<p>I understand football is hugely watched here but is everyone into sports? More specifically, is this school full of people with the tough guy mentality? I go to a high school where 80% play sports and if you don’t then you’re not tough or masculine enough. I hate this mentality considering I don’t play sports. I do love to workout though, which I hear OSU has an amazing facility.
I don’t mind a sports school, I just don’t want to be put down for not playing sports. I like using my time with clubs and community service. </p>
<p>Since there are about 50,000 students and probably less than 1,000 play sports, I think you will be ok. </p>
<ol>
<li>Everyone at OSU is not into sports. There are over 50K students, they have a wide variety of interests.</li>
<li>OSU is not like your high school. College is different from secondary school.</li>
<li>OSU has five work out facilities and the RPAC is one of the biggest in the country.</li>
<li>Clubs and community service are valued.</li>
</ol>
<p>Have you thought about applying to any liberal arts schools? I don’t disagree with what other people are saying–that 60,000 students aren’t all into sports–but to be honest with you, sports is a huge part of the fabric of the school. The entire city basically shuts down when the team plays, and all night you hear nothing but the shouts of OH-IO. It’s not an issue of how many students actually PLAY sports (of course not that many play sports–OSU’s athletic teams are highly selective)–it’s that a lot of the school’s budget, facilities, and social life are allocated to the OSU Athletic Industrial Complex. The RPAC is by far the nicest building on campus. The humanities buildings? Not nearly as nice.</p>
<p>At a liberal arts college–like Kenyon or Oberlin or Denison–you won’t find as many students obsessed with the performative aspects of masculinity. </p>
<p>Adjunctified–Which humanities buildings are you referring to? Hagerty Hall, which houses foreign languages, was completely revamped less than 10 years ago. They have state of the art language learning facilities and international TV broadcasts in 8 languages on flat screens in the coffee shop. A great place to immerse in foreign language studies. Sullivant Hall just reopened after a multi-year renovation and houses many of the arts facilities, and don’t forget the Wexner center–you’d be hard-pressed to find an arts complex of that scale on a lib-arts campus. These all fall within the humanities, right? Do you mean to say the OSU is somehow promoting “the performative aspects of masculinity” by having invested so much in the RPAC? Most other large public schools are sinking large amounts of cash into rec-facilities, even ones without sports programs as high-profile as OSU. </p>
<p>I do agree with your basic point though–if the OP is absolutely adverse to big-time college sports and the inherent fandom that goes with it, then yes a liberal arts college is probably the way to go. </p>