I know a HS basketball player who was contacted by Amherst & Wesleyan. He is smart, charming, team captain since junior year, and one LOUSY student. I don't know whether they were just casting a wide net, and admissions would do the rest of the filtering, or what. I'm guessing if he actually had followed up on their inquiries, he would not have been admitted...

Many top SLACs recruit for at least some teams; for example, in recent years Haverford, a very selective school with a cerebral image, has recruited DC-area students for baseball, tennis, cross-country and soccer, and perhaps other teams as well. These students were very well-qualified academically, as were their less athletic classmates who were accepted, in part, because of their talents in theatre, debate, robotics or any number of other activities. While Williams might be at the extreme (I know it plays up the school's athletic record with alums through the magazine and in development communications), even Williams accepts many students who will not be varsity athletes, but who bring to the mix some other perspective or strength.

OP, if your son enjoys playing a sport and being part of a team, please encourage that. It's a great way for him to be part of his school community and to do something he loves. Moreover, when it comes time for him to apply to college, an admissions staff will understand and appreciate the commitment required to play a varsity sport even if he's not a star. Of course, you'll also want to encourage him to pursue one or two other activities where he can really shine, but, as a former admissions staffer and a parent who has gone through the process 3 times with my own children, I urge you not to succumb to either the anxiety or the cynicism that can surround it. At the end of the road, you want to feel that you have helped your child develop a sense of who he is becoming as a young adult and what kind of college experience will help him move forward in that direction.

Look at schools like Wesleyan, Haverford, Swarthmore, Hopkins, Carleton, etc. Any liberal arts school, including Williams and Amherst, will have plenty of non athletes.

If he doesn't plan to play his sport in college then doing tournaments, etc won't be helpful. Those are for recruiting purposes. It's good to have a passion, and maybe leadership opportunities (e.g., team captain), but that's not the same as vying for one of the very small number of team slots.

I beleive W&M is Division 1 so they give athletic scholarships. On their website they say they have about 500 athletes. And 6071 students. So that's less than 10%.

I was discouraged to read the Williams thread because my DS, who is now a freshman, hates competitive sports. He plays one varsity sport and is already one of the best players on his (small) school team, but he hates competition and refuses to work on his game or play tournaments outside school. He's only good because he started this sport early. Now he would rather stay at home and read a book. Somebody on the Williams thread said there are plenty of SLACs that focus less on athletes so that kids such as DS are not at such a competitive disadvantage. What schools are those? What is W&M like (we are from VA)? I hate to think we have to encourage DS to spend more time on his sport than really interests him just to increase his college chances, especially since he probably won't want to play competitively in college. Appreciate any good news about selective SLACs that might be up his alley. TIA.