. Drinks and drugs tend to be related to a party atmosphere which is a bit harder to come by when only one sex is immediately at hand.</p>
<p>She also should look for schools with nerdy reputations. Students who are serious about their studies are less likely to risk their brain cells with drink and drugs.</p>
<p>If her grades and test scores are up to snuff, I’d say Bryn Mawr.</p>
<p>Wellesley definitely has a reputation for being a campus with little drinking and drugs, and it’s top-notch academically, with a nice campus.</p>
<p>But with Wellesley, as with other women’s colleges, it’s important to remember that most social activity involving men takes place off campus. For example, Wellesley students often attend MIT fraternity parties. And the atmosphere there is very different.</p>
<p>I tried to talk my non-drinking atheist daughter into at least visiting Wellesley, but she refused on the grounds that she wanted to be in a situation where one could meet male students naturally, during everyday activities, rather than only at prearranged social events. She chose a college where being a non-drinker has placed her very much in the minority, but she has been able to find friends who either don’t drink or who don’t choose drinking as their one and only recreational activity. And many of them are guys.</p>
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<p>Really? It seemed (having been at MIT and had some good friends over at Wellesley) like every time there was a big party over there, a bunch of people ended up requiring medical transport and the administration fussed at the students and threatened to crack down.</p>
<p>Mind you, I don’t disagree that it’s a great school (and the campus is beautiful and has a lot of greenery), but I did not get the impression that it was a place of “little drinking”. However, I’m sure that a student could find a non/light-drinking crowd there.</p>
<p>Tufts didn’t seem heavy on the drinking (I lived next to it for two years), and otherwise fits what she wants. Some of the numerous colleges in Western Massachusetts might also fit.</p>
<p>From my kids friends reports of not-so-much drinking/partying schools:</p>
<p>Brandeis, Wash U, U Chicago, Conn College, Tufts, Swarthmore. There are more but these come to mind as places that get mentioned with regularity.</p>
<p>U Chicago and Wash U are not Northeast but the social life does not appear to revolve around drinking and partying.</p>
<p>I would encourage your D to add some other criteria to the mix and the knowledgeable posters here will be able to help. At a large school (say on the size of BU or NYU although neither are green…) it’s less about avoiding the drinkers since the schools are big, urban, and pretty diverse, and much more about what you’re looking to do in your spare time (both schools have hundreds of student organizations involved in everything from the Arts to political activism). Although you could get unlucky and get a problematic roommate (which can happen anywhere) there are thousands of kids who are out in the community every day doing interesting things which do not involve alchohol.</p>
<p>I am glad the OP started this thread. I have wondered the same thing for years – how can my kids find a school with great academics and fun social life without having to deal with a drinking culture and all that goes along with that. Most schools do have some substance-free housing, but this often sets the non-drinkers apart as the minority.</p>
<p>My S is looking at LACs, most of which are rural or in smaller towns where there is not a lot to do off campus. I don’t know if this isolation is what leads to a drinking culture, or if the schools do not provide enough “dry” activities that the students are interested in. </p>
<p>He was very interested in Rice, but they have NO substance-free housing (I even called the school to ask). We looked at Tulane because of their generous merit aid, but I could find nothing anywhere on their website about sub-free. No one else wants to avoid drunk, obnoxious partiers who vomit in the halls and bathrooms?? </p>
<p>S definitely does not want a school with any religious overtones. And he is not looking at any highly technical (“nerdy”) schools, because he is not interested in those majors.</p>
<p>The college search for him has been very frustrating. He researches a school that seems great (Carleton for example), then on further research we find that their alcohol-related hospitalizations have increased dramatically (or something similar). I have just about given up thinking that the right school is out there somewhere.</p>
<p>I don’t know about Wellesley, but a kids’ friend / friend’s daughter at Smith had to work pretty hard to find a social life that didn’t revolve around drinking.</p>
<p>W/re places like UChicago, Swarthmore, WashU (maybe) – these are places where social life relatively does not revolve around drinking and partying. There is lots of drinking and partying, but the partying probably has a little less drinking than at most other colleges, and there are more options for and acceptance of nondrinkers. That does not mean that a student will not encounter a lot of other students who are drunk.</p>
<p>LACs: Of course it’s the isolation, and the small size of the community. They all try to provide plenty of dry activities, but kids like to drink, and the other entertainment options are limited.</p>
<p>Tulane: I am ■■■■■■■■■■■ “Tulane” and “substance free” are concepts that are difficult to reconcile. I am certain that there are non-indulging students at Tulane, but I don’t know how you would find them.</p>
<p>Another amazing school with a dark side is Pomona – the school actually buys beer FOR the students! Your tuition dollars hard at work…</p>
<p>if your D is tolerant it seems that being in the majority/minority would not be as big a deal as long as there aras having plenty of non-alcohol related activities on campus. Does she enjoy outdoor recreation or athletics? Is community service her thing? I would suggest that rather than a list that excludes alcohol that she base her list on campuses including the things she DOES enjoy. </p>
<p>Also re schools with a religious history; the degree to which a school is religious should be researched before excluding it. Clearly BYU and Bob Jones would not be fits for your daughter but many many schools with a religious history are comfortable for atheists and agnostics. At these school the religious ed requirement, if one exists, has a cultural/historical bent and is in no way about conversion. So before she discards some of the fabulous options offered up by Judeo Christians she would be wise to research the extent of religiousity on campus.</p>
<p>Best of luck and congrats on raising a girl who knows her mind!</p>
<p>My daughter attended a LAC in a city and lived in sub-free housing for three years.
