<p>Are athletes at Amherst looked down upon by the rest of the student population? What kind of relationship exists between the two?</p>
<p>I admit there is a bit of tension between athletes and non-athletes, but it is more due to the divide between the ‘social group’ - which tend to consist of athletes, fraternity members, and others who like to party - and the ‘shadow group’ - which are mostly the non-drinker, non-partying type. I’ve heard some athletes said they feel like they are expected to be unintelligent because their scores can be lower than others. But at the same time, non-athletes (or those who don’t belong to the social group) tend to feel like the athletes are cliquish and don’t have any interest. There really is no win. There is a definite painting of ‘other’ from both groups. But the greater tension exists because athletic teams tend to control the party scene.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response!</p>
<p>That’s good to know - thanks. One thing that surprised me - I thought Amherst had no fraternities, do they have fraternities without houses or something?</p>
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<p>Amherst doesn’t have any official fraternities. There are ostensibly “underground” fraternities located off campus, but considering the fact that Amherst only allows [a</a> maximum of 50 people to live off campus](<a href=“https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/deanstudents/handbook/campuslife/housing#Off-Campus%20Housing]a”>https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/deanstudents/handbook/campuslife/housing#Off-Campus%20Housing) each year, they’re definitely not a major presence in the campus culture.</p>
<p>How much lower are their scores? Significantly?</p>
<p>Mjsoccerparent, my daughter, an Amherst grad and athlete used to say that athletes at amherst were just nerds wanting to get their game on. As far as test scores go, I don’t have any stats but their are no dummys at Amherst.</p>