<p>I read someone saying that Midd's social scene is determined by sports.
I'm thinking seriously about Middlebury, and although I'm athletic and will definitely exercise in college, I wasn't planning on joining a team. Will this hinder my social life?</p>
<p>I don’t even understand what the person who said, “Midd’s social scene is determined by sports.” meant. How is a social scene determined by sports?</p>
<p>I assume they meant something like the soccer kids party with the soccer kids, or the soccer kids get invited to the basketball team’s party, etc.</p>
<p>Twenty-eight percent of Middlebury students are student-athletes. That leaves 1,800 kids who don’t participate on intercollegiate sports teams. I’m sure you’ll find people to hang out with.</p>
<p>I will be a little more honest here… My S will be a senior at Midd. Long story short, he was very athletic in HS (captain, standout blah blah) and had this perception of himself that said he was a “student Athlete.” For reasons too long to go into here, he did not end up playing a sport at Middlebury, and he still had a lot of fun. But the truth is, a lot of the "social houses’ host parties and those houses might include a lot of one team or another. Yes, there are lots of kids to do stuff with, but if you are sporty minded (whatever the heck that might mean), it might seem as if the sports are somewhat segregated. BUT! I do not believe it’s the case that 1) teams are overly exclusive or 2) that they determine the social scene. </p>
<p>But what I will say in a general way is that if you played a lot of sports in HS and won’t be playing at Midd on a varsity team, you will find a shift in your identity. And I will admit that S’s sophomore year was slightly bumpy in that regard. But I think this would have been the case at any school he had attended. He knew he wanted to major in sciences and that’s hard to do (time-wise) for any athlete! He did, however, get in a house for last year that was all about bridging that particular gap and they did a lot of “tailgate” events. ANd I guess one might make the leap that sports (an actual contest) was the reason there was party at all</p>
<p>Let’s just say that freshman year is a transition. You can listen to your friends etc and hear their opinions, but at the end of the day, you have to get a feel for the campus for yourself, completely devoid of anyone else’s opinion…</p>
<p>Thank you both, very helpful information!</p>
<p>One S a recruited athlete-hangs more with dorm friends and friends in his major.They like film, hiking, and jumping into waterfalls as far as I can tell from facebook.
Other S is a political junkie, has plenty of social life. Joined a sports club after 2 years and was warmly welcomed into the group, competed and had fun, but also had social activities with his other friends.
Social groups at Midd do not seem to be rigid or strictly defined. People wander from activity to activity or party to party, mixing with others, and in general, having fun and learning a lot about how the other half lives, no matter who the other half is…</p>