<p>My son wants to attend an academically challenging school with a strong Division III soccer program. Does anyone have information about the Emory Men's Soccer team? How well do athletes and non-athletes mix? Son's h.s. friends are mostly non-athletes with other interests.</p>
<p>This is his school if he can get in. There is no football at Emory so the main sports people rally around are soccer and tennis. Have him get in touch with the coaches if he is serious about coming to Emory. Most of Emory is athletic to an extent as most (90%) play intramural sports. He would fit in just fine.</p>
<p>Maybe I'm biased because I've seen the potential for college sports, but nobody, and I mean nobody, rallies around the emory soccer team. People go to the games for the free food and some other incentives (which you'll learn about later if he decides to come) and then leave five minutes after they arrive. I wouldn't come to emory for the school spirit.</p>
<p>Hockeydude is right, though, in saying that almost everyone at emory is an athlete to some extent and plays at least one sport or works out. Even though it's rare to come across a "non-athlete", there's no social division between the two groups. You'll notice that all the intercollegiate athletes are very well-rounded and therefore have plenty of other interests completely unrelated to sports that allow them to connect with other students.</p>
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There is no football at Emory so the main sports people rally around are soccer and tennis.
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<p>IMO, students don't rally around anything. The meager crowds at soccer and volleyball games do not constitute a student body that "rallies" around a team. </p>
<p>Suggesting that the support for men's soccer at Emory is even somewhat like the support for football at Georgia (or any other big football school) is like suggesting that apples taste like oranges -- both suggestions reveal a complete lack of good judgment.</p>
<p>School spirit comes to die at Emory.</p>
<p>My D plays a varsity sport at Emory so I can respond second hand on some of the issues from a parent's perspective. D wanted to play her sport in college and is a D3 level athlete. Many of the D3 schools are small LACs in rural settings. For example, D was also looking at many of the NESCAC schools (Amherst, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, etc.). When it came decision time, the NESCAC type options seemed too small to her. She really liked Emory b/c of all that the university had to offer; all that Atlanta had to offer; loved the coach and team mates; loved Emory. She has had a great experience as a scholar/athlete at Emory. The league is very competitive and in her sport three of the other schools were in the top 25 in the countryso their record did not reflect their talent and effort. She also loved that this league's schedule involves travel to fun cities - NY, Chicago, Boston and they travel with their male counterpart, which was fun. </p>
<p>As for school spirit, this is a D3 school so the stands are not packed with fans like they are at D1 sports schools. I have attended various sporting events for ten or so D3 schools and Emory did not strike me as that different. Nominal fans for many games but better attendance at play offs (does not include football). During visits to Emory I have attended sporting events for four different sports, including soccer, and found the attendance fine (they were parent weekend or other special weekend games). </p>
<p>D has friends who play on the soccer team and I have met a few of them. Nice guys. She has friends who are athletes and friends who are not. It does seem that most kids played something in high school. She has very tight relationships with her teammates. PM me if you want to know more.</p>
<p>I have said this before on this forum, from a parent's perspective and from my D's perspective, this has been the perfect fit. We are big Emory fans. Good luck, it is a lot of work and time running down schools and teams!</p>