It will be a different experience, that’s for sure. You can still watch it on TV, root for a certain team, maybe even go to some games if there is a big time school near yours. However, it is different to be rooting for your own team, going to events on game day. I enjoyed that a lot. I like going to games at my daughter’s school. She doesn’t care about the games that much, but likes the activities around the games - parades, tailgates, rallies at the student union.
Don’t pick a school just for the sports, but if you want the D1 experience, I’m sure you can find a school that will meet your expectations.
Only you can decide this. People responding to your question that like sports are going to say you are missing a large part of the college experience. People that could care less about sports will say you aren’t missing a thing. Sometimes, you just have to decide for yourself. This question will just start a “the importance of sports in college” debate that is totally irrelevant to your own personal preferences.
But if you are an avid sports fan, yes, it will take something away from your experience by not attending a school with a great anything team. You can always adopt a nearby school that has great sports and get into them.
There is no right or wrong answer here- it’s a personal preference. My D attends a D1 school and loves the way sports brings the students and community together. As she says, they cheer and cry as one big family - she calls the experience “intense.”
I agree that if you are an avid sports fan then something will possibly be missing from your experience, but you can always adopt a nearby team. I also think it’s very possible ( and likely) that if your school does not have sports, you will still love the school and have a great 4 years. Keep in mind that your top choice became your top choice for a reason. Go back and revisit those reasons and see if they still exist.
There is no right or wrong. It’s a personal decision. Dont choose based on D1 sports alone, but you may have to rethink how important it is to you.
Depends on the school. My LAC had sports but it was not a huge part of the culture and I went to a grand total of one football game in all of my four years. I was interested in other stuff. If I had gone to the flagship I would probably have gone to the games every Saturday because it was a big, fun, unifying experience. But I didn’t miss sports at my school at all, and I was a HS athlete.
My S is a huge sports fan and attended a small LAC. He continued to follow his favorite college basketball team and was invited to be a featured blogger for them. He felt he had the best of both worlds - the academic environment he wanted and he didn’t have to give up his favorite sports teams.
If the college experience you seek is drinking crappy beer while being deafened during sports games, then sure you’re missing out. But that’s not all there is to the experience.
I apologize in advance if I misinterpreted this post ^.
My daughter attends a D1 school and would have transferred immediately if the college experience revolved around “drinking crappy beer while being deafened during sports games.” That’s not her… at all. She is a self described science nerd who doesn’t party and who never touched alcohol… and she loves the spirit and sense of community that attending a D1 school brings.
Again, it’s a personal choice with no right or wrong answer. For many kids it is a very positive social experience.
I would also strongly disagree with @philbegas. College sports is not about “drinking beer while being deafened during sports games.” College sports can provide a great sense of school spirit and camaraderie among students as well as providing activities particularly when colleges that are not in urban areas and have limited social outlets. If big time college sports isn’t your think that is perfectly fine, but IMO a blanket statement like that is misguided.
My S is not a huge sports guy and went to Fordham undergrad. All of the teams were terrible while he was there and I’d imagine you could count on one hand the number of sporting events he attended in 4 years. He did his grad work at Notre Dame. At ND sports turned out to be a big help in getting people in his program to bond quickly as they got tickets together for football/basketball games. While he would not trade in his time at Fordham for anything, he did enjoy being in a school with big time sports for a change of pace. In no way is my S a loud beer guzzling person nor would he want to be in the environment you describe. . My D’s has friends who went to ND undergrad as they would all say the same thing I believe. I’ve been out for a number of football games and my H still goes out every year and it is a lot of fun and can be very exciting. And I don’t think it is unique to ND – my S also went to away games at Big State U’s and had nice experiences doing that as well (even as a visitor wearing ND gear). In fact he still exchanges holiday cards with someone (who went to AL) he met at a ND/AL game . There will almost always be a few jerks at a game like there could be anywhere else, but I don’t see it as being overriding.
Quite frankly more beer was guzzled in local bars than at any game.
BUT BACK TO THE OP…If big times sports is something you care about then you should consider if a college has it available as one part of your decision. But I’d recommend picking a school that is the best overall academic, social and financial fit. No one one factor should be the sole driver of your college decision. For example, if you like sports and the best overall fit college doesn’t have a team you can find like minded students and watch pro games together or something like that.
