Anonymous wrote:The one that brought it to mind for me is Duke, but I’m sure Michigan and many others could be like this - how does these students that are taking serious course loads at hard schools go to so many football and basketball games, party and such? I have trouble imagining it for my high schooler, and he’s not doing college work.

Are you serious?

it’s basically just another campus event at these top schools, albeit a rich part of the fabric at a school the caliber and prestige of duke. And these kids at Duke look like nice responsible kids and don’t look like they are binge drinking and pre gaming for hours like at most of the Big 10 or SEC schools. They look sober and like they are enjoying themselves respectfully and immensely

I’m a huge sports fan and attend dozens of games a year. I also run a business with lots of lots of employees. I eat, I drink, I attend events and I manage a family too. Just like millions and millions of others.

Why make the simple so complicated? You think that your kid is so myopically focused on their genius that they can possibly have the bandwidth to go to games, drink or smoke a joint?

Keep in mind how little time college students spend in class compared with high school students. My HS junior leaves home at 7:15 am and doesn't get home till after 3 (and we live close to the school), so the earlier homework could begin is 3:30 every day (more like 6:00 in their sport's season). But my older college-student kids spend far few hours a week IN the classroom. They are not at big rah-rah schools but manage their study time well so they're able to also hold part-time jobs, do tutoring or babysitting, attend some games on campus, or in one of my kid's cases, be a D3 athlete there.

If your kid does not manage time well then yes, handling college assignments and studying on top of fun stuff like football games will be difficult. There is far more unstructured time in college, and for many students it's an adjustment to learn how to succeed academically.

Anonymous wrote:The one that brought it to mind for me is Duke, but I’m sure Michigan and many others could be like this - how does these students that are taking serious course loads at hard schools go to so many football and basketball games, party and such? I have trouble imagining it for my high schooler, and he’s not doing college work.

Attending a football or basketball game is not exactly a huge time commitment. But when those teams are ranked and every game has some stakes involved, it fosters community, a collective experience, excitement, fun, and all sorts of intangibles that most students value. There aren't many highly selective schools that offer that experience, but those that do are very appealing to smart kids that want that sense of community. These days, it seems to be Duke, Vanderbilt, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame. Hopefully Stanford and Northwestern will be competitive again. For now, it's a pretty small list of selective schools that offer a fun sports experience for students.

Your HS son doesn't have enough time to catch a weekly basketball or football game?

That is kind of sad. Sounds like a recipe for burnout. Everyone needs to have some downtime.

The top students in the more difficult majors do not go to all the games, they go to some or none.

Because these schools have large populations who grind and don't go to all the games and drink. Those are generally the top
Students.

My child is a partier and has good friends at Michigan and frankly they're not doing particularly well.

Anonymous wrote:Some schools have a work hard, play hard culture. That isn't a great fit for everyone.

"work hard, play hard culture" AKA drug use.

My son at Michigan is not a sporty kid but many of his guy friends are football obsessed. It is definitely one reason why people choose the school.

It's really not a big deal to devote a big chunk of Saturday to watching/attending a game with friends. It's like ordinary hanging out.

College is easier to juggle than high school because the student can plan their class schedule. Also with fewer graded items (e.g., don't have to turn in class notes for a grade which was a major irritant with AP history classes), it's easier to balance the coursework load.

I'm not sure if my kid has attended any other varsity games. Possibly hockey.

Honestly? My son is a very quick learner and school comes easily to him and always has. He leverages AI to initiate projects and synthesize large volumes.

He has many deficiencies! but excelling in school is not one of them

Some schools have a work hard, play hard culture. That isn't a great fit for everyone.

Academically, top sports schools aren't exactly Caltech, Mudd, Princeton or Reed.

Because it's called work life balance. Your kid will figure it out. Sports "obsessed" is a weird description. Every kid attending a Power Conference school is going and loves sports will be going to football games etc.

The one that brought it to mind for me is Duke, but I’m sure Michigan and many others could be like this - how does these students that are taking serious course loads at hard schools go to so many football and basketball games, party and such? I have trouble imagining it for my high schooler, and he’s not doing college work.