<p>I'm a junior going on some college visits this spring to see where I might want to apply. I'm looking at a lot of LACs, including Bowdoin and Bates, and I was planning on visiting Colby too. But a relative said that its reputation, at least in Maine, is as a party school. Is this correct?
I don't have any problems with drinking or partying, but I don't want to go to a school where a substantial majority of the kids get completely hammered every weekend. Is it still worth it for me to visit?</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s any more of a party school than Bates or Bowdoin. There was some bad publicity last year about incidents involving alcolhol that may have led to your relative’s comments–but just because an incident at one school hits the news doesn’t mean the same things don’t go one elsewhere–next time the incident that hits the news will probably be from another school. The academic reputation of Colby is as good as Bates or slightly better–both are rated a little below Bowdoin if you want to judge by ratings. S and all his friends work VERY hard. They are in the library every weekday evening and some part of each Saturday and Sunday–that includes some of his friends who drink a little more than they should when they do party. Not trying to gloss over problems with alcohol, which the college is working to address, but as the mother of kids who have attended several colleges, with friends they’ve visited at many more, I don’t know of one, including Ivys and top LACs, where excessive drinking by some students isn’t an issue. No top 25 or even top 50 LAC could be fairly stereotyped as a party school IMO. Neither could places like BC or Northeastern where drinking by some students is really out of control and leads to many complaints from neighbors, etc.</p>
<p>Drinking can seem like a big issue here if you dont look past the surface. I think that we are on par with most other colleges, which is to say: Yes we have alcohol. The college is working hard to ensure that the focus is not on alcohol but on education (academic, cultural, outdoors, social etc…), but they realize that alcohol is present. They dont try to bust your chops, but instead encourage responsibility and self governance. If you are responsible, you will be fine.</p>
<p>We have lots to do that does not revolve around alcohol: Speakers, Dances, Concerts, COC, The Coffee House (to name a few).</p>
<p>Ok thanks a lot guys. I know that most schools have drinking and I don’t have a problem with that. I just don’t want to go to a party school, per se, where that’s ENTIRELY the focus. But it seems that’s not the case at Colby.</p>