Reply to Schools with Rigorous Academics and Big Sports Culture

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Schools with Rigorous Academics and Big Sports Culture"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]These schools do not have a big sports culture -

Northwestern
Vanderbilt
UCLA
Cal
Stanford
Duke
UNC

Rallying around one sport like Duke and UNC does not qualify as a big sports culture.  Northwestern and Vanderbilt are solely in their conferences so their commissioners can say they care are about academics.  The Pac-12 is the conference of champions of sports nobody cares about or actually watches.  Pac-12 has not been relevant in major sports in years. [/quote]

Most schools only rally around 1 sport. A few rally around 2. Even at great sports school, no one is tailgating a field hockey game. When people talk about sports culture, they are talking about football and basketball. [/quote]

OP here.  Yes, I agree.  Ususally there's a flagship sport like basketball or football.  Like Duke basketball, Michigan football etc.  In an ideal world, she definitely wants that, so recommendations of other (less obvious) schools that have a flagship sport like that would be great.

But beyond that, it's not even remotely about the football team's GPA.  (Good lord, people :roll: )

It's about the overall student body.  Our guess is that she'd be happiest at a school that attracts the scholar/athlete types ... the smart jocks ...  the kids who were high-calibur HS athlete types in their various sports but who chose the school for its academics rather than prioritizing a school where they could make the team.

So while they might not all over to the field to watch their D1 college lacrosse hockey or soccer team play on a random Tuesday, it's a place where tons of kids share that intense athletic orientation and might be playing high-level club lacrosse or soccer more than once a week.

Finally, we get that every school is diverse and has a mix of all types of students.  But on average, some schools have strong personalities cultures one way or another.  FWIW, I think she'd be the worst fit ever for an Oberlin/Wesleyan type school. Would she gret a great education there?  Absolutely.  Would she eventually find "her people"?  Yes, of course.  But she'd likely be swimming against the overall current, which is not what she wants to do.) 
[/quote]

Sounds like my kid.  Recruited heavily for D3 and D2 schools but wanted a school that would offer a great education and the big sports and club options.  They chose UVA and compete at the club level against Duke, UNCCH, Clemson etc. and are getting great educational opportunities with a lot of high quality motivated classmates.  Also enjoyed FB, basketball and soccer seasons attending a lot of games. It's worth a look.[/quote]

Thank you!![/quote]

You're welcome.  There are a lot of schools that fit this bill...wish you the best, despite the negativity on this site it is a fun journey to take with your child.  Do the research and find the best fit, don't be afraid to reach out to the clubs and see what they have to say.  My kid is having the time of their life.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics