<p>I'm not sure whether or not to choose substance-free housing. I'm not going to be drinking or using drugs, but I'm worried that if I choose it almost no one else will and I'll end up with boring roomates. Does anyone know anything about the substance-free housing and how many kids use it?</p>
<p>there are several things to think about when deciding about sub free housing</p>
<p>1) substance free does not mean that you cannot drink/smoke/etc, it just means that youre not supposed to bring it back, and basically cant vomit in the hallways or bathrooms</p>
<p>2) if youre in a suite in sub free housing, the only real way to get caught is by your roomates</p>
<p>3) I dont know about in other dorms, but even with parties its usually not too bad, and actually kinda fun. Subfree doesnt necessarily mean quiet, it could still be annoying if youre trying to study and ppl are just generally loud in the dorms. Subfree just basically prevents having parties involving alcohol--which is also an arrangement that you could make with your roommates. I dont live in subfree, but we havent had a party all year because we decided in the beginning of the year that we'd rather go to parties and not have to deal with cleaning up.</p>
<p>4) many sophomores chose subfree housing because they had bad draw times and subfree was one of hte only options left. I think this was especially prevelant in wilson college as ~1/4 of the college was designated subfree. Also, in Forbes, a lot of sophomores took advantage of subfree to guarantee rooms in the main in. These sophomores may or may not have initially wanted subfree or abide by subfree rules (I personally know a few who this applies to) </p>
<p>5) some freshmen get stuck in subfree without asking for it---or their parents make them chose it. I know a number of students currently in subfree where a number of the roommates drink etc., and have alcohol in the room. </p>
<p>I don't think subfree really impacts the kind of roommate you get. I know plenty of ppl who are subfree who did not choose to draw that way either freshman year or sophomore year. It's not that theyre quiet or boring, its just a lifestyle choice--although a choice that has varying degrees. As I said, they don;t have extra dorms that they dont use, although occasionally a suite will be assigned one less person than its supposed to, so a good number of students are in subfree. The highest percentage I would say would be wilson college, where they tried to stop parties by making all of the big suites except 211 gauss substance free. </p>
<p>also, some ppl try to choose subfree to get better housing-- that works in about half of the residential colleges. Forbes, as mentioned above, has subfree this year in main inn. Rocky has buyers which is pretty nice quads--although most rocky rooms are pretty nice. Mathey I think subfree is in Blair. The two where it doesnt work is Butler, which has laurie love, and wilson, which is DO and 1939, which although they are not horrible, dont begin to measure up to Feinberg and Clapp/1927</p>
<p>Yeah, seriously. What's with the totally untrue stereotype of people who choose sub-free as boring and socially lifeless? Totally untrue. As the above poster said, it's just a residential lifestyle choice. And as for #2 in the above post, hmm...there's no reason to sign up for sub-free if you want to have that kind of stuff in your room. Honestly. If you end up in it, that's a different story. But since the OP stated he/she doesn't plan on drinking, I doubt that'll be too big of an issue.</p>
<p>Thanks. This was really helpful. My S filled out his housing form tonight and had questions about the substance-free housing. Based on above info, he's decided to go substance-free. </p>
<p>These forms are almost as bad as the application itself!</p>
<p>philintex-- its not necessarily that ppl have a choice, even sophomores-- a good number of people in wilson college who had draw times near the end had to go substance free because of lack of housing. When choosing between a 99 sf room in non-subfree and a 125 sf room subfree, the choice is pretty easy. The main issue was that this year, the 2 biggest buildings in wilson were zoned subfree, and clapp/27 which used to hold a lot of sophomores were zoned over half freshmen--- poor planning on the part of the college, or they were trying to force everyone to go subfree, which will not happen. </p>
<p>also, while in some instances its true that a person goes in "knowing" that they will live a subfree lifestyle, and actually do live that way for all four years, a large percentage of ppl don't live completely subfree. Whether its finally getting away and going crazy and getting really drunk and passing out, or a couple of beers at the street on a weekend night--only 3 ppl that i know have stayed completely substance free.</p>
<p>You also need to check out the specific dorm. Some of the substance free housing is a joke. No enforcement at all. Remember, theoretically, for those under 21 which most freshmen and sophomores are, even alcohol is illegal, never mind the drugs. And yet despite the official university position on the substances, such substance use is rampant even in the freshman dorms with most RAs looking the other way along with the university officials. Unless the residents of a substance free house are committed to keep it that way, it can be a useless designation.</p>
<p>i was also unsure about whether to go for subfree or not. so i ticked subfree, but only rated it as my third preference (after number of roommates and coed). am i likely to end up in a subfree dorm or not?</p>
<p>According to NJ law and Princeton Boro law, the police cannot enter your room specifically to search for alcohol or because they think that its present. (this is also why theres are never police in the eating clubs, the only way youd get caught for drinking would be to carry your beer outside to the street, which the bouncers will not let you do anywya) Theres a big debate about this in the town, because they are trying to change the rules so that police can enter the eating clubs, however princeton students make up a large portion of the voters in town, so that it unlikely to get passed. That means, that as long as you magically get alcohol into your room, the university and public safety dont care at all unless you get noise complaints. Oh, and no kegs, although I know ppl who have had them. All you have to do is manage to convince them that the alcohol is for private consumption and youre good. So there are room parties at princeton, mostly involving pregaming before going out to the street. Which is the other thing about subfree dorms, which is that drunk ppl can be right outside and making noise. I get more annoyed by the drunk ppl outside my building than about parties in the building. That could be because I live in Wilson, which is on the way to the street and also has large suites where ppl pregame, and tons of ppl walk through wilson quad. Its possible that it gets less noisy as you move up campus and further from thestreet.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, ec, I know that people who do sub-free aren't completely sub-free. In fact, I noted that in a post in another thread about this from a while back. It's just the whole thing about not taking it into your living space, from what I've come to understand.</p>
<p>Haha, I'm not that naive. I know that most who do sub-free aren't sub-free outside of the dorm. However, I'd like to think that in their dorm they are...</p>
<p>And yeah, I also know that some draw into sub-free because of their time or because of the real estate. Nevertheless, I'd hope that by doing so they agree to do the whole sub-free contract thing and agree to abide by it, or else it kind of ruins the purpose for those signing up for sub-free because they actually want sub-free dorming. But whatev, it's not impossible to live either way.</p>
<p>on my visits and from friends and family, ive never known/met anyone in sub-free dorming.</p>
<p>Can you characterize the kinds of kids who draw sub-free? Is there a valid generalization of the majority? Any distinct sub-groupings?</p>