Top schools where sports *don’t matter*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Harvey Mudd does not care about sports at all.

Harvey Mudd recruits and gives admissions help like other LAC's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Harvey Mudd does not care about sports at all.

Yes they do. Silly person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the feedback. I’m not looking at this from an admissions pov, fwiw. I went to a SLAC that had no sports culture (at least as far as I could tell!) and was surprised to hear how many SLACs *do* care about athletics.

I thrived in a purely “academic” environment—it was uniformly rigorous with no easy alternatives to tough courses and everyone was all in on the intellectualism, which helped us push ourselves and support each other. I’m sure it sounds pretentious but I loved it. It’s not that I would cross other schools off the list—I just want to understand the landscape in case DCs turn out to be like me.

I went to Northwestern, a Big 10 school so lots of credit for athletics.

I never went to a game, almost none of my friends went to games. I couldn't have told you if they won or lost any specific games. The only varsity athlete I knew was a fencer who was in one of my classes. I also had some friends in the croquet club.

I don't know what easy alternatives have to do with any of this. Athletes at the top schools have to meet he same academic criteria.

This is simply untrue, except at MIT and CalTech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the feedback. I’m not looking at this from an admissions pov, fwiw. I went to a SLAC that had no sports culture (at least as far as I could tell!) and was surprised to hear how many SLACs *do* care about athletics.

I thrived in a purely “academic” environment—it was uniformly rigorous with no easy alternatives to tough courses and everyone was all in on the intellectualism, which helped us push ourselves and support each other. I’m sure it sounds pretentious but I loved it. It’s not that I would cross other schools off the list—I just want to understand the landscape in case DCs turn out to be like me.

I went to Northwestern, a Big 10 school so lots of credit for athletics.

I never went to a game, almost none of my friends went to games. I couldn't have told you if they won or lost any specific games. The only varsity athlete I knew was a fencer who was in one of my classes. I also had some friends in the croquet club.

I don't know what easy alternatives have to do with any of this. Athletes at the top schools have to meet he same academic criteria.

This is untrue except at MIT and CalTech

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the feedback. I’m not looking at this from an admissions pov, fwiw. I went to a SLAC that had no sports culture (at least as far as I could tell!) and was surprised to hear how many SLACs *do* care about athletics.

I thrived in a purely “academic” environment—it was uniformly rigorous with no easy alternatives to tough courses and everyone was all in on the intellectualism, which helped us push ourselves and support each other. I’m sure it sounds pretentious but I loved it. It’s not that I would cross other schools off the list—I just want to understand the landscape in case DCs turn out to be like me.

I went to Northwestern, a Big 10 school so lots of credit for athletics.

I never went to a game, almost none of my friends went to games. I couldn't have told you if they won or lost any specific games. The only varsity athlete I knew was a fencer who was in one of my classes. I also had some friends in the croquet club.

I don't know what easy alternatives have to do with any of this. Athletes at the top schools have to meet he same academic criteria.

This is untrue except at MIT and CalTech

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NYU does not focus on athletics.

Not true...NYU recruits

Just because the students at a particular school generally don't care about sports, that doesn't mean the school doesn't care about sports. Many schools are trying to build their athletics programs so they can attract DIFFERENT types of kids to their schools, i.e., kids who want to attend a school where sports are important/valued.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the feedback. I’m not looking at this from an admissions pov, fwiw. I went to a SLAC that had no sports culture (at least as far as I could tell!) and was surprised to hear how many SLACs *do* care about athletics.

I thrived in a purely “academic” environment—it was uniformly rigorous with no easy alternatives to tough courses and everyone was all in on the intellectualism, which helped us push ourselves and support each other. I’m sure it sounds pretentious but I loved it. It’s not that I would cross other schools off the list—I just want to understand the landscape in case DCs turn out to be like me.

I went to Northwestern, a Big 10 school so lots of credit for athletics.

I never went to a game, almost none of my friends went to games. I couldn't have told you if they won or lost any specific games. The only varsity athlete I knew was a fencer who was in one of my classes. I also had some friends in the croquet club.

I don't know what easy alternatives have to do with any of this. Athletes at the top schools have to meet he same academic criteria.

And all the Ivies. But keep believing what you want to believe.