( the fourth year she lived in a college owned townhouse)
While there is drug and alcohol use on every campus, there also were enough other activities and interested students to have plenty to do that didn’t involved getting wasted.</p>
<p>* No drinking booze in the library- redbull however is OK*</p>
<p>I think in many cases you find what you are looking for, but I would agree to look for dry and sober persons in New Orleans, especially in the college age population would be a challenge.</p>
<p>I also agree with looking at colleges that have a religious foundation, religion is not always pervasive in daily life.</p>
<p>However- I also feel college is a time to be exposed to new ideas and if a school is a good fit, having to take a religious philosophy class or attend class with some who are more devout, should be considered.</p>
<p>emeraldkity4, that is very true about college being a time to be exposed to new ideas, and S will actually be taking a world religions class this year. But where we live, we have had enough religion crammed down our throats to last us a lifetime, and S wants to avoid a situation where it is an important (or even fairy minor) aspect of campus life. He doesn’t want to be required to take a religion class, etc.</p>
<p>It seems many of the schools I read about where drinking is not the main EC are religious, at least to some extent. An historical religious connection is not bad, since so many schools began with a religious basis. He just doesn’t want to feel that on campus now.</p>
<p>It’s my impression that rural liberal arts colleges have a lot of drinking for obvious reasons. I think your D would be better off in a location that has something to offer off campus. </p>
<p>One thing that I think does make a difference is the administration’s attitude towards alcohol on campus. At my S’s school, there was no tolerance of public drinking — if you were seen with a beer in your hand, you were cited. More than once, you were given a warning letter (as were the parents) and you had to go before some sort of tribunal. At my D’s school, on the other hand, there is open drinking on campus and no one does anything about it. This actually bothers her, and she has told me of numerous occasions of drunken, belligerent (and physically abusive) behavior and the administration looking the other way. So there are consequences other than messy bathrooms here. Just something to keep in mind, especially if you have a daughter.</p>
<p>My D goes to a Jesuuit college. She is atheist (raised catholic). The school is know for being strict when it comes to drinking in campus in the dorms. Yes there is partying, but its usually in off campus housing, so you have to go hunt it down. Its more a legal thing than a religious think, the school has a bar-lounge on campus.</p>
<p>Something to consider is the ease of getting into a city to find fun things to do that don’t involve drinking- shoppiing, museums, movies, shows. Often if there is nothing much to do, or the people have been there done that, boredom sets in and then the drinking. but if you can go to an open mike night, or free museum nights. If you have places to go off campus once in a while with like minded friends, and your D will find them, even if there is some partying, you won’t care because you will be off having fun.</p>
<p>My D and her friends were headed in the city in search of cheap chinese food and see attend an outdoor free concert and two guys asked if they could join them. The girls always game back fromtheir adventures so happy, they wanted to join in.</p>
<p>Don’t shy away from Georgetown, Fordham, BC. Fordham has an amazing campus in the Bronx and having access so easily to NYC can work wonders.</p>
<p>I have heard that Goucher does not have as much of a drinking culture as some other schools</p>
<p>My son goes to Stevens Institute of Technology. He has visited his sister at Colgate and commented to me that his school is far less of a party school than Colgate.</p>
<p>My guess is that a techie type school tends to attract more kids that are serious and focused than a liberal arts school?</p>
<p>Anyway I found this list online and maybe it will be helpful:
Top 20 Stone-Cold Sober US Schools
[Top</a> 20 US Party Schools (colleges) and Top 20 Stone-Cold Sober US Schools - Movie-List Forum](<a href=“Top 20 US Party Schools (colleges) and Top 20 Stone-Cold Sober US Schools”>Top 20 US Party Schools (colleges) and Top 20 Stone-Cold Sober US Schools)</p>
<p>Based on a combination of survey questions concerning the use of alcohol and drugs, hours of study each day, and the popularity of the Greek system</p>
<p>1 Brigham Young University (UT) </p>
<p>2 Wheaton College (IL) </p>
<p>3 United States Naval Academy </p>
<p>4 Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering </p>
<p>5 Webb Institute </p>
