If you are sober and/or against drinking where would be a good fit?

[Anonymous]

Our DC is a non-drinker at a school with a big party scene. She has made great friends, in lots of clubs, athletic, etc. but doesn't party at all and feels little pressure to do so. It is a big school and I think that has given her lots of social options.

[Anonymous]

I lived in a substance free freshman year dorm. My choice.

I will say that by end of the year, I wasn't entirely substance free. I hated beer, though (still do), so I was drinking wine coolers (I was also 17).

I still have never touched a drug other than otc meds in my life.

I mean, it is a good goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's the Mormon college.

Also consider colleges in Islamic countries.
In fact, NYU has a campus in Dubai.

You can drink in Dubai, in fact like Bahrain it is notorious for being a party spot in a desert of misery.

[Anonymous]

My DS is at a Catholic university and his friends all drink and go out to bars. My DS has no interest in drinking (his choice) and from what he's told me, his friends don't pressure him at all. He goes out with his friends, but just drinks soda or water. He's a very social kid and makes friends easily and does not bend easily to peer pressure. He said his friends tease him, in a good natured way. For example, he went to a party this year where the hosts had made several signature drinks. One of the drinks was named after him - it was a bottle of water!

I think true friends are very understanding of someone not wanting to drink. And if your DC does not cave into peer pressure, any school will probably be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went through college without drinking and it was fine even at a school with heavy drinking. It's good to learn to function in the real world.

I found friends (my people) who liked doing things other than drinking, from hiking to games to attending campus events. They all drank too, it just wasn't how they spent the majority of their spare time.

I also found that I could go to parties and socialize where there was drinking as long as I was willing to leave before it got sloppy. No one ever cared what was in my cup. (Very few people even noticed that I didn't drink because I was always social.) I got good at reading the room and would depart before people were drunk and it stopped being fun for a sober person.

The choice not to drink actually had a positive impact on my social life. I'd hop from parties that were turning sloppy to other gatherings, ultimately extending my social circle. It wasn't odd for me to make an appearance at 3-4 parties in a single night. I also wouldn't be hung over so the next morning I'd get up early and go do something with other friends. I had tons of friends and ended up being elected student body president as a result.

Eh. Partying is synonymous with drinking in college. People notice if you’re not drinking, and it makes it harder to get into certain circles. Students who don’t drink will usually need to find friends who don’t party.

A few very popular kids can be accepted by people who drink without drinking themselves, but they’re rare.
-Teetotaler NP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went through college without drinking and it was fine even at a school with heavy drinking. It's good to learn to function in the real world.

I found friends (my people) who liked doing things other than drinking, from hiking to games to attending campus events. They all drank too, it just wasn't how they spent the majority of their spare time.

I also found that I could go to parties and socialize where there was drinking as long as I was willing to leave before it got sloppy. No one ever cared what was in my cup. (Very few people even noticed that I didn't drink because I was always social.) I got good at reading the room and would depart before people were drunk and it stopped being fun for a sober person.

The choice not to drink actually had a positive impact on my social life. I'd hop from parties that were turning sloppy to other gatherings, ultimately extending my social circle. It wasn't odd for me to make an appearance at 3-4 parties in a single night. I also wouldn't be hung over so the next morning I'd get up early and go do something with other friends. I had tons of friends and ended up being elected student body president as a result.

Eh. Partying is synonymous with drinking in college. People notice if you’re not drinking, and it makes it harder to get into certain circles. Students who don’t drink will usually need to find friends who don’t party.

A few very popular kids can be accepted by people who drink without drinking themselves, but they’re rare.
-Teetotaler NP

Eh. Bad take and not at all true.

[Anonymous]

Not using alcohol is a choice a person has to make for themselves and then stick to, perhaps with the help of like minded fellows. Trying to avoid environmental alcohol simply blows its importance entirely out of proportion. If a person’s mind and spirit are right the fact that alcohol (and drugs and careless sex and pornography and unrestrained gambling, to name just a few potential temptations) are available should have no impact on them. As other PP’s have observed, no place on a college campus really is alcohol free. Alcohol can catch the indecisive much faster than they can run from it.

[Anonymous]

Adding: and the idea that a person needs to consume industrial solvent to “fit in” bespeaks an appalling weakness of character.

[Anonymous]

St Olaf's?

Princeton review guide lists colleges that have little to no drinking (as well as the opposite).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Totally agree with the big state universities. Much easier to find other people and lots of things that will work with your lifestyle.

+1 More diversity in people, more types of events on campus.

[Anonymous]

Regent

[Anonymous]

As someone who never drank in college, any school that's not a party school. Beyond that it's about the friends you choose. I was friends with people who went to bookstores for four hours on a Friday night and then to a diner where we'd order fries and chat for two more hours. Sometimes we'd go to a comedy club. We'd go hiking with someone's dog for fun. We were very happy nerds who weren't super nerdy (so no star trek references or obsessions with harry potter).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St Olaf's?

Princeton review guide lists colleges that have little to no drinking (as well as the opposite).

Haaa!!! Plenty of drinking at St olaf. Not much else to do in the frozen tundra

In reality it's difficult to find a school without drinking, the best choice is to find one where drinking is not the major part of the social scene. But even then, it can be challenging.

[Anonymous]

In my experience, the non drinkers will find their tribe even at big party schools.

While my roommates were getting hammered, I found other non-drinkers having movie nights in the common lounge. A student can ask their RA about things happening on campus that don’t involve alcohol. RA’s can help make introductions with other students that you might have things in common with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's the Mormon college.

Also consider colleges in Islamic countries.
In fact, NYU has a campus in Dubai.

You can drink in Dubai, in fact like Bahrain it is notorious for being a party spot in a desert of misery.

+1.

I lived in Dubai for 3 years and yes, you can drink there. There are bars and clubs, and big, boozy weekend brunches at the nice hotels were a thing among the expats. I’ve lived in six foreign countries, including in Europe and Asia, and Dubai had the hardest partying expat scene of all. This is not a place to go because you are looking for more non-drinking peers.