Best LAC for NARP

[Anonymous]

It’s about as impossible to get to as a LAC can be but we really loved Whitman. Varsity athletes were under 20% if I recall, compared to like 35+% at a place like Williams or Bates.

Great campus, super-engaged kids, current President came from Williams (via Wooster). Just a great vibe. Only downside we could find was the distance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM has introduced me to the concept of NARP (non athletic regular person).

I have a NARP. A boy who isn't an athlete but also isn't into something else that has a built-in community, like Drama. Regular straight guy who likes movies and music and Ramen and video games. Super funny w strong friend group but isn't an extrovert.

He was thinking about LACs (history or possibly Econ), but I wonder if these schools have 30-40% athletes, maybe a bigger university would be better? Any thoughts?

this is why people like the Boston College type schools. you need to find your people in a class that has enough .. people.

you have a school like Amherst that is just 450 kids per grade and 200 of them are on varsity sports, you have an issue. sports take up a lot of time, those kids end up living together soon enough. add in a lopsided m/f class and you may have 100 guys who are not on sports teams. Most high schools have more guys.

my advice is when you tour, see if you can eat in the cafeteria. watch the kids who come in with wet heads from swim/dive and all sit together, etc. and then another sporty group over there, etc.

[Anonymous]

Claremont McKenna. Carleton. Grinnell. East coast is harder. Wesleyan. Maybe Davidson.

Larger like Tufts or Dartmouth or William & Mary. BC.

These schools are all very different so you have to see what appeals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, DCUM is way out of touch with how actual college kids use the term NARP. Your post is cringey and awkward, possibly because you learned about the term from DCUM. I would avoid the term if I were you.

Without using the term, what exactly are you looking for?

I dont think it's very cringey. There's a known issue on college campuses now with 35% kids who are athletes and have a lot of their time eaten up with that. Add a whole other layer of colleges doing their best to admit gay kids (among other minority groups), you can end up with a low number of straight non-athlete males. Too complicated to go into here IMO, but it's a real issue. Don't care if you think it's cringey.

I think the gay/straight thing can be an issue (I have a trans kid so I look at these numbers), but so can specialty programs. if you have a LAC with a big architecture program, for example, those kids often are very much a group that's hard to break into. sometimes CS kids can be like this.

I'd stay away from the very small sub-2k schools.

[Anonymous]

Connecticut College
URichmond
Skidmore
Franklin & Marshall

All these are under 20% varsity athlete

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, DCUM is way out of touch with how actual college kids use the term NARP. Your post is cringey and awkward, possibly because you learned about the term from DCUM. I would avoid the term if I were you.

Without using the term, what exactly are you looking for?

I dont think it's very cringey. There's a known issue on college campuses now with 35% kids who are athletes and have a lot of their time eaten up with that. Add a whole other layer of colleges doing their best to admit gay kids (among other minority groups), you can end up with a low number of straight non-athlete males. Too complicated to go into here IMO, but it's a real issue. Don't care if you think it's cringey.

I think the gay/straight thing can be an issue (I have a trans kid so I look at these numbers), but so can specialty programs. if you have a LAC with a big architecture program, for example, those kids often are very much a group that's hard to break into. sometimes CS kids can be like this.

I'd stay away from the very small sub-2k schools.

How big is Swarthmore?

[Anonymous]

Yes, it's a problem at LACs. The percentage of guys who are straight and not athletes is increasingly tiny. It can be really hard for those students to find a community.

I think it's a genuine issue. Most LACs are not appealing places for straight boys who don't play competitive sports. But this is what most LACs chose.

Personally, I wouldn't bother. I would try to find a university on the smaller side. If he's a stellar student, something like Dartmouth or Rice. They're big enough for everyone to find their space, but small enough to get the liberal arts college experience.

I genuinely would not encourage a straight, non-athlete boy to apply to schools like Vassar, Carleton, Bennington and many others. It'll likely be a lonely experience. If the student really wants to go to a LAC, I'd choose one with a big Greek life. Something like Washington and Lee or Whitman. Or something similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I genuinely would not encourage a straight, non-athlete boy to apply to schools like Vassar, Carleton, Bennington and many others.

One of these schools is not like the others. (It's Carleton. Carleton has a 50/50 gender distribution, and athletes and non-athletes coexist happily.)

