Substance-Free Dorm

metsfan · 03-23-2006, 07:15 AM

Does anyone know if Columbia has substance-free housing for freshmen? Thanks for any replies.

Shraf · 03-23-2006, 09:57 AM

all freshman dorms are "dry" dorms....but who are we kidding you'll find "substances" in all dorms no matter what the rules are.

Columbia2002 · 03-23-2006, 10:32 AM

Substance-free dorms don't work, and Columbia knows better than to have them. People in substance-free dorms aren't there by choice, but because their parents force them to choose to live there. Substance-free dorms often will have the worst substance "abusers."

phantom · 03-23-2006, 01:15 PM

If you really care about substance-free housing, I would suggest LLC (the suite/narrow hallway layout makes it MUCH less conducive to parties) and although yes, ppl go elsewhere to get drunk and return drunk, I would say there is significantly less alcohol/drug-use in the building itself (and less disruptiveness).

Actually, Furnald would probably be better (second choice would be LLC). Avoid Carman at all costs, and the degree of substance-use in John Jay depends heavily on the floor.

metsfan · 03-23-2006, 01:37 PM

Thank you for the advice, phantom. I will definitely consider LLC and Furnald as prefered dorms (if I get accepted, that is).

Columbia2002 does seem to have a good point saying that a lot of people are only in substance-free housing because of their parents (even though this is not the case with me). Hopefully someday colleges will find a solution that will allow us non-drinkers to live with other non-drinkers and the drunk people to live with the other drunk people.

Does Columbia send out one of those "describe your living habits" forms to people before they move in? I would think that something like that could help seperate drinkers from non-drinkers, especially if it's filled out by students instead of their parents.

Columbia2002 · 03-23-2006, 02:01 PM

There's plenty of drinking and pot-smoking in Hartley/Wallach (the LLC buildings). I wouldn't choose a dorm based on trying to predict where you'll be most substance-free. Pick where you want to live, and just hope you get a good situation.

The "describe your living habits" form is pretty barebones. It is just "are you near or messy," "are you a morning person or a night person" and maybe 1-2 other questions. Columbia doesn't make an effort to match people up based on a form.

Students filling out a form still lie. Parents will want to check over those things or tell their kids what to fill out. And, it isn't exactly prudent for a 17/18 year old to state in writing that he drinks.

metsfan · 03-23-2006, 02:28 PM

So then it's basically just a luck-of-the-draw-type thing? Bummer.

If a non-drinker gets paired with someone who smokes a lot (legal or illegal substances) or someone who comes home and vomits every night from excessive drinking, is there any chance of the non-drinker being able to transfer to another room, or are they stuck? And Columbia isn't as much of a drinking school as most (or maybe even any) of the other ivys, right?

garland · 03-23-2006, 02:35 PM

Metsfan: Though it's somewhat the luck of the draw, as Col2002 says, my understanding from my S is that Carman has the party "rep", so it's probably going to have a greater percentage of heavy drinkers.

If you're most worried about the roommate aspect, then John Jay might be the best bet for you, as it is mostly singles. That's where my S was. There was a fair amount of drinking on the floor (and he was sometimes involved), but when he wanted peace and quiet, he could simply close his door.

Columbia2002 · 03-23-2006, 02:37 PM

If you get a roommate like that, you'd be able to get the housing people to give you transfer. But moving is a hassle, and you'd have to make new friends. I had a friend who had a roommate exactly as you described (vomits every night from excessive drinking), plus this girl just vomited all over her sheets and didn't even wash them and never took showers. That's as bad as you'll get--she got terribly unlucky.

All schools are drinking schools.

Shraf · 03-23-2006, 02:38 PM

alright heres the deal. Columbia has alot of singles for freshmen. If you put furnald and JJ as your first two choices you will almost certainly get a single somewhere and this eliminates the problem of getting "paired" with anyone at all. Second of all, unless you used to be an alcoholic and have gone through rehab there should be no problem if people down the hall drink/smoke/do hard drugs or whatever....its your choice whether to participate in those activities or not. I can't imagine housing chosing a criteria like that like that to base their housing on since people who have not even seen alcohol before college may start drinking heavily once they let go of their inhibitions in college. Your best bet is to be in a single if this is a concern and its ur chioce who u want to interact with...it isnt housing's responsibility to make sure you have wholesome people around you.

Columbia2002 · 03-23-2006, 02:43 PM

Quote:

If you put furnald and JJ as your first two choices you will almost certainly get a single somewhere and this eliminates the problem of getting "paired" with anyone at all.

"Almost" is key. It is probably more like 75-80% than 100%.

Quote:

Second of all, unless you used to be an alcoholic and have gone through rehab there should be no problem if people down the hall drink/smoke/do hard drugs or whatever....its your choice whether to participate in those activities or not.

Some drinkers become a problem to others -- vomiting all over the place, being loud, damaging stuff. And, second hand smoke/pot bothers some.

Quote:

it isnt housing's responsibility to make sure you have wholesome people around you.

This is true. If you want a wholesome college, Columbia isn't that. Look to a school like Bob Jones or something

circlesarefun · 03-23-2006, 04:44 PM

i would rather know where the substance dorms are

party, study, party, study, party!

sac · 03-23-2006, 06:10 PM

Quote:

paired with someone who smokes a lot (legal or illegal substances)

In terms of cigarettes, I believe most of the dorms are now non-smoking.

Columbia2002 · 03-23-2006, 07:09 PM

Quote:

In terms of cigarettes, I believe most of the dorms are now non-smoking.

All Columbia dorms -- freshman and upperclass -- are non-smoking. Rather than having all the smokers in one place, they're mixed in with everyone else. Plenty of people smoked in the dorm rooms (i.e., smoking out the window). And the smokers who do smoke outside annoy their roommates because they -- and their clothes -- reek of stale smoke.

phantom · 03-23-2006, 07:34 PM

Quote:

There's plenty of drinking and pot-smoking in Hartley/Wallach (the LLC buildings). I wouldn't choose a dorm based on trying to predict where you'll be most substance-free. Pick where you want to live, and just hope you get a good situation.

Well, there's going to be drinking and pot-smoking EVERYWHERE. However, what I meant about the LLC was that it is just a less rowdy place in general (again, layout not conducive to partying). People drink in the lounges and smoke pot in rooms, but IMO, it is nowhere NEAR as crazy as some of the crazier JJ floors (and certainly not as crazy as Carman). On weekends, as soon as the elevator opens onto certain floors in John Jay, you're hit with a strong smell of pot.

I think that if I was personally very averse to substance-use, I would choose LLC over John Jay to minimize the risk of landing on a party floor (I live in the LLC currently and have yet to see a real party anywhere in the building). A JJ single is not bad either though. But again, definitely Furnald first.