<p>Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me. I am interested in Conn College, as well as other NESCAC schools (such as Middlebury, Williams, Colby and Bowdoin) that I am being recruited to play a sport at. I have heard that schools north of Boston are heavy drinking schools. I would like to know honestly what the social life at Conn is like. Do the majority of students drink? Is drinking a predominant theme around campus? Can you fit in without being a drinker? What is the chem free dorm like and do "normal" kids live in it?</p>
<p>I don't know directly about Conn College; its history as a women's college, the lack of a football team, etc. make it a bit atypical of NESCAC. But the NESCAC schools in general, and certainly the others you mention, do tend to have a "work hard-play hard" mentality. There is, frankly, a lot of drinking, particularly on the weekends. Some studies from a couple of the NESCACs suggest that about a third of students binge drink with some frequency (Williams has been pretty open about its alcohol study, which you can probalby find with web searches). As disheartening as this sounds, about 2/3 of the students either don't drink or tend to drink responsibly. Students almost always believe that more of their peers drink to excess than actually do, too. </p>
<p>Most students find that they have no trouble fitting in if they're non-drinkers. The residential life folks at these schools work really hard to ensure that that there are always lots of social choices that don't revolve around alcohol. Students in chem-free housing at Bates and Colby, for example, are not only normal--they're often the brightest and best.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, you might want to look carefully into the culture of the teams for which you're being recruited; some teams tend to expect that the team will also be the center of your social life.</p>
<p>actually, the substance free dorm on campus is pretty popular. physically, its a beautiful building in a perfect location. its known for its tight knit community, and they are constantly organizing/doing non-drinking related activities. there are also floors designated as 'substance free' or 'quiet' sprinkled throughout the other dorms across campus. i knew several athletes who chose to live in substance free areas, so you definitely wont be the odd one out!</p>
<p>while there is a dominant drinking culture on campus like most schools, people that choose not to partake are not viewed in anyway. there is always SO much going on, that stumbling around wasted definitely isnt your only option! if you search thru some of my older threads about conn social life, i went into more detailed discussion about various activities.</p>
<p>besides alochol are other drugs popular too or is that not a problem at conn coll?</p>
<p>people do pot, no more/less than any other school. some of my friends smoked, and couldnt care less that i had no interest.</p>
<p>i personally dont know anyone or was ever around anyone who did anything else. maybe some ritalin around finals?</p>