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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Williams is the one that stands out to me. No way I'd go there over Amherst or Swarthmore growing up in an area like DC.
 [/quote]

Friend of mine had a son who transferred from Williams because of this as well as the cliquishness of the other students.[/quote]

such a weird vibe at Williams - only school of 10 my DC eliminated immediately after the visit - she said kids were odd[/quote]

My outgoing, well-adjusted kid is ridiculously happy at Williams, just FYI. And I've met a bunch of their friends, none of whom are "odd."[/quote]

There are many athletes at Williams. They tend to be pretty normal socially. I'm sure there is a quirky, brilliant subset of kids less adept at socializing given the impressive academics though. Our student tour guide happened to be quirky, brilliant, but also social.[/quote]

Williams College reportedly has a distinct social divide between athletes and non-athletes. [/quote]

I've had kids at 2 different NESCAC schools, and I think they all have this issue. The schools are aware of it, and are trying to address it, starting with orientation and dorm assignments. [/quote]

How about they get to the root of it and stop prioritizing athletes in admissions? Right.[/quote]

Is the recruitment of athletes even at SLACs -- a relatively new thing in the life of these schools

[b][What? It's not a new thing for SLACs to recruit athletes. That's been around forever.][/b]

-- a strategy to game the rankings?

[b][SLACs do not need to "game the rankings". They are what Jeff Seligo calls "sellers". They are [i]selective[/i]. That's what the S in SLAC stands for.][/b]

It def seems like the athlete/non-athlete divide has gotten much bigger at many SLACs, which seems really antithetical to their purported missions. It's too bad.

[b][Athleticism is not antithetical to the mission of any college. It's too bad you're still bitter because you were always picked last for grade school kickball.][/b]

[/quote]

lol, I absolutely was picked last for grade school kickball, though I don't feel especially bitter about it. It's certainly possible that bc I wasn't targeted for athletic recruitment I missed an entire process folding around me. But it sure does feel like there are fewer walk-ons than there used to be, and that the process for/extent of athletic recruitment at small liberal arts colleges has shifted significantly in recent decades (My kid was a d3 athletic recruit, and I was surprised by the process). To be clear, I didn't mean athleticism was antithetical to the mission of colleges -- heck, "mind and body" goes back to Aristotle. Only that a cohesive community seems to be especially important for SLACs, and in fact that ideal is woven in to the missions of many.

At any rate, this little detour isn't terribly relevant to the OP's question, beyond the fact that a small college in a not-so-great location might feel even more isolating by this sort of divide, which is why I was wondering. Be well, my friend. [/quote]

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