OP, you are not missing out. It will just be different and you smartly have other educational priorities. An idea – maybe you can help the basketball team become better in some way? Keep stats, track training, info on competition, etc.
My D loves her D1 school… But… her priority is… and always was… her educational experience and opportunities. We have to be careful not to paint with a broad brush.
The football team might not be headed for a Bowl game, but they might need a sports enthusiast to do live commentary. It will be different than going to a school with a huge sports culture but it doesn’t have to be worse. It can create a lot of opportunities.
IME, the biggest benefit of attending a school with a big sports culture is that it creates an easy way to connect with your college friends long after you graduate. Season tix, tailgating, etc.
If you feel you’re missing out, then, yeah, you’re missing out. It’s okay to want what you want when you’re making college decisions. My daughter wanted a campus feel to her college. That was important to her. Does that mean that NYU or BU wouldn’t offer what she needed in terms of education? No—they’re great schools. But they didn’t offer what she wanted. And, since she’s spending four years on campus, it made sense to figure that into her decision process.
(BTW, sports weren’t important to her. She’s missing nothing by going to a school where sports aren’t a big deal. But that’s her. You do you. It’s okay to consider things other than academics.)
@happy1 My post was mostly to imply that IF that’s the part of it that OP is interested in, then they’re not missing out on anything actually valuable. I see a lot of value in playing sports, FWIW, but I don’t see much value in watching them. That’s just me, I have played just about every sport during my time in school (Including varsity tennis & volleyball). I still play racquetball 1-2 times a week, but that sort of camaraderie that you speak fondly of also can foster pointless hate, fights, and unnecessary spending. Just my opinion, and at the end of the day it’s a forum so it’s my opinion against yours lol.
@philbegas It is not “my opinion against yours” rather it is two people sharing different opinions. It is fine for two people to disagree about what they consider fun/valuable etc…
The OP has stated in the first post that he/she is “an avid sports fan who likes watching college football, basketball and hockey…” In the end, it is up to the OP to determine what schools are the right fit for him/her.
OP, I am an avid sports fan as well. I went to a State School with a D1-AA Football team and D1 for all other sports. The football team stunk and in 2003 they did away with the program. They just brought it back 2 years ago. My 4 years in College our Basketball team was actually good, made it to the NCAA’s all four years I was there and at one time was ranked 9th in the Nation. However the program has fallen off since those days and we make the dance every couple of years.
I think you have to look at all aspects of the school but for me at least having a crappy football team was important. I was an out of state student and lived 10 hours away from home so I was there for the weekends and I wanted to have options on things to do. I wouldn’t have ever considered a school without a Football program. Since my school isn’t a big name school, our games weren’t televised and even today they really aren’t but thanks to the internet I have been able to watch a lot of my schools games on the Web.
I did really enjoy going to the games with friends and as an alumni I do enjoy watching my school’s teams, so yes there is a part of an experience that you could possibly miss out on.
My D is a big sports fan and she did factor it into her decision on where to go. One school we visited we attended a football game and she was very disappointed in the lack of crowd and how small the student section was. However, that was secondary to the program of studies. Her primary decision points were Academics, Size of School, Locations, Sports, Greek Life in about that order. My younger D is not a big sports fan so I don’t think she will really care about if the school has teams or not.
Since you state you are an avid sports fan then not having some of those activities could feel like you are missing out on an experience, not only during your years but also as an alumni. However, that really is a personal choice you have to make.
I am also an avid sports fan myself. I go to a state school with a basketball team that’s made March Madness both of my years so far - I was lucky enough to see them win the conference tournament in person last semester - as well as a baseball team that is a regular College World Series participant in addition to other solid sports teams all across the board. However, unlike @dcolosi, my school is D1-AAA, meaning we have no football team. Some people would prefer to have one, but there’s a very specific reason that we don’t. Personally, I’m more of a soccer and basketball guy, so no football doesn’t really affect me. I go to a lot of the sporting events and am friendly with many of the athletes, especially the basketball and soccer players. The basketball games in particular are a lot of fun to attend, especially with friends. The school I chose had the best academics, size, social life, location, sports (basically was easily the all-around best school) of everywhere I got into. I’m an OOS student 9 hours away from home, and I love and cherish my school deeply and I’m grateful to say that it’s the university I attend.