<p>6 United States Coast Guard Academy </p>
<p>7 Calvin College </p>
<p>8 United States Air Force Academy </p>
<p>9 Grove City College </p>
<p>10 Wesleyan College </p>
<p>11 Bryn Mawr College </p>
<p>12 College of the Ozarks </p>
<p>13 Simmons College </p>
<p>14 California Institute of Technology (Caltech) </p>
<p>15 Wellesley College </p>
<p>16 CUNY - Queens College </p>
<p>17 Mount Holyoke College </p>
<p>18 Harvey Mudd College </p>
<p>19 University of Dallas </p>
<p>20 Saint Olaf College</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the suggestions so far. DD has broad interests, plays a couple of instuments in bands, and might do this as an EC but not interested in a music major; enjoys studio art, worked on stage crew and set design and lighting; reads lots of fiction (fantasy and Jane Austen) and writes her own fantasy fiction, loves nature and environmental topics, dislikes politics though cares very much about environment. She has done accelerated work in most subject areas. I am guessing she will be mid 90th percentile on SATs. Probably will be top 10 or 15% taking a very accelerated track. Like science (bio and chem so far) though a B+ student in honors math and science. Maybe would like to combine interests in nature and art; is happiest being creative somehow. Interested in other cultures, but turned off by her HS’s history-of-wars-and battles-curricula. She’s social in that she throws her own parties for her (carefully chosen) group; she is well liked, friends seek her out for advice, but she doesn’t care to be popular if it means partying. She dislikes intense team competition but might like intramural, fun sports. Doesn’t respond well to competitive academic pressure, or like competitive people, which makes me wonder about the nerd-type schools or Wellesleys. Doesn’t want a frat/sorority scene. Northeast or Midatlantic would be good. Merit aid would be great. She thinks a girl’s school would be okay, but this young lady is a romantic, and she might miss having guys around.</p>
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<p>I combed through the last year’s Campus Police reports (freely available on Wellesley’s website), and it seems to me the majority of people who ended up needing medical attention or police intervention because of drinking were outsiders who came to the campus parties. Of course, drinking and drug use exist on any college campus, and Wellesley is hardly a monastery, but D says that compared to other schools, there is less of that stuff going on on her campus.</p>
<p>Unless one ends up with a druggie or an alcoholic roommate, drinking and drugs can be easily avioded on any campus by choosing friends with similar anti-substance attitudes and participating in activities that do not involve booze or drugs - watching movies, hiking, window shopping, visiting museums and free concerts. Of course, a big city offers more possibilities for such activities than in an isolated rural setting.</p>
<p>ProxyGC, one of the colleges that your D might consider is Scripps College in Claremont, CA. She sounds like a Scripps kind of gal to me.</p>
<p>I think most of the colleges that are not known for heavy party have been mentioned. I can’t imagine any rigorous college has much “play” during the week at least until Thursday LOL. But I will add this, there are all types of people in college and kids do have a way of “finding each other.” It might take alittle longer for the kids that don’t have the instant bond of going to parties, but they will find each other. I was quite interested several years ago in how a neighbor’s son faired at a college where the kids do party on the weekends. This boy left for college as a non-drinker and I suspect remained one for quite awhile if not still. When he came home from Christmas his freshman year he did tell me he was having a tough go of it finding friends, but by the end of his freshman year he had found his “group” and he just graduated this past spring. There are all kinds of touchpoints in life where people have to “find friends” and college is just one of those touchpoints. It takes awhile to find true friends but the non-drinker/non-party type people do find others like them everywhere. Now, for parents who are afraid their kids will explode and go crazy, that is an entirely different topic.</p>
<p>Substance abuse has been an issue with adolescents and young adults, both in and out of college, for centuries. Today, about four out of five underage American college students have had a drink in the past 30 days. Even if a student finds a non-partying campus culture, s/he’ll have to graduate and live in the larger world eventually. I’d think there’d be more to be gained by crafting one’s own set of priorities and values wherever one is, regardless of the prevalent culture.</p>