This is too much. Posters have called these kids weirdos, abnormal, and dorks. What is wrong with you. I can’t understand how a parent could refer to any kind of kid as a dork. What are you, twelve years old? Talk about intolerant.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny thread. People keep mentioning schools with “only” 20% athletes (usually even these schools are at least 25%).

The answer is simple, and these are two great schools:

Reed College
St. John’s College

I think this is missing the mark. This is a boy who wants to hang out with other normal boys. The problem is at many LACs, almost all the normal boys are on sports teams which leaves him to fend for himself among the overwhelmingly abnormal male NARPs. The answer is NOT to attend Reed College which consists entirely of abnormal NARPs.

If it is a SLAC, these are the schools. Oh, yes, Bennington also. (Hampshire has some varsity sports but the percentage of athletes is tiny there).

There are many, many options of large schools with way under 10% varsity athletes; OP should look there.

It is very easy to avoid schools with 20-40% student athletes. That’s not missing the mark, but hitting it.

You are missing the point. This kid wants to hang out with the type of kids who are on sports teams but they are always busy with practice and tend to keep to themselves. Because they are the only guys there who aren’t total weirdos. The idea is not to go to a school that is ONLY weirdos. But that is what you keep pushing.

My non-athletic DC is very happy at Bowdoin. Easily found his group, learned that he enjoys hiking, and getting out of his comfort zone a little bit

Here's a list of top LACs with the percentage NCAA athletes -- about halfway down the page.

Williams up to 40%, wow. Colgate and Colorado College both very low by contrast: 17%.

https://xfactoradmissions.com/basic-guide-to-college-admissions/total-ncaa-athletes-at-the-top-colleges#

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny thread. People keep mentioning schools with “only” 20% athletes (usually even these schools are at least 25%).

The answer is simple, and these are two great schools:

Reed College
St. John’s College

I think this is missing the mark. This is a boy who wants to hang out with other normal boys. The problem is at many LACs, almost all the normal boys are on sports teams which leaves him to fend for himself among the overwhelmingly abnormal male NARPs. The answer is NOT to attend Reed College which consists entirely of abnormal NARPs.

If it is a SLAC, these are the schools. Oh, yes, Bennington also. (Hampshire has some varsity sports but the percentage of athletes is tiny there).

There are many, many options of large schools with way under 10% varsity athletes; OP should look there.

It is very easy to avoid schools with 20-40% student athletes. That’s not missing the mark, but hitting it.

Colgate. Lots of athletes, but the whole school is pretty athletic, outgoing, and social. Haters drag it because it has too many normies who just want to have fun, work hard, and be financially successful… so it fits the bill. Outstanding Econ department, and really strong life sciences. We hire a ton from there, the kids are balanced and work their tails off.

Anonymous wrote:Funny thread. People keep mentioning schools with “only” 20% athletes (usually even these schools are at least 25%).

The answer is simple, and these are two great schools:

Reed College
St. John’s College

I think this is missing the mark. This is a boy who wants to hang out with other normal boys. The problem is at many LACs, almost all the normal boys are on sports teams which leaves him to fend for himself among the overwhelmingly abnormal male NARPs. The answer is NOT to attend Reed College which consists entirely of abnormal NARPs.

Funny thread. People keep mentioning schools with “only” 20% athletes (usually even these schools are at least 25%).

The answer is simple, and these are two great schools:

Reed College
St. John’s College

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really think this issue is overblown. My DH, myself and my DS have all attended/currently attend 3 different SLACs and I’ve only heard of this issue on DCUM.

Our son knew he wanted a SlAC and we visited many to narrow down his list. They do have different cultures and strengths and weaknesses IMHO the NARP thing is not what I would use to figure out the initial list.

It is a significant issue at many LACs. Amherst College & Middlebury College are examples of LACs with highly publicized NARP issues. And there are many more LACs with NARP issues.

It’s a legit issue because so many of the non-athlete males are gay (they are drawn to the safe supportive LAC environment) while the athlete males at say a Nescac school are really exceptional athletes. To play soccer at Amherst for example means you’re an amazing soccer player and could probably play D1 somewhere. Exceptional athletes tend to have a more conventional masculine outlook. I guess we call that “toxic” now.

I cannot roll my eyes enough at this outright nonsense. Please talk to literally a single teen who exists now, not the pretend teens from 1980s John Hughes movies who live in your mind.

Or I could just talk to my son, who attends a LAC. The athletes and the gender fluid boys (of which there are many) don’t really interact. He brought this up, not me.

Did you ever consider this might be an issue specific to your son?

