Party etiquette: is it okay to go to a frat party and not drink?

[Anonymous]

Go to a frat party and not drink? I absolutely hate alcohol but I love to dance and socialize. I joined a sorority and a lot of the girls go to frat parties and I want to go too but would it be weird that I'm not drinking with everyone else? Would people even notice? I'm really new to the whole party scene since I didn't do anything but study in high school (I'm trying to break out of my shell) so if anyone has any tips that would be greatly appreciated too! I can be a lot of fun without alcohol so don't even try to tell me that I'll be a buzz kill because I totally will not! (:

[Anonymous]

Wait...you joined a sorority but you don't drink?

I thought sororities weren't that different from frats, and most frats I know are nothing more than drinking buddy clubs...?

Anyways, it depends upon the party. At some parties, you can get away with just holding a cup, and no one will notice or care that it's empty or filled with soda.

But if it's a hardcore binge-drinking party that might not work so well, although you're lucky because it's usually guys that get pressured to drink. And it's usually the guys doing the pressuring. As far as I know, ladies get left alone more, and if you're hot the guys might not even care if you're drinking.

Also, if the party has dancing, that usually gives you an excuse to not drink, since it's kind of hard to do drink and dance at the same time.

However, if you don't really like drinking at all, you might not find much in the way of company that you enjoy socializing with there. Once again, it depends upon the party. But I don't drink that much and used not to drink at all, and being sober around drunk people is usually not much fun...unless the drunk person is a close friend, who you can laugh at for being silly in the morning.

But most average drunk people are very annoying when you're sober. Especially guys. Guys get very annoying when they're drunk. But there's something about drinking alcohol that makes it easier to tolerate other people who are also drinking alcohol.

Because of that, most people who don't like drinking tend to avoid these parties. So if you're looking to meet people who know how to have fun without drinking, you might be better off attending other non-drinking social events. Then again, at some colleges that's really hard. If frat parties are your only option for a social outlet, then your best best is to attend the parties that draw a mixed crowd, not just the party-hard crew.

[Asker]

Oh no, sororities are WAY different from frats. Yeah some of the girls drink, but not all of us do. I joined not only for the social aspect of networking and making friends, but so that more doors for furthering of my future goals would be opened and I could volunteer and work on philanthropy. But I think you are giving me good advice here and I will definitely consider everything you said since it all made sense. I'll update you after my first frat party as a sober person! Lol

[Opinion Owner]

Well, I had no idea about that, lol. I've only been in a sorority house once, and that was to work on a project with these girls who were dumb as doorknobs. That sorority house was like a palace though...so yeah, kinda jealous. But I always assumed greek life was all the same. Never had any interest in joining a frat.

[Asker]

Well, I don't know what sorority you were at, but the women of my sorority all keep up a GPA above a 2.75 (average is 3.4), however all chapters are different of course. Hahah YES! The houses are usually beautiful but that's only because alumn do a great job in keeping the funds coming so we can keep it nice. We also get to do our laundry for free which is a big plus for me since I hate doing laundry in the dorm. That's okay! Greek life is def not for everyone! My sister wouldn't even consider.

[Asker]

Oh and I'm a freshman and freshman at my college have to live on campus in dorms their first year (no living in the house until Sophomore year) so that's what the laundry statement was about! Lol

[Opinion Owner]

I know the dorms too well, and the annoyance of carrying all those quarters for the laundry.

I think that sorority also had high GPAs, but honestly I don't know how. Maybe some kind of affirmative action for sorority girls. Don't want to sound arrogant, but I think the professor purposely assigned me to work on that project with the sorority girls to ensure they'd pass the class. I also know that some of the frats and sororities get answer sheets before the exams.

[Asker]

I haven't been to class yet since we don't start until later but I'll update you if that's true. I know we have a lot of helpful things in our study room (I'm not sure of specifics) but I have never heard about special treatment. We're just a house full of girls with all different sorts of majors so when we have a question, it'll always be answered. We have four years of wisdom and experience under one roof so naturally things will be a little easier! Not sure about the partner thing though!

[Opinion Owner]

Seriously, these girls were the most stereotypical valley-speaking California beach blondes I'd ever met. The hilarious part was that they also thought that academic papers were supposed to be written the same way they speak. Their main contribution to the project was to remove all the proper grammar from what I wrote, and insert filler words like "like" into every sentence, to ahem..."make it sound better". LOL, guess it did make the paper longer. Well, I tried...

[Opinion Owner]

Of course, I'm sure not all sorority girls I like that. A friend of mine from another school joined a sorority and she was definitely not like that.

[Mr_Solo_Dolo]

I'm sure people wouldn't mind. I think most people go to parties to socialize but they just drink cause it's there and it helps them relax. Anybody who doesn't like that you're not drinking is probably just trying to get into your pants or something. I'm sure everybody else will be fine with it though.

[Asker]

Alrighty cool! Thanks mucho! (:

[Mr_Solo_Dolo]

Yep,no problemo.

[dvd89]

alcohol is like sex...only do it if you feel comfortable enough to handle it..dont let people pressure you into it

[Asker]

Great answer (: College is already stressful enough- I don't want to add a hangover on top of everything else!

[dvd89]

theres drinking..and then there's drinking responsibly..if you do drink bring a friend that wont..if you can't count how many fingers she's holding up..u need to stop..hangovers suck..just make sure you drink plenty of water..

[Asker]

Okay I'll keep that in mind (: Hah the only thing I drink is water so I've got that covered!

[dvd89]

lol ok