It seems like club sports are very popular at Wash U. Would a student have trouble fitting in and finding their niche if they are not going to do club sports or Greek life? My child is a little awkward and has some trouble making friends although does have a close group of friends at home.
Not at all. My D has not joined a club sport or Greek life and she’s super happy at WashU. You can do whatever you’d like. She has easily made friends and still is.
Thx for your reply. That’s good to hear. Anyone know what it’s like for a boy who doesn’t go Greek, doesn’t drink and doesn’t play sports as far as ability to fit in socially at Wash U goes? Would a socially awkward, quirky kid find his own there? I’m worried that Wash U may be too socially mainstream for him even though we love the school.
For sure, there’s a huge array of social groups and there will definitely be people your son will click with. He’d probably benefit from joining some organizations which will help him find friends with similar interests.
There are my clubs and activities. Have him keep an open mind. My son, although sports orientated, is otherwise fairly introverted. We’ve told him that he needs to join at least two clubs (separate from intramural sports). There are many there and there is a club fair early on in the semester. I’ve told my S that college is a time to try different activities and meet new people. I think there are choices for everyone. It might be a good idea to discuss this with your S ahead of time so he goes there with the expectation that he will try and find a few activities to join. Tell him to plan to join two. If he does not feel like is clicking with the people or the activity, try another. My D is a joiner and she sampled a few different clubs before settling on a few - the ones she got involved with changed somewhat from year to year but she was happy she got involved with some things that would have been out of her comfort zone in high school.
The “normal” Wash U boy actually isn’t in a fraternity (statistically) and isn’t very into sports (we’re D3, no one here is an athlete first). There’s a huge range of people with plenty of awkward people. I also advocate trying out clubs/activities, everyone is eager to make friends and find community freshman year.
That’s great to know. Thanks!!