Anonymous
12/12/2025 19:20
Subject: College suggestions for intellectually-minded, non-sporty boy?
I have a similar kid very happy at Case Western. It wasn’t first on his list, but he didn’t get into Brown or U of Chicago, so Case was next on his list. And he’s really happy with his classes, with his friends and peers, and with the experience. And doing well.
Anonymous
12/12/2025 18:13
Subject: College suggestions for intellectually-minded, non-sporty boy?
I never recommend Northeastern but maybe think of adding it to the list
Anonymous
12/12/2025 17:55
Subject: College suggestions for intellectually-minded, non-sporty boy?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Thanks you all for these good suggestions, and great to hear about schools where your kids are having good experiences! Since the school has been mentioned here, I should note he’s a legacy at Brown, but I’m mindful of not wanting to push it too hard and am not sure how much legacy counts if you’re not a big donor anyway.
Go see Brown, and tour the other ivies as well. Ed if he loves one. His best chance for intellectual non-sporty male peers is at the top schools.
There's no ED at Ivies - just REA. OP, I think these are all great suggestions, but I would also put some lower tier schools on that list. Your son sounds amazing, but schools are so competitive, even with those stats.
Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, and Penn all have ED. The rest have SCEA.
Thanks for the correction. I stand corrected.
Anonymous
12/12/2025 16:49
Subject: College suggestions for intellectually-minded, non-sporty boy?
Adding Carnegie Mellon to the reach list.
Anonymous
12/12/2025 16:23
Subject: College suggestions for intellectually-minded, non-sporty boy?
Anonymous wrote:Swarthmore
Lehigh
Tufts
Maybe Johns Hopkins
U Chicago
Isn't Lehigh a big greek, party school (yes, academically challenging, but also hard partying and heavy greek)
Anonymous
12/12/2025 16:21
Subject: College suggestions for intellectually-minded, non-sporty boy?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Thanks you all for these good suggestions, and great to hear about schools where your kids are having good experiences! Since the school has been mentioned here, I should note he’s a legacy at Brown, but I’m mindful of not wanting to push it too hard and am not sure how much legacy counts if you’re not a big donor anyway.
Go see Brown, and tour the other ivies as well. Ed if he loves one. His best chance for intellectual non-sporty male peers is at the top schools.
There's no ED at Ivies - just REA. OP, I think these are all great suggestions, but I would also put some lower tier schools on that list. Your son sounds amazing, but schools are so competitive, even with those stats.
Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, and Penn all have ED. The rest have SCEA.
Anonymous
12/12/2025 16:15
Subject: College suggestions for intellectually-minded, non-sporty boy?
Wesleyan seems like a perfect fit. I’d also add Brown and William & Mary.
Anonymous
12/12/2025 15:08
Subject: College suggestions for intellectually-minded, non-sporty boy?
And yes—would love any suggestions for schools that are less competitive admissions-wise as I realize many of these will be tough.
Anonymous
12/12/2025 15:02
Subject: College suggestions for intellectually-minded, non-sporty boy?
Thanks all—I feel like we have a good starting list! To be clear, my son doesn’t hate althletes and enjoys playing sports from time to time, but just wouldn’t thrive in a school culture based around sports. So I think a place like Wesleyan is certainly worth exploring, especially since it seems like a good fit in other ways from what I can see. And yes, unfortunately we don’t have the advantage of being in-state for W&M but will check it out nonetheless! I’m friends with a number of happy alums.
Anonymous
12/12/2025 15:00
Subject: College suggestions for intellectually-minded, non-sporty boy?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Thanks you all for these good suggestions, and great to hear about schools where your kids are having good experiences! Since the school has been mentioned here, I should note he’s a legacy at Brown, but I’m mindful of not wanting to push it too hard and am not sure how much legacy counts if you’re not a big donor anyway.
Go see Brown, and tour the other ivies as well. Ed if he loves one. His best chance for intellectual non-sporty male peers is at the top schools.
There's no ED at Ivies - just REA. OP, I think these are all great suggestions, but I would also put some lower tier schools on that list. Your son sounds amazing, but schools are so competitive, even with those stats.
Anonymous
12/12/2025 14:18
Subject: College suggestions for intellectually-minded, non-sporty boy?
WashU, Uchicago and Hopkins (they do have strong humanities as well).
Anonymous
12/12/2025 13:51
Subject: College suggestions for intellectually-minded, non-sporty boy?
Columbia
Anonymous
12/12/2025 13:36
Subject: College suggestions for intellectually-minded, non-sporty boy?
Anonymous wrote:Thanks you all for these good suggestions, and great to hear about schools where your kids are having good experiences! Since the school has been mentioned here, I should note he’s a legacy at Brown, but I’m mindful of not wanting to push it too hard and am not sure how much legacy counts if you’re not a big donor anyway.
Go see Brown, and tour the other ivies as well. Ed if he loves one. His best chance for intellectual non-sporty male peers is at the top schools.
Anonymous
12/12/2025 13:34
Subject: College suggestions for intellectually-minded, non-sporty boy?
Anonymous wrote:First of all, best wishes to all senior parents who are waiting on ED news right now. My son is a junior and we’re starting to get serious about pulling a list together. He’s a straight-A student with 1500 PSAT and rigorous schedule at a top public. He’s a champion debater and strong writer who dabbles in some other creative ECs. Open to various school settings but not excited about anything athlete or Greek-dominated, and would prefer to stay in the Northeast-Mid-Atlantic region, although we also have some family in the Midwest and I think he’d consider that, too. We’re full pay if it matters. He’s thinking about a career in law but not dead-set on it.
Tons of non-sporty brilliant boys(and girls) at Penn, Brown, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, JHU. Add UChicago and WashU if you are flexible with location. We have /had a kid at two of these and they have friends at every single one from their high school. These schools all gender balance, thus no shortage of male friends which happens at schools a notch down (60/40 female could be good for dating females, not good for finding male friends).
Anonymous
12/12/2025 13:07
Subject: College suggestions for intellectually-minded, non-sporty boy?
Anonymous wrote:OP, what state are you in?
NP, but this question is relevant. William and Mary sounds ideal.