Both male and female students who lived in fraternity and sorority houses consumed more alcohol, engaged more often in heavy episodic drinking, drank more when "partying," and had more alcohol-related problems than male and female students who lived in apartments and residence halls. Students in fraternities and sororities were more likely than those in other residences to have an accurate estimate of how much and how often other students consumed alcohol. Students in other types of residences had higher estimates of other students' alcohol use compared to reported use. The findings confirm that students' choice of residence is a strong link to the level and frequency of alcohol use. The overestimation of the norm for the level and frequency of alcohol use among students living in apartments and residence halls may lead them to drink more in an effort to conform to social expectations; however, previous research has shown that students' consumption of alcohol is more influenced by their close social networks (e.g., living groups and close friend) than by perceptions of the behavior of "most" college students. The questionnaire was administered to all sections of English 101 and 102 classes during the 2000 spring semester, which provided a representative sample of first-year and second-year students. The 479 students included in the study sample consisted of 99 females and 90 males living in residence halls, 47 females and 74 males living in apartments, 71 females living in sorority houses, and 98 males living in fraternity houses. 4 tables and 19 references