How much is social life built around athletics?

I am considering applying to Amherst, but I do not consider myself an athletic person and would probably not want to participate in a sports team.

I’d like to know how much social life is built around sports - are there designated sports practice times, is not joining a sport repressive to your social life, do most friendships come out of sports teams, etc.

Also, I read somewhere that 80% of Amherst students play some sort of sports (intramural included). What is the atmosphere on these less competitive teams? Do most people come into these teams having played sports in high school?

Thanks.

60% of our campus are not on a varsity athletic team, and around 20-30% are not on a club sport nor a varsity sport. Our school is small, sure, but it is my belief that there is a place for everyone here.

As for club sports, they are usually very relaxed and you can be as involved or not as involved as you’d like. Lots of people on club teams have played sports in high school, lots haven’t. There is a wide variance.

In the end, you construct your social life how you want it to be. I’ve had a great social life both being on and off a varsity team.

How is the social life structured then? A friend told me that there is actually a campus organization or committee devoted to improving the social life on campus. That is concerning for a potential applicant who looks forward to a lively social scene.

^Isn’t it a good thing that the college tries to listen and respond to student concerns? There are many committees on college campuses, and that does not mean colleges are failing to do well at whatever the committee is focused on; to the contrary, it may be a reason they continue to do those things well!
When I was a student at Williams, I served with faculty on committees devoted to Winter Study and to Curriculum Review— two things Williams does very well, both then and now.

Structured? I don’t think it really is structured.

The college puts on some dances, sports teams/musical groups/student clubs throw parties (sometimes formal), kids hang out in each other’s dorm rooms/suites/lounges, theme houses and some larger suites host bigger parties. As far as I’ve been told these parties are all open to all, except maybe the formals which I understand to be a +1 kind of situation.

There are movies, speakers, clubs, intramural sports, concerts, lunch presentations and outdoor festivals which are all social but don’t typically involve alcohol.

I asked because several friends with children at Amherst have said the social scene is, well, frustrated. That after the demise of “the socials,” students struggle to find weekend parties/hangouts. One parent, with a child living in the Greenway, said that it is a real concern among students (and in particular her own child). Students have written about it in the campus newspaper. It sounds like a legitimate concern.

@OHMomof2 I didn’t mean structured the way I think you thought I meant. I was really just asking how parties and social events are organized. Are they random hangout things? Sponsored by clubs? Sports?

@TheGreyKing Of course it’s a good thing to have admin focused on student concerns, but when this is the “go to” comment re the social life at Amherst, it does give a prospective (social) student pause.

If “social life” to you means strictly parties in darkly-lit dorms with lots of alcohol, then yes, the social life is built around athletics. There are definitely club-thrown parties, but you may not find one to attend every single weekend.

If you are interested in casual hangouts with friends (with or without alcohol) and in other social events like @OHMomof2 describes, then you will have no trouble as a non-athlete. If the organization you mean is AC After Dark, they focus on providing events for students outside of the party scene – ice skating, movies, comedians, etc. I think it’s a good thing to have lots of options, not a concern.