Is UNC a party school?

cloying
Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:46:18 +0000

Quick answer - No.

Long answer - Unfortunately, because Carolina is a state school people make assumptions that because of that you’re more likely to find drugs (I use this term to include alcohol) there than other higher ranked schools. This is not the case. Look at it like this: there is drug use at every single school you are looking at. Yes, my dears, even Yale has a lively drug scene. My brother went to Dartmouth and I assure you, the term “party school” can be broadly applied to many places. The only place where I would wager that there is not as much drug use is BYU. Even students at military academies were cracked down on last year for their “spice” use. Urban dictionary spice, it’s not marijuana.

Anyway, when I use the term “party school” I’m generally thinking of one of two things. Either A: if you say you’ll be “going out” tonight, you mean that you’re going to drink. And not just drink, you’re going to drink excessively. There is no other option for what to do on a weekend, or weekday, night. B: perhaps there are many options of what to do at night, but if you choose to partake in the constant drinking, your grades won’t be affected.

Carolina is neither one of those. Does that mean that there aren’t people who drink excessively every weekend there? No. Those people are there, for sure. There are about 4,000 people in every class; there’s going to be some variation in how everyone spends their time. Are there many of those people? Well, at the beginning of freshman year anywhere you go (Caltech, Amherst, Chapel Hill, where ever), the mantra of many will be “party”. You’ll hop from place to place and witness a lot of people drinking to excess because frankly mommy and daddy are gone and it’s time to go a little nuts. But, a week or two into the school year everyone will remember why they’re in college… they’ll get some grades back… they’ll have a few Come to Jesus moments… and things will die down.

Carolina students care about a lot of things. They care about their professional ambitions, service, and their friends. There isn’t a lot of time to throw drankin’ in there, too, but it happens.

For perspective, I had the exact same mentality as celtics did (and there’s nothing wrong with it) and I felt strongly about going to a school where I’d have debates and not spend my time yelling how wasted I was. Did I engage in some illegal activity at Carolina… well, yes, I sure did, but it should be understood that in high school you’re presented with a false dichotomy. Either be crazy drunk or be a good student. Well, in college, it’s more complicated. There are those who remain sober throughout the process. That’s totally great! Some of those students have around 4.0s, some absolutely don’t. There are those, like me, who tried many things in college, are good students and people, and whose lives are doing just fine. Then there are those who left high school rubbing their hands together at the prospect of “freedom” and drank/smoked themselves stupid in college. Of the people I know in that group, there are many who are actually doing very well, some who have gone to rehab, and one who, very unfortunately, has died. This final group is definitely the minority, but it can be found on any college campus.

Good luck!