A 1995 Medical Department survey of 606 students showed less drinking at MIT than at other colleges, with 30 percent saying they abstained altogether (compared to 13 percent nationwide).
While the average number of drinks was 2.4 weekly (4.4 nationally), 23 percent said they had indulged in binge drinking during the previous two weeks (the national average is 44 percent). Thirty percent said they felt peer pressure to drink during the previous month and 10 percent said they held a drink at parties to fit in socially.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on April 15, 1998.
