Good college for non partier child

[Anonymous]

So, I have gotten two kids into high level schools. It has suited their personalities, as they have been surrounded by intelligent, non-party people. The same schools would be perfect for my youngest. But, looking at this year's season, I do not have high hopes for her getting into the same level of school. What is the new schools for bright, intelligent kids looking to be surrounded by the same?

[Anonymous]

Earlham

[Anonymous]

Anywhere in a city where there are other things to do.

[Anonymous]

William & Mary.

[Anonymous]

Choose a girls only dorm.

[Anonymous]

BYU

[Anonymous]

All colleges have some drinking. I think you want to avoid a place where an Animal-house-like culture is revered.

Greek culture and rah rah sports at a large school might have more of it.

The key is to find a place where the kids who don't drink are not marginalized. They should still have social options. My kid's school for example, offers an activity that is fun and an alternative to alcohol-centered events every Friday night. (Examples, paintball, going out into the woods with the Wildlife Society on the Vernal Equinox to find salamanders, bingo with prizes that college students like, a stand up comic).

I suggest you look at the survey results on Unigo. They ask the same questions of kids at different schools, so you get to see a wide range of responses regarding how dominant alcohol is on the social scene. Princeton Review's Guide also has some data on this. Good luck, my child is the same and searched high and low for others who were not interested in drinking in college.

[Anonymous]

My DS attends a school that is often thought of as a "party" school. But that isn't his style. It's been fine for him - he made similar friends and works hard, and also still has a social life with his friends and in the city near his school. In this environment, it also helped keep him covid free (knock on wood), while students in the greek system were often testing positive.

My point is your can find non-partier types at really any school.

My DS joined clubs and found his peers.

[Anonymous]

William & Mary. My non-partner found another non-partier and they have a group of non-partying friends. Even in pandemic school, they have a robust social life.

[Anonymous]

WVU. Gotta start sometime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:William & Mary. My non-partner found another non-partier and they have a group of non-partying friends. Even in pandemic school, they have a robust social life.

Really robust social life? Doing what?

[Anonymous]

OP, where have your older kids gone? I have a 10th grader that is definitely not a partier, not going to be a drinker, and I’m trying to help him put together a list of schools. I think he’s oblivious enough to these things that he doesn’t quite appreciate the issue.

Schools I want him to consider include W&M, Mary Washington, St Mary’s of MD, Franklin and Marshall, Rochester, CWRU, and then more reach schools like Vassar, Rice, CMU, Wesleyan, Haverford and Swarthmore.

Would be interested in what folks think of this list...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Earlham

Really, any Quaker school. Friends don't exactly cut loose.

(Haverford grad with a Swarthmore nephew)

[Anonymous]

To give you an example, on UNIGO, their alcohol question has four response options. Here are some EXAMPLES of how kids at different schools respond:

Elon 52% say "There is some drinking going on every night" (which is their most pro-alcohol option)
That number is 62% at Dartmouth
At Mount Holyoke it is 11%
And at St. Olaf's it is 4%

My point is not to single out these schools, it is to encourage OP to look up the schools that seem to match her child on other qualities, and see where it stands with regard to the popularity of alcohol.

[Anonymous]

My kid's school, a SLAC in the middle of nowhere, shows 8% for that option.

So you see, the variation is wide.