This is untrue except at MIT and CalTech

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NYU does not focus on athletics.

Not true...NYU recruits

Just because the students at a particular school generally don't care about sports, that doesn't mean the school doesn't care about sports. Many schools are trying to build their athletics programs so they can attract DIFFERENT types of kids to their schools, i.e., kids who want to attend a school where sports are important/valued.

Right. I don't see how this should necessarily affect one's choice. Sports can be avoided even at schools with a big "game" culture, just like Greek life can be avoided. OP, while you may not have noticed the sports at your school, others may have.

[Anonymous]

If the school offers sports, then the sports "matter" to someone. If they have teams, they are going to try and fill the rosters of the teams. Various people have jobs to make sure this happens.

[Anonymous]

My child went to Swarthmore and was an athlete. That school is known for it’s academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"OP again. I should say that I went to a truly huge HS that had every subgroup from jocks to gunners to goths (it was the 90s!) which is why it felt so good to “find my people” at a slac with no sports or frats."

I was trying to explain this to my friend who went to Michigan. She is convinced that a very large school like that is great for everyone since they'd have students of all types there and therefore any student could find people to befriend. But to me (I'm also someone drawn to schools with an intellectual vibe) a school like that would be awful. I'd basically be trying to drown out and ignore the vast majority of my classmates because they aren't at all "my people."

Some SLACs basically gather a few limited types of students and offer a niche experience. The kids who want to focus on putting together 15 different outfits to do sorority rush and get invited to the Auburn or Ole Miss game by a boy in Chi Alpha Dogma and paint an ice chest for their football game date will self-select away from those SLACs. https://www.prepinyourstep.com/2017/04/tips-for-painting-fraternity-cooler-in.html#/ And the schools will not be very interested in those students since they won't fit in with the the rest of the their students who want to write for the campus literary magazine and discuss Meno over dinner. [/quote

You must be a blast at parties. Michigan does have an, “intellectual vibe.” That you lump all large state universities together suggests to me that you are aren’t as sophisticated as you think you are. By the way, your commentary gives out a, “snob vibe.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NYU does not focus on athletics.

Not true...NYU recruits

Just because the students at a particular school generally don't care about sports, that doesn't mean the school doesn't care about sports. Many schools are trying to build their athletics programs so they can attract DIFFERENT types of kids to their schools, i.e., kids who want to attend a school where sports are important/valued.

100% The reality is, sports attract students and bring in donors. Look at schools who win national championships - or even just do well. George Mason's men's basketball team made the Final Four in 2006. I attended games when I was a student there in the 1990's. The student section was pathetic but I've always enjoyed watching games and I got in free. Fast forward to the 2000s and they hired a really good coach, JIm Larranaga. In the 2005-06 season, he took the team all the way to the Final Four. It was crazy the amount of fans that started showing up at games. The next year, the arena was packed. In 2020, I took my junior in high school on an official tour of the school. The video they showed in the information session kept highlighting the team's run to the Final Four - an event that happened 14 years earlier. They obviously are using that winning season to attract new students and it must be working or they wouldn't have highlighted it as much as they did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NYU does not focus on athletics.

Not true...NYU recruits

Just because the students at a particular school generally don't care about sports, that doesn't mean the school doesn't care about sports. Many schools are trying to build their athletics programs so they can attract DIFFERENT types of kids to their schools, i.e., kids who want to attend a school where sports are important/valued.

That may be true, but not being involved in athletics doesn’t harm your chances.

[Anonymous]

Frankly, if you allow yourself to look at the bigger picture, having a school that focuses on sports is better for the entire school. As others mentioned sports=donor money. You can't avoid this connection and its importance to have an alumni network available to help YOUR child find a job, provide athletic centers for YOUR child to exercise, etc. The thing that is so amazing about colleges is finding your way and what is enjoyable to you as an individual. This could be sports, this could be greek life or just for academic pursuits but lumping athletics at a school as some sort of pariah is incredibly short-sighted. It also seems you are making some big decisions on behalf of your child that are only a reflection of your beliefs. Let them decide what they want to experience for their college years.

[Anonymous]

McGill. Get a great education without much, if any, focus on college sports from my the admissions committee or the student body