Hey, some of us are/were young fogeys. For me personally, now that I’m 40 (and for most of the past 15-20 years) I really don’t care. But when I was college-aged I was not a big fan of “party culture.” You know why? i’ll be really honest here: because I wasn’t included. So, as a social outcast who wasn’t invited to the parties, I coped by telling myself how much better it was that I was academically-focused (though I dropped out and was kicked out of several universities due to mental health issues related to my social isolation) with a low time preference and I was going to keep all my brain cells and grow up a very successful well-adjusted adult, which didn’t happen. Perhaps I can attribute my youthful looks to clean living, but that’s about it and it doesn’t help me at all in life.
Around 30% of entering freshmen don’t even make it to sophomore year; overall, about 58% of students who started at a four-college in the fall of 2012 had earned any degree at all by the spring of 2018 (i.e., within six years). Certainly not all dropouts are due to excessive partying, but that’s still a heck of a lot of flameouts. (cite)
I’ve got a question: (which may deserve a thread of its own):
How does the American college experience compare with universities in England and Europe?
England has a huge pub culture, and heavy drinking among students is more socially accepted there than America, I think.
But , unlike America, in England there seems to be less talk about “the college experience” as an obligatory stage of life, expected for all middle class teens.
The obsession with getting accepted at the right college,with going on tours to visit campuses before applying, etc, --seems to be unique to America.
If only 58% of Americans finish college–what is the percentage in England?
The American “party culture” may be to blame…but so is the fact that too many kids who didn’t really want to go to college get sent there anyway, due to social pressures. Are these pressures as strong in England?
Indeed, that is a factor, as is the high economic cost that for some may not be sustainable. And the number refers to having finished within 6 years, so it also omits those who for some life circumstance or another (e.g. financial situation, parenthood) will take 8 or more years to fully complete their degrees. (OTOH there are those who’d say that many of those taking twice or four times as long to complete a degree may not really be engaged in “the college experience” as commonly understood)
What would you prefer?
Can we please be honest?
It’s not “party culture.” It’s “binge drinking culture.” That’s what the thread is about. That’s the problem a lot of students have.
Ahhh, now there’s a better question. I wish the OP had been more descriptive*. I mean, who doesn’t like a “party with culture”? But drinking til you pass out the night before a big test can have ramifications.
We live in a college town where you can get an undergrad major in binge drinking. It’s a huge problem.
*Don’t think it’s just the description that’s making it tough to understand. Take a look at the posts started by the OP. There’s a pattern.
@RickJay I agree that binge drinking is more of an issue, even though people have told me that partying (in general) has pros and cons, it all depends on how responsible you are when you decide to go out and “have fun”.
@bump Even though I’ve missed class before just because I didn’t feel like going, I knew that missing a couple classes wasn’t a big deal, unless if the professor was strict about attendance, which was frustrating at times, but now I only have to worry about making it to work on time, which is rarely an issue for me.
I usually went out during the weekends since more people went out during those times. I rarely went out during the week just because I was focused more on my classes and saved all my fun for the weekends…