Question for anybody whos in Pennsylvania for college?

Question

I am considering some schools in Pennsylvania, but I hear that the liquor laws are a major pain there. Are college campuses affected by the harsh laws, or are they just as plentiful as any other campus? Does it matter if I'm in the downtown philly?

Schools I'm looking at are Drexel (philly) and lehigh (Easton or Bethlehem or somethin)

The booze laws are the last consideration in my applying process. I already did my research, please don't lecture me saying "it doesn't matter, college is for education" blah blah

Answer 1

liquor laws are a major pain because liquor and beer are not sold at the same shops and some small reasons i can't remember.but dude-i went to highschool in pa and didint have too much trouble gettin ahold of booze, so no, it doesnt put any kind of damper on the party atmosphere.

Answer 2

"it doesn't matter, college is for education" blah blah

Sorry friend, but that is the truth.  How old are you anyway?  Please pick a college on academics.  It will be important the entire rest of your life.

Answer 3

I went to Drexel...it's no problem.

The problems with PA liquor laws are really nothing huge...beer stores don't sell liquor, and liquor stores don't sell beer--you have to make two stops if you want both.  Some of them are apparently working on trying to get both, but at worst, you can generally find them near each other.  There's also no booze to be found in the supermarkets, but again, they're apparently working on changing that.

It's also hard to find beer on a Sunday.  It's easily overcome with a ride over the Ben Franklin Bridge to Canal's (which is cheaper anyhow, and has all beer/liquor under one roof), who are open 7 days and at seemingly all hours.

You can't drink on campus unless you're over 21, but if you live in campus housing (the dorms or the honor student suites) you can register to bring booze in (again, 21+).  I think it was only one bottle per person or something.  Once you get comfortable there though, you'll see that it's not that hard to either get some in or to find some house party.

The bars in the area are all college crowds, but they'll ID.  Can't say how loosely they card or not.  I've gone in without stopping looking like a kid, and I've been carded in a suit with clients from work, so it's really hit or miss.