<p>I recently disagreed with another poster about the value of spectator sports and whether this should be a factor in the college search process. I'd like to get some other thoughts on this.</p>
<p>I believe that, when choosing among colleges in the same academic neighborhood, considering the athletic life of a college is both perfectly legitimate and smart. For example, football is undoubtedly a major source of entertainment for the USC or Texas or Michigan student and alumnus. Same with basketball for UCLA or Duke or Georgetown or Stanford. Or baseball at Rice or Vanderbilt. And on and on with many other less prominent sports and all of these have the capacity to significantly influence the campus scene. </p>
<p>In my view, having great spectator sports at one's college has several major benefits:</p>
<p>1) IT'S FUN!!</p>
<p>2) It provides an environment where the entire school community (students, alumni, faculty, administrators, employees, local residents) can come together and cheer on their team.</p>
<p>3) It can be an ongoing, lifelong connection to an institution. </p>
<p>Personally, for one's college search, I strongly recommend the consideration of a school's athletic life as these activities often affect the entire vibe of a university and differentiate it from other institutions.</p>
<p>I thought this would be common sense. Some students might want a big sports scene, while others could care less about a school's rah-rahness.</p>
<p>I think it really depends on the person. For me personally, I'm the type of person who loves the strong school spirit that comes with D1 sports. Others may not like that environment as much, and may prefer a more quiet or quirky atmosphere.</p>
<p>i'm a HUGE sports fan, but i know plenty of people who couldnt care less about sports. i know people at huge sports schools who never once went to a game in 4 years because they didnt care.
for some, they'd much rather have the student body be excited about a theater production or something than a football game</p>
<p>School spirit was definitely a factor in my selection. Not a huge one, but it was there. It didnt really matter if the school was successful either. My school's football team was 4-8 last year, men's basketball 15-16 and didnt even qualify for the NIT tournament. Our smaller sports are decent. But regardless of how well the team is...students show up for football, mens and womens basketball, and wrestling in outstanding (and rowdy!) numbers. </p>
<p>I did eliminate schools from my list that didn't have some sort of football, baseball, or wrestling, either at the club or NCAA level. And I'm a girl. Baseball is my favorite sport and we don't have an NCAA team (dropped a few years ago...i'm not happy) but we have a club team that I watch everytime they're home. I've grown up in the Midwest and my brother wrestled, my dad wrestled, my cousins and uncles were wrestlers, and from the time I was four I've spent every weekend in the winter at some wrestling tournament or another, watching my brother or cousins. And our college team took 2nd in the country last year :)</p>
<p>Some of my friends from high school eliminated schools that DID have a big sports scene, because they didnt want to be surrounded by that environment. To each his/her own.</p>
<p>school spirit and a large sports scene is one of the biggest factors for me, if not the biggest</p>
<p>Sports is basically the most important factor in where I will be applying. Along with location, and if the school offers my major.</p>
<p>I eliminated all school that weren't D1 right from the start. However for some of my schools I did have to sacrifice a football team for a beach side location (LMU, UCSB). But they both are pretty good at soccer, basketball, and volleyball, so I'm good with it.</p>
<p>But yeah I wouldn't give a D2 or below school a second look.</p>
<p>For those of you who are making the sports scene an important criterion in your college search, how does this affect the academic side of the search? Are you sacrificing the academic side for the sports scene or are you choosing the best sports scene from among schools that are academically in the same neighborhood?</p>
<p>Academics are important, but they're still what you make of them. If you take advantage of the opportunities given to you at most colleges you can have a great academic experiences. You can not however, create a good sports program for yourself.</p>
<p>Even if you aren't a sports fan, it's still fun going to the football and basketball games, especially the ones that require you to have a road trip. I think it's definitely a consideration, why not?</p>