<p>We have been quite excited about my child's admission till I came across the 700+ alcohol referrals and the college Prowler reviews of current students.I am quite aware about college students experimenting but when you are comparing this to 60 referrals of well known party schools, then it's a bit alarming.Most of the reviews make it seem as if every known drug is right in your face. A student suggests the drug companies could make money if they were allowed to sell at St. Joes.Can I get someconfirmations or otherwise on this.How will a student not interesed in these activities fair at the school? We really thought we had done our homework well on St. Joes and was quite happy with ur choice till...</p>
<p>ados01,
I’m sorry I don’t have any info to share on the subject but, I just wanted you to know that you are not alone in your concern. My D was accepted also and I thought it might be a good option for her even though she was not thrilled with the area. I found the students to be very friendly during our tour. Thank you for posting the information you discovered. Let’s hope someone can shed some light on this situation.</p>
<p>My son lives in the area, he goes to Villanova. We are now awaiting our final 2 college decisions (St. Joes & Villanova) for our daughter, she’ll be our third in college at the same time. St. Joe’s wasn’t even on our radar but it came highly reccomended from some of the Villanova professors. I’ve never heard of any excessive drinking issue and most of our information has come from local area educators and area students. According to students I’ve talked to UPenn is the biggest party school in the area. That being said Villanova is a tame campus and lost a student to drinking this year. My oldest goes to Umass which made headlines for their wild drinking/parties and my son says it’s easy not to have anything to do with that kind of behavior. It’s at EVERY college if you’re looking for it and something you can avoid at most if you’re not interested. </p>
<p>Truly appreciate the feedback DBinMA, I agree that college comes with all kinds of experiences.As a parent I rather my Son encounters real life challenges on his own and learn to make the right choices than live in some unrealistic bubble. It’s just that the stats freaked me out a bit when I compared it to other schools.Again, thanks.</p>
<p>My daughter is a sophmore at St. Joe’s and couldn’t be happier. She is not a heavy partier. Like most schools you can find anything if you want. i don’t think St. Joe’s is any worse than others. She has told me that a lot of St. Joe’s kids go to Penn for parties so there seems to be some truth that Penn is a pretty big party school. I think the biggest problem is as a Freshman. There’s some pressure (at all schools) to go out, whereas things seem to calm down as they get older. My daughter mostly will hang out with some friends and have a glass of wine as opposed to go to big parties now that she’s a sophmore. </p>
<p>The school does take it seriously though. particularly early in the school year. They know Freshman are going out and the police will bust parties and they will get a summons. I remember very early in her freshman year our phone ringing at 1:00AM on a Sat. night - never a good thing. I answered and my daughter said “Hi Daddy, everything is ok but someone needs to talk to you”. She hands the phone off and I hear “hello, Mr. XXX This is XX from the PA state police”. He proceeded to tell me that she was at a house party where there was alcohol and she was cited. He also told me that she did not appear to be drinking and was extremely polite LOL. I wasn’t upset - I know this happens but we had to go to court, she had to appear in front of a committee at the school and was not very much interested in going out for quite some time! maybe it’s a good thing they try to be visible in the beginning of the year. </p>
<p>She has told me of kids totally drunk and plenty that barely drink at all. I think it is up to each individual kid. She couldn’t be happier. she has plenty going on. She is a Hawk Host, tutors in the writing center, is in a sorority and has a boyfriend who also attends the school.</p>
<p>ados01, if you’d like feel free to reach out to me if your son would like to speak with my daughter. </p>
<p>Thank you so much.My hope in posting my concern was to get some first hand input of what the real deal is.I do appreciate the feedback from all angles of the issue. My son is finishing up with his final classes and I will hope when he is done to be able to contact your daughter for further info if need be.You have made it a lot easier to still consider St. Joe’s as one of our top choices.All we are just waiting on is a good financial aid package!!!</p>
<p>thanks for your post @tellch00 I just came back from “Walk with a Hawk” today with my son. I think he really likes the school. My son is a “pretty good kid” very clean cut, and will go to a party during high school about 1-2 a month at the most. We are very much in the suburbs and I worry about the city environment. My son is very much a “house party” person and is not much interested in the underage bar scene. It’s nice to hear there is an array of kids at st joe’s so if he chooses to go he can find his niche.</p>
Drug and alcohol use is rampant at SJU. Financial difficulties have led them to admit a larger amount of students without adding the necessary staff and infrastructure to deal with the increased population. Public safety confiscates alcohol they find and keeps it for themselves. There are two freshman houses with no bag checks, so alcohol and drugs are smuggled in without a problem. SJU has become a “party school”, and the staff are overworked and underpaid. Nothing is done to curb the abuse.
The broader acceptance starts this coming year. As for the drinking, it starts in high school and if you turn your back on it there… it expands. Parties are in town at Drexel & Penn. Manayunk for 21YO. SJU profs are real world who challenge you like every other Jesuit school. Same game plan, different location, apply yourself = get results.