Should I believe the lists like “top ten pothead schools”? My son has had some issues with pot use. I know there is pot everywhere, and I used it myself in college, but I’d like to help him avoid schools where it’s more prevalent. Any advice?
There are schools where it is used more than others. That said, he can find it anywhere if he wants it. If HE is serious about avoiding it, most colleges have substance free housing. But please don’t press this on him unless he wants it – it is really unfair to the other students in the housing when someone who uses is in their midst because their parents wanted it.
We can probably be more helpful if you list specific schools.
He is no longer smoking. I doubt he’d choose to live in substance-free housing (although I have not discussed it with him). We have just started our college search. Our list so far: Muhlenberg, Dickinson, UNC-Asheville, UMD-College Park, VCU, Pitt, Temple, Vassar, William and Mary, College of Wooster, Ithaca (which is on those lists).
No matter where your son goes, there will always be POT users.
I’ve heard they smoke a lot of weed at UNC Asheville. If you really don’t want him to smoke, put him in the US Naval Academy or West Point lmao
Based on reports from some current students, Dickinson, W&M and Vassar students say that there is pot, but not much, and that most students are too engaged in their work & activities to be much interested. But as the others said, if he wants it, he will find fellow travelers at any college.
He is actively avoiding using it. I understand that if he wants it, he will find it. And I am well aware that it is everywhere. I was just trying to help him find a school where it would be easier to avoid it and make a lot of friends who don’t use it. The comment about Dickinson, W&M, and Vassar is helpful. That is exactly what I think he wants: a place where there are better things to do than smoke.
His high school friends are smart and talented, but they smoke. A LOT. It’s been very hard for him to quit because to do so means to lose all his friends. But he’s been sober for three months and seems very determined to put it behind him because he realizes that his former level of use would jeopardize his future. College is a chance to start over again with a new group of friends who don’t prioritize marijuana.
I don’t know how accurate those lists are. My D attends a college that always gets a spot in the Lotsa Beer list. She has no idea why, other than because there is no Greek Life, there tends to be beer at the parties? (Isn’t there always beer at a party?) She says it make no sense to her, and she goes to a school of 1800. Someone must be hiding all the beer from her and her friends.
Although, @lindagaf, I think that beer, over hard liquor or lots of weed or other drugs, is the “drug of choice” at your DD’s school. If, of course,
one is choosing. While the ratings are indeed dubious, the characterization of it being a "beer school " rather than one of the alternatives is probably accurate. In today’s world, that’s the equivalent of “clean fun.” I have heard (but can’t confirm) that Grinnell has more of a weed culture, for example.
While your story does emphasize how it’s possible to choose one’s path, I think the OP is saying that unlike your D, her son would find it easy to assimilate in a weed dominated school and would not naturally find/seek other ways to spend his time if that was an easy way to hang with friends.
To that end, @momofgingers , I think all 3 of the Maine schools lean more heavily toward social drinking than pot smoking although there is plenty of the latter to be found for those who want it. My sense was that many of the schools in central PA (F&M, Dickinson, Bucknell) are similar. But I am a parent and only know what I hear through kids, which is always heavily censored for old fogey ears.
Sure, @gardenstategal , stereotypes are based on reality to a certain extent. And the OP did ask if she should believe those lists. They are based on student participation, so they are not 100% accurate, for sure.
Off the top of my head, I can think of several colleges that have a rep for pot smoking, some of which are very highly regarded. Of the schools on your list, OP, if avoiding pot as much as possible is very important, I would say Vassar and Ithaca might both be problematic. (The ones below 20 don’t make PR’s list, but they still indulge:-)). I would avoid UVM, Wesleyan, Grinnell, Oberlin, Lewis and Clark, Reed, and various others. I am no expert on this matter. I don’t know if it’s worth considering some urban campuses? Maybe there is a little less of that type of indulging, because of easy access to other distractions.
Outside of the service academies and some very religious schools, there’s going to be pot everywhere.
@gardenstategal -regarding the PA schools you mention, friend’s son at Bucknell told me there are lots of drugs, (and more than pot) there. He attributed some of it to the isolated location. Though when we visited, we did not get a druggy ‘vibe’.
Neighbor told me that his D at Reed said hard drug culture is rampant there.
Not to pick on Reed, but when we visited I grabbed a couple editions of the student newspaper. They list campus security incidents, and every other one had something to do with pot. Mostly someone smelling weed, calling security, and security unable to find any thing going on. Agree that Grinnell also has a reputation for a lot of weed use.
Good luck with that. Here’s a list of schools you might consider to be most weed-free: Wheaton (IL), Liberty, Calvin College, Grove City, Oral Roberts, Hillsdale, etc.
I would take UNC Asheville off the list.
https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings?rankings=stone-cold-sober-schools
My D’s engineering school didn’t seem to have much of a pot culture. I wonder if most engineering schools are like that ?
Send him to BYU. Case closed.
Good to know, @wisteria100 . The kids who told me it was a heavy drinking school graduated a couple of years ago. And it could have been influenced by their frats and sororities. My kid didn’t like something in the vibe when he visited so didn’t apply, and we didn’t get into the weeds - no pun intended - on this one.
In states where weed is illegal and the school is not known for attracting artistic students, weed is probably going to be less prevalent. I went to the University of Oklahoma and rarely smelled it although some students did smoke. For the most part, you had to know someone who smoked to get access to weedor go to a certain type of party.
Last summer I interned in Denver and stayed in private student housing adjacent to the University of Denver. Most people occasionally smoked weed, and the building always smelled of it after around 6 pm.
However, there are definitely exceptions. At Emory and Montana State University, both schools in states where marijuana is illegal, a higher than average number of students consumed marijuana. It certainly is not prevalent in the same way that it is at some Colorado/ California institutions but weed usage is definitely more prevalent than at OU.