<p>My son is filling out the Dorm selection form for W&L and wants to know whether to select a "substance free" Dorm or not.</p>
<p>My daughter who is at UVA says not to ask for a "substance free" dorm as all dorms are substance free.</p>
<p>I would appreciate an opinion on whether to select this or not.</p>
<p>All dorms are indeed substance free - no smoking, alcohol, or drugs allowed (and unlike other schools thats actually enforced here). If your son does not plan on partying much and does not plan on drinking, a sub-free hall will allow him to be around students with similar views. But being in a regular hall doesn't mean that its all drinking in partying - in fact on my floor I'm in a regular hall and the hall right next to us (with no barrier seperating them) is a sub-free hall. The rules are the same, the only difference is the type of people in the hall.</p>
<p>Two guys I know lived in sub-free halls at W&L (two different years) and found them to be a very friendly environment. They said all the guys on the floor kept their doors open much of the time and there were a lot of spontaneous, stimulating discussions. At the same time, those halls were also conducive to study and sleep at the appropriate times. My acquaintances' experience corresponded exactly with what Dima posted on 4-03 on the W&L "Housing" thread (it's post #14 there), so I decided to paste that quote from Dima here:</p>
<p>"The hall next to mine is a sub free hall. They're great guys, they just don't go out much. I actually hang out with them a lot more than with my hall, cause my hall is never around - when they're not working they're partying. </p>
<p>If you don't drink and aren't big on parties, and want a hall where youll be able to have good friends and socialize with all the time - go sub free. Just don't expect the guys (or girls) to go out partying with you."</p>
<p>I sort of wish I chose a sub-free hall. My hall can be quite rowdy, and as this was tolerable Fall Term because I was going out as often as they were, I have since been trying to focus more on academics and haven't been going out as much. When my friends come into my room wasted at 3:30 AM at least twice a week, it can get annoying.</p>
<p>I didn't hang out with the sub-free kids much until recently (a good amount of them are in my fraternity), but they are really great. I have had much more interesting and stimulating discussions (as a_placefortruth mentioned) with them than I have had with my standard party buddies. I find their senses of humor to be more witty and sharp than those of the frequent drinkers (it's hard to be witty when your brain can't function). It's weird; it has been hard for me to find other people like me, who DO drink, but do so somewhat responsibly, and enjoy brunch discussions that have to do with topics other than how many beers we consumed the previous night.</p>
<p>My dad told me to choose substance free housing, and I didn't understand why specifically at the time, but now I'm glad. Like MorganGH has mentioned, I believe that there are more meaningful ways to spend time with your peers than constant drinking and partying...I wish W&L was more conducive to intellectual discussions. I know the students are INTELLIGENT, they are just not intellectual, and that in my opinion, is a shame.</p>
<p>College is what you make of it. If you want drinking and partying all the time: you got it. If you want intellectual discussions, you can find those as well (I know two guys who have been involved in an insane debate for weeks now). Personally, I have intellectual discussions all the time, specifically with my roomie (although many times we end up agreeing to disagree as we have opposite political views).</p>
<p>Yes, Coquettish, that is the perfect way to sum up the majority of W&L students-- intelligent, but not intellectual. And like Dima said, it IS true that you can find those discussions should you try-- but usually only with the sub-free kids. It's nice to be able to have good conversations with a variety of people, but unfortunately it IS hard to do here. Once again, though, not a con that outweighs the great pros of the school.</p>
<p>I am keeping my fingers crossed for G-L!</p>
<p>Tartan, if you end up in a nice GL double, you'll be all set. The singles, though are TINY-- about half the size of BDG doubles, which are small in the first place. Also, GL has no sinks.</p>
<p>I don't really want a sink in my room so that's okay. I've boarded with roommates before so I can deal with it but I am hoping for a single in GL even though they are small.</p>
<p>Coq., I pm'ed you.</p>
<p>You are assigned to new rooms or roomies next year right? What if you go sub-free this year (or not), don't like to experince and you'd like to choose an alternate option next year?</p>
<p>When do we hear about rooming and get e-mail addresses and all that good stuff?</p>
<p>himalayandreams - after freshman year you choose everything about housing yourself - room, roommates, etc</p>
<p>GottaStayFlyy - you should get email addresses mid June and rooming info mid-July</p>
<p>On the subject of dorms: I wouldn't worry one way or another about where you'll end up. Most people end up liking their dorm situation a lot and thinking their dorm is better than the others pretty quickly. I live in GL and love it, and all my friends in the other dorms love where they live.</p>
<p>I have bunch of guy friends on a sub-free hall and I firmly believe they are the best guys on campus. If your son is not a hard-core drinker, I would say definately go for a sub-free hall. Those guys have a lot of fun</p>
<p>I'm a guy on the hall next to Dima's. Def go for sub-free, the people tend to some of the best on campus. If your life doesn't revolve around alcohol, I highly recommend it.</p>