<p>I'm looking at Duke but I've been frightened off by it's "party school" rep--mainly that the whole social scene revolves around Greek life. I'm not into Greek life at all nor partying in general (though I do consider myself a social person) so I'm worried about how I would fit in here.
One person on a thread I read mentioned that s/he was in substance free dorms which concentrated the population of people like me and made for a better Duke experience. The problem I have with this is that I don't want to self-segregate! I don't have anything against people who do party and I wouldn't want to limit my options for friends/relationships, etc.</p>
<p>My questions: Does anyone have any experiences with the Duke substance-free dorms? Can anyone assuage my fears about Duke Greek life? Is there anyone like me who goes to Duke currently and if so what is your take on this?</p>
<p>I would not be worried as I am sure like most colleges things like substances are there if you look for them and not there if you don't. My S attends and he has is busy enough with papers etc. I would not get hyped up about what you hear or see. At any college you can probably find parties and substances if you look for them. I know my S and his roomate and others in his dorm...its not there. They have a brilliant muscian and some other incredible kids but the one thing I have not heard was about any substances and frankly I would have....I would not believe all you hear, some yes not all. Duke is to hard of a school for everyone to "party" all the time. I Am sure like most schools and I attended a large S Schoool known for partying- I wanted grad school and needed great grades...parties were always taking place- no one pressured me to go and I only went when I had the time.</p>
<p>^^ I'm not worried about the substances per say--I just think that people who would choose to live in substance-free dorms would most likely have the same idea of fun that I do (i.e. not based on Greek life where there is usually alcohol).
And I'm not worried I'll feel pressured to go to these parties. (I'm pretty tough... :) ) But I don't want to feel out of my element all of the time. I want there to be enough people not going to them that there's a prevalent scene other than the Greek scene.
Thanks for your comment!</p>
<p>sunshineyday - my D was not interested in Greek life either. However, she found a sorority that was a perfect fit for her - members who were in ROTC, physics majors, Baldwin scholars, etc. Her sorority does not appear to be party focused and she has made some wonderful friends. Her normal weekend activity is watching favorite movies with her closest friends who for the most part are also sorority sisters - a far cry from parties and alcohol.</p>
<p>I suspect you would have enough personalities at Duke that you would find friends who are into the same things you like. Just taking the classes you like intuitively I would suspect would lead to people of similar interests. That would be true at most schools you may be interested in as well as Duke whether its a sorority or not. The thing about college...as you get into our major you should find a lot of people wiht similar interests. Even if you don't you can expand yourself and meet other kids with different ideas and that can be a great experience whic his really what colege is all about, challenging yourself and your goals and ideas and views of the world etc.</p>
<p>My D was worried about this last year, and actually applied for a substance free dorm ( in spite of what I read here....I didn't really share it with her and she NEVER comes to cc)..anyway she wanted FOCUS more than she wanted substance free, so she ended up in a regular dorm. Before she left, I thought she would be repulsed by drunken debauchary (sp?), but she just laughs about it now! I DO believe she runs with a smaller "crowd", but the substance thing doesn't seem to be playing a huge role.</p>
<p>And Shrinkrap, I am not "repulsed by drunked debauchery." I just don't want to partake in it and I do want alternatives for the social scene. Glad to hear that it isn't a huge deal!</p>
<p>Brown is the substance-free dorm on East.. but living there doesn't mean you'll only have friends from Brown. Yeah, maybe in the beginning you'll stick around ppl from your dorm but as classes start and you meet more ppl, you'll eventually find a group of ppl that aren't necessarily connected by housing. I have friends from Brown who party. Not everyone who lives in Brown is strictly substance-free.. it just seems like another dorm. Your experience will be what you make of it.</p>