<p>I've recently heard from several friends that Delaware is a big party school.</p>
<p>Do you think this reputation is deserved? How dominant is the partying culture at Delaware? What is partying like at Delaware and how many nights a week does the typical student drink? What options exist for social activities outside of parties?</p>
<p>LOL, try this experiment: go to Google, type in the words “party school” and then the name of any college or University you can think of. I guarantee 95% of them will result in references to it being a party school.</p>
<p>My daughter isn’t much of a drinker and I asked her your questions and her answer was that depending on schedule, it could be Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights. She doesn’t see a lot of sloppy drunks or out of control behavior. I don’t think UD was even in the top 20 of party schools this year, and there are plenty of non-partying activities. There’s also studying. The students work hard.</p>
<p>I referenced this from a student post to a previous question about partying. My take - you can party (or not) pretty much anywhere.
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<p>My son just finished his first semester at UD. He is not much of a drinker, and as a matter of fact, last year (his senior year of high school) he was alienated and ridiculed by supposed life long “friends” because of his lack of participation in the party scene. </p>
<p>What I can tell you is that so far, my son has loved everything about his experience at UD. He has been amazed, and pleasantly surpised, by how down to earth, and genuine the student population is. Everyone he has encountered to date has shown respect not only for him, but for his personal preference to abstain from major partying.</p>
<p>herbrokemom - I can also tell you that I’ve visited UD alot, and there are students walking all over campus, and Main Street all the time. The campus is always full of life, with plenty of sober people scurrying about. The reference to nuns driving around in BMW’s is just confusing, where are these nuns that the poster speaks of? UD is a public university…am I missing something?</p>
<p>By the way, my son is a chemical engineering major, and believe me, he and his chemical engineering buddies have had precious little time to mix killer cocktails, or do much else, except study until 3:00 a.m. most of the time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there is no party scene, it just isn’t as extreme, and out of control, as the poster you refer to suggests.</p>
<p>pamom59 - there are plenty of social options that don’t involve parties. My son is as active as his work load allows in intramural sports, and there are literally hundreds of clubs to choose from. Substance free housing is also available.</p>
<p>TRAYE, the ‘nuns in BMWs’ post was sarcasm (and very funny!)</p>
<p>My S is a sophomore, and was also not a partier in high school. He has a great social life at UD, and while I’m sure there’s some drinking involved, he has no interest in heavy drinking/the frat scene (which is a very small percentage of the student body compared to a lot of public universities). He loves the place.</p>
<p>pamom, Good evening. I think some time ago, Del. had a party school reputation. I do not think that is the case these days. While I am sure there are plenty of parties, drinking and drugs, I believe that it is less than many State schools. Wisconsin, Texas, Michigan, Penn St.,Indiana, Georgia, Florida, Syracuse, Boston Univeristy, Boulder, Arizona all have far greater reputations for partying. I would say that Miami, Tulane, and GW are also worse. If a kid wants to party and drink at any school, they will find a crowd and a means.
If they want to abstain, they will also have plenty of company.</p>
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<p>My DD is a UD sophomore. Based on her experience, the above is on target.</p>
<p>TRAYE - the post I referenced was written (sarcastically) by a student in response to comments about the UD party school rep. It was meant funny. I thought it was anyway!</p>
<p>PAmom. It’s a big place with plenty to do for the partyers and the nonpartyers both during the week and the weekends.</p>
<p>I know for a fact that my daughter does drink from time to time. But there is none of the drunk and vomiting or out of control thing. She has said that she’s not aware of much of that at all. When you come to orientation, the police and campus security give you a good scare, but the fact is that the school takes the issue of underage drinking seriously. There are procedures and education that is mandatory. It’s college. Students drink. However, UD is working very hard to do great things academically and admits students with those goals, so these are busy people. They work hard in class, they have activities, have jobs, do interesting things. You can see what they’re doing and how the students are succeeding. If they were drunken slobs, that wouldn’t be possible.</p>
<p>Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate that drinking happens at most colleges, but I started to wonder when two separate friends of mine related that they knew kids who had attended UD and had problems academically because of too much partying.</p>
<p>herbrokemom - Perhaps the stress of the holidays has put me in a grumpy mood - my bad. I just didn’t find that post helpful in giving pamom any real insight into the campus atmosphere.</p>
<p>From what I have seen and heard myself, and from what my son tells me, zoosermom is spot on. </p>