He is simply telling me what he observes. Don’t shoot the messenger. I know you want to believe recruited lacrosse players socialize and form deep bonds with he/they dudes studying Islamic poetry - but in reality they don’t. Sorry. They don’t beat them up but they don’t hang out together. Separate lives.

I am sorry, but this is just so weird that I don’t think it’s worth having a discussion. You seem to live in the 1980s entirely.

The dining hall is literally divided in half between athletes/Greeks and NARPs but believe what you want.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really think this issue is overblown. My DH, myself and my DS have all attended/currently attend 3 different SLACs and I’ve only heard of this issue on DCUM.

Our son knew he wanted a SlAC and we visited many to narrow down his list. They do have different cultures and strengths and weaknesses IMHO the NARP thing is not what I would use to figure out the initial list.

It is a significant issue at many LACs. Amherst College & Middlebury College are examples of LACs with highly publicized NARP issues. And there are many more LACs with NARP issues.

It’s a legit issue because so many of the non-athlete males are gay (they are drawn to the safe supportive LAC environment) while the athlete males at say a Nescac school are really exceptional athletes. To play soccer at Amherst for example means you’re an amazing soccer player and could probably play D1 somewhere. Exceptional athletes tend to have a more conventional masculine outlook. I guess we call that “toxic” now.

I cannot roll my eyes enough at this outright nonsense. Please talk to literally a single teen who exists now, not the pretend teens from 1980s John Hughes movies who live in your mind.

Or I could just talk to my son, who attends a LAC. The athletes and the gender fluid boys (of which there are many) don’t really interact. He brought this up, not me.

Did you ever consider this might be an issue specific to your son?

He is simply telling me what he observes. Don’t shoot the messenger. I know you want to believe recruited lacrosse players socialize and form deep bonds with he/they dudes studying Islamic poetry - but in reality they don’t. Sorry. They don’t beat them up but they don’t hang out together. Separate lives.

I am sorry, but this is just so weird that I don’t think it’s worth having a discussion. You seem to live in the 1980s entirely.

Anonymous wrote:My child who is not an athlete is having a great first semester at Bates College. Involved with lots of fun activities that have created a community.

My son is also at Bates and loves it. He's not an athlete, not a theater or computer kid either. But he's had a great time there, made a nice group of friends, and works hard at school. There was a similar thread awhile back and Bates came up there several times.

I think every school is what you make of it. I went to a school with 10k undergrads, and there were plenty of cliques around teams, Greek life, etc. I felt super isolated at first. But you either find your people or you don't. The one nice thing about small schools is that there are more opportunities to get to know your classmates - a single dining hall, small classes, etc.

I wouldn’t discount a bigger state school for a kid with this profile. Big pond, lots of different kinds of people to meet and activities to get involved in. Does your kid enjoy being a sports spectator? I loved my grad school experience at a larger state university after doing undergrad at a smaller liberal arts program.

W&M is also a good suggestion. Plenty of regular but smart kids there.

Anonymous wrote:Oberlin. Oxy. Mac. Carleton. Wooster. Swat.

This is literally the list of schools where the conventional straight male non-athlete is least likely to find other guys like himself.

Oberlin. Oxy. Mac. Carleton. Wooster. Swat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really think this issue is overblown. My DH, myself and my DS have all attended/currently attend 3 different SLACs and I’ve only heard of this issue on DCUM.

Our son knew he wanted a SlAC and we visited many to narrow down his list. They do have different cultures and strengths and weaknesses IMHO the NARP thing is not what I would use to figure out the initial list.

It is a significant issue at many LACs. Amherst College & Middlebury College are examples of LACs with highly publicized NARP issues. And there are many more LACs with NARP issues.

It’s a legit issue because so many of the non-athlete males are gay (they are drawn to the safe supportive LAC environment) while the athlete males at say a Nescac school are really exceptional athletes. To play soccer at Amherst for example means you’re an amazing soccer player and could probably play D1 somewhere. Exceptional athletes tend to have a more conventional masculine outlook. I guess we call that “toxic” now.

I cannot roll my eyes enough at this outright nonsense. Please talk to literally a single teen who exists now, not the pretend teens from 1980s John Hughes movies who live in your mind.

Or I could just talk to my son, who attends a LAC. The athletes and the gender fluid boys (of which there are many) don’t really interact. He brought this up, not me.

Did you ever consider this might be an issue specific to your son?

He is simply telling me what he observes. Don’t shoot the messenger. I know you want to believe recruited lacrosse players socialize and form deep bonds with he/they dudes studying Islamic poetry - but in reality they don’t. Sorry. They don’t beat them up but they don’t hang out together. Separate lives.