<p>Hi, I'm a high school senior fairly certain I'll be attending Lewis & Clark College next year. As I'm looking at housing forms and whatnot, I'm considering the option of substance-free dorms. </p>
<p>I know the whole drugs and alcohol thing is part of the college experienced, but the fact of the matter is I'm very innocent when it comes to these sorts of things. I'm not against it, but I have never smoked, drank, etc. It is mostly from lack of opportunity - I have never hung out with people who do that sort of thing. And although I might want to try it, I'm also kind of nervous about it and I definitely would not want it to be a focal part of my college experience. Not all of the colleges I visited offered substance-free housing, and the fact that LC necessitates it makes me worry about the atmospheres of the OTHER dorms. I've also heard that the sub-free dorm at LC is "less social". Whatever that means.</p>
<p>The Lewis & Clark subforum doesn't get a ton of activity so I thought I'd throw this question out there to see if any students at any schools that offer this sort of housing option have an opinion on the advantages and drawbacks. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>This questions comes up every year, so a search through the forums should help answer your question. IIRC, most posters indicate that the substance-free dorms tend to be populated by kids who are forced by parents to move in there, which backfires as the repressed students are the ones most likely to join the drinking/drug scene.</p>
<p>I think if you are not specifically against it, you might not want to go for substance free living. Those dorms are made for people who are REALLY against it and do not want to do it or be anywhere near people who may do it. Consider this scenario: you make friends in your sub-free dorm and later on in the year decide that you do enjoy drinking or smoking or using some substance. While as long as you do it outside your dorm that is within the rules, your friends in the dorm may heavily disapprove and you could lose those friends. While that scenario could occur anywhere, I feel as though you are setting yourself up for it in a sub-free dorm if you aren’t completely sure if you want to use drugs or alcohol.</p>
<p>Not having drugs or alcohol be your focal point in college is completely doable, it may require a bit of effort in some schools or scenarios, but it’s completely possible without restricting yourself.</p>
<p>I don’t know about Lewis & Clark, but I feel as though most schools have party dorms, other dorms, and sub-free dorms. Why not try one that is not known for partying, but not sub-free? That way you are free to explore if you decide you ever want to (not that I’m saying you need to or should) without judgement.</p>
<p>Also, many schools have sub-free dorms, and this does not necessarily mean that the rest of the dorms are heavy on substances. It’s just for people who REALLY don’t want that anywhere near them (or kids whose parents put them in there, or recovering addicts).</p>
<p>I agree, get a dorm that is not substance free, but not nessicarily the party dorm.</p>
<p>I live on the “sub free” floor at my dorm but we are the biggest party dorm and we aren’t really substance free. The only thing we get is if we sign a contract we don’t have to pay fines.</p>
<p>Like an ultra-religious school there are two type of kids in substance free dorms. The ones that want to be there, and the ones who’s parents made them be there. And the parents generally have some reason to be concerned.</p>
<p>Ideally one like you should find a dorm that is not the party central yet not the “strict dorm”. I don’t know the specifics of your college, but I write from my experience.</p>
<p>When I went to college after a gap year, I was still an innocent person (never drank, had sex let alone used any substance) as well. There was that fear of being overwhelmed by older guys and girls loading me with alcohol, crazy parties and the likes.</p>
<p>I decided to move to an “intensive study” dorm-of-sorts: it hadn’t the strict ad-hominem rules of the “substance free” dorm, but it was also not a party rendezvous. It worked well for me: there were other folks there on the same situation, and we got to know sophomores and juniors who were living there for a while also.</p>
<p>In the end, I waited until 21 to start drinking, never went for cigarettes (smoke of any kind bothers me as hell) but got quite sociable with girls and so. </p>
<p>At the same time, the substance-free dorm was like others described: divided between those ultra-strict by choice (and they can be nice persons when they are not on the mean to convert you to their lifestyle), and those forced there by parents. The two groups usually clashed over issues like “is overly explicit rap music plaid loud akin to substance abuse” and those forced there were usually returning the most drunk to their dorms (creating clashes with those who didn’t drink in first place).</p>
<p>There are variances per floor and per college, but I don’t think I would want to live on a sub-free floor. Some of them are great, with fabulous people whom I love. However, like many have said, you usually get a combination of people who are either extraordinarily judgmental or intense partiers whose parents have forced them into substance-free housing. </p>
