<p>Hi. Can someone please give me the real scoop on substance free housing? Do you feel secluded, looked down upon, etc… I would really appreciate it.</p>
<p>I have never felt secluded in sub free housing. I have a good number of friends in other dorms. Some drink, some don’t. Looked down upon…I have never felt that way and wouldn’t really care either way. I will not be living substance free next year, but a good portion of the floor I’ll be living on will consist of students who don’t drink excessively or do drugs, so I’m fine with it.</p>
<p>fyi, the sub-free dorm my daughter was in first year was just a floor in Perkins, a freshman dorm. She spent a lot of time with friends on the floor above.</p>
<p>I always feel the need to put forward my own opinion on this issue, although I’m not sure anyone cares what I have to say about it.</p>
<p>My basic feeling is this: many gifted young high school graduates get to college with a ridiculously negative impression of alcohol, resulting from the fact that in many high schools drinking is associated with the ‘bad’ kids (probably because it is, in point of fact, illegal to drink in high school). These gifted students head off to college and say to themselves: “Man, all those kids who drank in high school really sucked! I better go into sub free housing to keep away from them!” Then, sometimes very late into their Brown careers, they find themselves in a setting with nothing but people they respect, all of whom are drinking, and they say: “Wait a minute, maybe this isn’t so terrible!” So they drink a bit, don’t die, and live happily ever after as responsible social drinkers. I watched innumerable peers live through this transformation process.</p>
<p>I consider myself lucky; I lived in Europe in high school, and drank socially from the time I was 15. Otherwise, I almost certainly would have been one of those people with a skewed impression of alcohol. While demonizing something that doesn’t deserve demonization might not seem like the end of the world to you, I think it reflects something of a disconnect with reality, and I would have been sad to have that revelation in the middle of college.</p>
<p>There are plenty of people for whom sub free dorms are the right choice; probably more than choose to live in them every year. That said, if your motivation for choosing sub free has to do with the social environment in which drinking takes place in your high school, I encourage you to consider going through the normal housing process. The bad people who you see drinking in high school didn’t get into Brown, and they won’t be there.</p>
<p>Thank you for the input. In response to the last reply, I don’t think that drinking is bad or that people who drink are bad. I just choose not to drink and I am thinking that a substance free dorm or floor might be more comfortable for me.</p>
<p>TeacherT: if that’s your perspective, you should just try out the sub-free housing. I even know students in it who do drink occasionally at parties; they just choose not to be on the floor while under the influence. The nice thing is that it’s just one floor.</p>
<p>Thanks Bruno14 for your input. That was what I was sort of thinking. Decisions, decisions!</p>
<p>Conversely, there are plenty of people in normal housing that don’t drink, which I think is useful to remember.</p>
<p>Thanks mgcsinc.</p>
<p>fyi, I don’t think my daughter would have done sub free if she could choose in hindsight. It’s not that big deal either way, it turns out. The thinking was to avoid distraction of possible heavy party situations while getting used to everything. But she just didn’t click with the people in that dorm. It was convenient to find friends upstairs, so she was mostly hanging out in regular dorms in the end.</p>
<p>@mgcsinc you are correct</p>
<p>Also, those of you who have had little experience within an international community may be quite shocked at at “behaviour” of us who dont come from the US</p>
<p>I cant speak for every country in the world, but in the UK its fairly hard to find someone 16-18 who doesnt drink. </p>
<p>In Russia (where i am from) its fairly customary to drink (quite a bit) on any outing. (fairly hard to find someone who is older then 15 who doesnt drink regularly)</p>
<ul>
<li>does this mean that drugs are prevalent in non-substance free housing?</li>
</ul>
<p>Marijuana is very prevalent in any non-substance free housing, but I really don’t think it is a big deal. I don’t smoke while most of my friends do and that is totally fine.</p>
<p>Harder drugs do exist, but you will probably never notice them unless you are seeking to use them.</p>
<p>ohk. so your roommates would smoke up in front of you? - and is it legal?</p>
<p>
Nope. (I think a limited amount for medical reasons is allowed, but I don’t know if that bill was passed.) I personally cannot stand the smell, and I need to walk by a door that often smells of it when I want to leave my dorm, so that’s somewhat annoying.</p>
<p>One may also smell cigarette smoke if one’s windows are open, since people tend to smoke closer to buildings than is legal, police officers included.</p>
<p>I have chosen subfree to avoid those scents as much as possible, as well as to avoid having a roommate or neighbor who will come back after heavy drinking and throw up or pass out. That certainly happens here, though I’d imagine it’s not as prevalent as it could be.</p>
<p>My son has done subfree his freshman year and is located in Perkins, although there is a subfree section in Andrews, too - maybe other dorms, too. I think Perkins is a little far from the action on campus, but he doesn’t mind and has a very nice rapport with the people on his hall. It is my impression he is with people who are a little more like-minded in how to spend their leisure time, although he has gone to parties, too. I think at Brown there is a high chance you will be in Perkins freshmen year if you choose subfree. If you don’t there is a large chance (50%?) you will be in Keeney which I’m sure is a mix, but has a reputation for people getting sick in the bathrooms on the weekends and plenty of pot smell. </p>
<p>Brown seems to be very much a “you do your thing, I’ll do mine” kind of school so I would not worry about choosing subfree if you want it. And I wouldn’t worry about not drinking or doing drugs if you don’t.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for the insight. I truly appreciate it!</p>