Reply to Social life for non athletic boy at mid sized private vs SLAC

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Social life for non athletic boy at mid sized private vs SLAC"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]is it easier for a somewhat nerdy, somewhat artsy boy not planning to play club sports to find friends at a mid sized private (brown, tufts, case western) where there are more people to choose from but it might be harder to find your people, or at a SLAC (WASP, Wesleyan, Haverford, Bates) where there is more more of a community and it is easier to meet people but not as many male friend options, especially if the varsity athletes tend to do their own thing. Not looking at schools where Greek is a big presence. [/quote]

I think SLACs these days can be tough for boys who are not recruited athletes and have no interest in sports. The nature of these schools is that they are very small. Athletes generally keep to themselves. They have different schedules and priorities than other students. Which is normal. At larger D1 colleges that's not an issue at all. Athletes don't change the social vibe at Stanford or MIT or Brown or Case Western and so on.

But you can really feel that separation at small schools. Williams, Amherst, and Bowdoin are roughly 35-40 percent athletes. So too are Bates, Haverford, Colby and many others. That's a lot of guys who are generally taken out of the social pool when it comes to making friends.

I have two boys so we looked into this. Both smart, athletic, and very social. One was even recruited by a bunch of D3 schools for his sport. But he was interested in engineering, so SLACs didn't work for him. And neither wanted to be a full time athlete in college regardless. They both noped out of considering SLACs. Too small. Too limited in social opportunities. Too bifurcated for men. A SLAC is such a roll of the dice for the non-athlete guys. Maybe you get lucky and find a good friend group freshman year. But if you don't, you are out of options when you attend a school in the middle of nowhere that is smaller than most high schools. It's a substantial risk for guys not on the team.      [/quote]
Spoken by an ignorant parent without kids at a SLAC. Conjecture does not equal reality.[/quote]

Clearly, honesty is not your best quality.[/quote]
Clearly intelligence and integrity aren’t your best qualities. [/quote]

Why the insults? The prior poster points out a risk even if some do find their way. These schools are really expensive (transferring almost always has its costs, indirect and direct) so there is more pressure than ever to make a sound choice.

My close high school teammate was a D3 All American at Haverford. He worked hard to have athlete and non athlete friends. At the time they had arguably the best coach in America, not just D3. A terrific intellect though so maybe just the right school for him. All I know is that when two of his non sports friends and classmates died in the World Trade Center he immediately reacted. There were no flights to New Jersey and he drove through the night from Chicago to be with fiancé’s and families. Don’t overlook the value of sincere effort anywhere.

I was a serious D1 athlete on scholarship at a very competitive school. To non athletes who may be turned off by athletes, remember that athletes can be self absorbed and monotonous grinds. It is a bit the nature of sport. No excuses for being self absorbed, but my non athlete friends put a little bit of effort in to crack the athletic shell and I am incredibly grateful they did. One of my best friends was a shy summa cum laude student who is now President of a LAC. She was gay, which played zero part in our friendship. We sat on the steps of one of the most famous athletic venues in the country every week with her encouraging me to stay at the school, make friends and study smarter but not necessarily harder. A sister I never had. I learned then the only relevant stereotype about gay people is that they are for the most part very resilient. I just was lucky enough to have someone willing to pay it forward. To an awkward straight guy athlete who needed a friend. Again effort pays off. [/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