<p>One of my good friends lives on a sub-free floor, and her roommate refused to talk to her for an entire week after one night when she came back intoxicated. Some of my friends never stay on their floors, because they feel like everyone judges them if they like rap music, or enjoy drinking, or sleep with their boyfriends. Not all sub-free floors are like this, but there’s always the chance that you’ll be isolated from your floor if you make the decision to drink and they do not.</p>
<p>okay, so basically i guess i’m on the side of where my parents are forcing me to live on one of the substance free floors as a condition of me going away to college, because they think i’ll be surrounded by good people and people that never use drugs or drink. I’m used to being around really liberal people, and since most of the colleges I am considering are art schools, except for two, i’m surprised even art schools have these kinds of dorms but shockingly a few do, I am just so scared of who i’ll be surrounded by. And of course I plan on having fun in college, but my parents are on the verge of making me stay at home for college if I cant shape up. I went to an arts boarding school for a year and a half, until I got kicked out, and then there have been plenty of more incidents where I just cant keep my s#!t together, so they definitely have reasons to be concerned.</p>
<p>I feel like more weird people would live in substance-free dorms. I’m not saying OP is weird, but like in general, they would be pretty weird and I wouldn’t hang out with them.</p>
<p>I am probably going to live in a sub-free dorm. I am fine with drinking; my mother drinks, my sister too, kinda, and I have tried it. But because of some reasons I don’t drink anymore and probably will never again. I’m considering living in a sub-free dorm just because I want to have some friends who share that aspect of my life, so that I don’t feel left out when the heavy drinking starts.</p>
<p>Yes, most probably people will still do it. And yes, it’s also likely that people will come to the dorm $hit faced, some may even be weirdos, angry, judgmental and all the other things previously mentioned. However, it’s also probable that there will be relatively normal people who are not condemnatory nor mad -in any sense- that just don’t want to drink.</p>
<p>Generally I feel like the normal people who don’t drink will just go for dorms that aren’t known for partying but aren’t sub-free. I think if you want to make that choice to live specifically there you must really be against it, or you must be forced to. I don’t think there would be many “normal” people who aren’t condemnatory. If there are, I think they would be in the minority. Plenty of people don’t drink in non-substance-free dorms.</p>
<p>My moms forcing me to go into a substance free dorm pretty much, unless I get my own apartment because it is cheaper, she wants me to make friends with people who dont drink or do drugs, but Im kind of feeling after reading a lot of these posts and looking back on others, that most of the people who live there would look down on me for my past and just not be my friend anyways, because im being forced to live there and dont share the same values. Might this possibly hold any truth?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t mind a substance free dorm. It makes very little difference unless you plan to be drinking in the dorms-- and what fun is that, anyway? If I am going to drink in the dorms I’d rather do it at somebody elses place so I don’t have to deal with the mess later, and I feel like most people would rather go to a party where they’re not all cramped in anyway. The people in the substance free dorms here aren’t exceptionally judgmental, and many of them drink-- they just know they don’t have to come home to a party in their dorm when they want to sleep. Sub free is a housing option, not a lifestyle choice like some of you are making it out to be. If you get busted for drinking at a party it’s not like they’re going to be like WAIT DO YOU LIVE IN SUBSTANCE FREE HOUSING? NOW YOU’RE /REALLY/ IN TROUBLE!!! You just can’t drink in your room.</p>
<p>That said, look at the housing policies. At my school, I don’t think this is enforced but it is written, you aren’t even supposed to have like posters depicting smoking or drinking. If that were enforced it’d be a pain in the ass.</p>
<p>^Most people, at least here, pregame in their rooms. So that would be the draw for drinking in your room. It would be rare to just be randomly drinking in your room or trying to have a party in there.</p>
<p>Actually, from what I have been reading, from the schools I applied to, substance free dorms seem to be pretty strict, maybe they’re over exaggerating, i forget which school, but they were saying if you get caught showing any signs of drunkenness or alcohol use or bottles, that you would most likely be removed from the dorm, and have meetings with the deans and etc. Again, I have no clue how much that is enforced, but I just got kicked out of a boarding school in january where it was apparently greatly enforced, so I’m just really weary.</p>