[Anonymous]

I think the issue is you've got a "traditional" male student who maybe played sports in high school but the concern is he will be isolated from other traditional males because they are all wrapped up with their sports teams. So I think Greek life is the answer. As well as club sports.

Something to keep in mind, if a typical LAC is 45% male, and if sports are 35% of the student body, and male/female participation in sports is roughly equal (Title 9), this implies male participation in sports is more like 40% of the student body.

I think the main concern here is that the kid will only be friends with gay dudes or extreme dorks if he doesn't play a sport and I think that is a legit concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the main concern here is that the kid will only be friends with gay dudes or extreme dorks if he doesn't play a sport and I think that is a legit concern.

I think the main concern is you might be a bigot?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, DCUM is way out of touch with how actual college kids use the term NARP. Your post is cringey and awkward, possibly because you learned about the term from DCUM. I would avoid the term if I were you.

Without using the term, what exactly are you looking for?

I dont think it's very cringey. There's a known issue on college campuses now with 35% kids who are athletes and have a lot of their time eaten up with that. Add a whole other layer of colleges doing their best to admit gay kids (among other minority groups), you can end up with a low number of straight non-athlete males. Too complicated to go into here IMO, but it's a real issue. Don't care if you think it's cringey.

I think the gay/straight thing can be an issue (I have a trans kid so I look at these numbers), but so can specialty programs. if you have a LAC with a big architecture program, for example, those kids often are very much a group that's hard to break into. sometimes CS kids can be like this.

I'd stay away from the very small sub-2k schools.

Actually, I think the small sub 2k schools are less likely to have the cliques. People just end up all knowing each other there's so much overlap. I went to one of these. I found my social group was larger and more varied than my DH who went to a larger university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it's a problem at LACs. The percentage of guys who are straight and not athletes is increasingly tiny. It can be really hard for those students to find a community.

I think it's a genuine issue. Most LACs are not appealing places for straight boys who don't play competitive sports. But this is what most LACs chose.

Personally, I wouldn't bother. I would try to find a university on the smaller side. If he's a stellar student, something like Dartmouth or Rice. They're big enough for everyone to find their space, but small enough to get the liberal arts college experience.

I genuinely would not encourage a straight, non-athlete boy to apply to schools like Vassar, Carleton, Bennington and many others. It'll likely be a lonely experience. If the student really wants to go to a LAC, I'd choose one with a big Greek life. Something like Washington and Lee or Whitman. Or something similar.

This is really great advice. Very valuable. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, DCUM is way out of touch with how actual college kids use the term NARP. Your post is cringey and awkward, possibly because you learned about the term from DCUM. I would avoid the term if I were you.

Without using the term, what exactly are you looking for?

I dont think it's very cringey. There's a known issue on college campuses now with 35% kids who are athletes and have a lot of their time eaten up with that. Add a whole other layer of colleges doing their best to admit gay kids (among other minority groups), you can end up with a low number of straight non-athlete males. Too complicated to go into here IMO, but it's a real issue. Don't care if you think it's cringey.

I think the gay/straight thing can be an issue (I have a trans kid so I look at these numbers), but so can specialty programs. if you have a LAC with a big architecture program, for example, those kids often are very much a group that's hard to break into. sometimes CS kids can be like this.

I'd stay away from the very small sub-2k schools.

Actually, I think the small sub 2k schools are less likely to have the cliques. People just end up all knowing each other there's so much overlap. I went to one of these. I found my social group was larger and more varied than my DH who went to a larger university.

The sports situation has gotten worse than in our day. Williams was under 20% athletes just 20 years ago

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the main concern here is that the kid will only be friends with gay dudes or extreme dorks if he doesn't play a sport and I think that is a legit concern.

I think the main concern is you might be a bigot?

I don't think it's bigoted if you are concerned about sending your straight son to a school where 9/10 other boys are gay/trans. Just as you may not want to send your gay son to a school where 1/100 are gay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, DCUM is way out of touch with how actual college kids use the term NARP. Your post is cringey and awkward, possibly because you learned about the term from DCUM. I would avoid the term if I were you.

Without using the term, what exactly are you looking for?

Absent the term, OP was pretty clear in what they were seeking.

Yep.
Someone needs to stop “ranting” on here every time someone pisses her off

Yep.

For SLACs, the NARP term is appropriate and not pejorative. We aren't talking big state schools with D1 athletes or anything.

Live a little.