<p>Happy Holidays everyone!</p>
<p>Pamom,</p>
<p>Not to defend Del, but I think the problem you heard about kids having academic problems from too much partying, is rampart at many schools. I think it stems more from the situation than the school. For many college students, this is their first freedom. It is the first time they do not have a parent to answer to. Excessive behavior can and will occur. It is not a reality that parents want to face, but it happens. My nephew told me at Thanksgiving about kids flunking out of Stanford for partying too much. That is hardly a school known for this behavior. It happens everywhere. Hopefully, we have raised our children to understand the balance of school, fun, and responsibility.</p>
<p>socaldad- so true. I think my D is more of the responsible sort and wanted to make sure that there was social life apart from drinking parties. I figured that at a school like Delaware there should be enough going on for students to find fun things to do apart from parties, if they want.</p>
<p>pamom, the most important thing you can do is have a talk with your daughter and remind her how dangerous alcohol can be. It is absolutely present on the UD campus and if someone isn’t careful, bad things can happen.</p>
<p>Here’s a cautionary tale. Yesterday, one of my daughter’s best friends (boy) who is at a top university in Boston called her crying and heartbroken, she is afraid he might be suicidal. Earlier in the year, his drinking had gotten out of control and he really started to slip academically. During that time, he had made his semester calendar for things like projects due and exams (including finals). His parents and friends staged an intervention in late October and he had been doing much better. However, yesterday he realized that during the dark days of drinking, he had put the wrong date for a final for a class required for his major. It was Monday. He showed up on Tuesday. He is now taking an F in the class and it can’t be retaken in the major. </p>
<p>Point being, this stuff can and does happen everywhere and as parents we can only remember to talk to them openly and honestly and not pretend it’s not out there. One thing I stressed to my kids is that if a person is so drunk that they are vomiting or unconscious, they must receive emergency medical care and there should be no waffling about whether they might get in trouble because it is then a life-and-death situation and to always err on the side of getting help. Fortunately, at UD, there are no disciplinary consequences to seeking emergency assistance in that situation. After recovery, education is required, but no one is punished for saving a life.</p>
<p>Former UD student here-
The “party scene” is no different than at any college or university. Yes there are some parties. Yes, your child may have the misfortune of being a non-drinker on a floor of party-harders. But I can pretty much guarantee you that that will not be the case. As a freshmen, about half of my floor enjoyed going out and half enjoyed doing sober activities, but at the end of the day, that was no what defined us. UD is situated in a nice little town where there are plenty of restaurants, a movie theatre, bowling alley, tons of concerts, aka lots to do. Parents often assume that you can group students into a “drinkers” and “non-drinkers” crowd. I knew plenty of people, including myself, who enjoyed going to alcoholic parties but did not drink. If your child is receiving pressure from their friends to drink, they need to rethink the people they are hanging around. People from UD are generally very friendly and welcoming, and once students find their niche, alcohol becomes a non-issue.</p>
<p>If your student is that concerned about drinking, UD does offer substance free dorms, where residents sign a contract and are generally committed to keeping an alcohol and smoke free environment. Also, just out of experience, honors housing (not limited to honors students) are a bit quieter and more sober without detracting from the social aspect.</p>
<p>I think it’s funny the number of parents in here commenting on their child’s/UD’s drinking habits like they have any clue at all (hint: your child probably isn’t telling you the entire truth).</p>
<p>As a former student, I’m going to tell you right now that drinking and drinking a lot is an overwhelming part of the culture at UD.</p>
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I think it’s less than funny that you generalize about people whom you don’t know. Shocking as it may be, not everyone is a drunken slob as you appear to have experienced.</p>
<p>Here’s a hint for you: speak for yourself and only yourself.</p>
<p>I’m telling you what the predominant culture is like at the school, as someone who experienced it firsthand for two years before transferring out. Maybe your little Johnny doesn’t get drunk or blackout or vomit, but for parents to act like that stuff doesn’t happen quite a bit at UD, just because of what they heard from their child, is silly.</p>
<p>Yes, I realize that not every single individual at the school does these things. I thought that went without saying. But my original statement stands nonetheless.</p>
<p>Yoobro-</p>
<p>I think that zoosermom was reacting to your comment that the parents posting here don’t have any idea what their kids really do on campus as far as drinking …</p>
<p>As a parent of a prospective student, I do appreciate your sharing your experiences - was the reason you transferred out anything to do with the partying culture?</p>