This is NOT the case for club soccer at LACs. My son plays club soccer at Bowdoin. They play in a league that includes every other LAC in NE (Colby, Bates, Middlebury, Williams, Amherst, Tufts, etc). There were also active club soccer teams at Swarthmore and Haverford, as examples of other LACS he considered outside of NE. Club soccer is in addition to intramurals, which tend to be less formal and internal to the campus. Its been a great experience - it is competitive organized soccer without the pressure of varsity sports.
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I stand corrected. I still think itâs worth confirming with the colleges the OPâs son targets, because a quick check of just a few schools yielded varying results. For example, the Bates, Middlebury and Williams websites did not list soccer (mens or womens) as a club sport, but Wesleyan did. Iâm seeing a lot of badminton, rugby, sailing, ultimate and water polo. But youâre right - there is more than I would have expected to see.
Colby didnât used to have club soccer but does now. Definitely something to check on if it matters to you â clubs tend to come and go based on student interest and commitment.
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Yeah, the unhooked people who get into so many schools that are considered reaches for everyone also shows there must be a lot of dependence going on. Like, if their chances where only 10% and independent, they should only be getting into 0 or 1 out of 5, rarely maybe 2 out of 5. Even 3 our of 5 is already statistically unlikelyâlike less than a 1% chanceâif the probabilities are independent. But of course they are not, so it happens a lot.
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Exactly right that they come and goâŠthere have to be students willing to organize these teams from year to year.
And the club sport dues, uniform costs, and all travel expenses (bus, van, hotel, meals, etc) are the responsibility of the student, and not (generally) covered by financial aid.
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Absolutely, and we are doing that.
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More importantly, it would be instructive to know whether having UMass as a consortium partner actually translates into additional research or EC opportunities for non-UMass students? It would be logical to assume that UMass students (all 24,000 of them) have priority, but I havenât been able to find anything definitive on the subject:
My impression from our visit combined with things I have read is there is really no overarching policy about those matters. That makes sense because there is a large variety of different Five Colleges interactionsâdepartments, majors, certificates, courses, clubs, events, and on and on. Some are actually centrally organized by Five Colleges, some by a specific college but open to others, and so on. And of course as a practical matter, in the college context there are typically some events, clubs, courses, majors, and departments that are looking to recruit more participants, and some that might be selective, and so how that all works out is likely to be pretty individualized.
Again this is consistent with written material like this:
https://www.fivecolleges.edu/about/student-opportunities
It includes lines like this:
- If a class on another campus is perfect for your major or simply sounds intriguing, chances are, itâs available for you to enroll in; just talk to your advisor.
That is pretty much the opposite of a definitive policy, but that seems to be the basic lay of the landâmany courses are likely to be available, but there may be some that are limiting enrollment in some way that may affect you.
Or this:
- Most clubs and extracurriculars open to students on their home campuses are open to all Five College students. Just check with the group youâre interested in joining.
Again, not at all definitive, but consistent with the basic understanding many clubs and activities are not looking to limit participation, but a few might be.
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So, really one is just playing the odds that speaking roles in UMass theater productions, for example, may or may not be available to non-UMass students (unless they are future Meryl Streeps which sometimes happens); or that a UMass research grant may or may not include a stipend for non-UMass undergraduates.
Given the general nature of this thread â all things NESCAC â I wonder if those who know would mind sharing what they think the relative academic strengths of the NESCAC schools are.
Academic fit is important, but itâs hard to gauge much beyond which majors are available at a school, distribution requirements/degree requirements, etc⊠So if kids had a little insight into which schools are great in which areas, it might help them to make better-informed decisions about where to apply and (later on) where to enroll.
I can start off with Middleburyâs well-known strength in foreign languages.
What are some academic strengths of the NESCAC schools?
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Hamilton - Physics. Multiple Apker Prize finalists in the non-doctoral granting (LAC) category.
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Arenât they also known for Creative Writing? And Middlebury English?
Williams is very strong in Math.
Bowdoin environmental sciences. Maybe one of the STEMier NESCACs?
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I never know what colleges mean by âCreative Writingâ. Are they teaching people how write? Does it require an entire major?
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AFAIK, Trinity College offers the only engineering degree in NESCAC.
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This is as good of a description as any:
âThe creative writing program in The School of the Arts combines intensive writing workshops with seminars that study literature from a writerâs perspective. While students develop and hone their literary technique in workshops, the creative writing seminars (which explore literary technique as well as history) broaden their sense of possibility by exposing them to the various ways, historically, that language has been used to make art. As a supplement to the workshops and seminars, related courses for the major can be drawn from departments such as English, Comp. Lit, Philosophy, History, and Anthropology, among others. Students will determine, in consultation with the Director of Undergraduate Studies, the related courses that will best inform their creative work.
The writing workshop is the core element in the practice of creative writing, and it should be a selective and highly rigorous course. Students in the workshop produce original works of fiction, poetry, or nonfiction, and submit them to their classmates and professor for a close critical analysis. Workshop critiques (which include a detailed written report, as well as thorough line-edits) assess the mechanics and merits of the piece of writing, while individual conferences with the professor distill the various critiques into a direct plan of action to improve the work. A student writer develops by practicing the craft under the diligent critical attention of his or her peers and professor. This dynamic is meant to continually assist the student writer toward new levels of creative endeavorâŠâ
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I donât understand. Is Columbiaâs program the industry standard?
@circuitrider. As far as engineering goesâŠ
Except Tufts, which isnât a LAC but is a NESCAC.
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I linked to Columbiaâs because it was a good summary of the standard creative writing program/major set-up.
See also Northwesternâs, JHUâs, and Oberlinâs:
Well, thatâs interesting because your link is from the Columbia University Arts School. The Columbia University LAC (Columbia College) offers a much different program:
The Undergraduate Writing Program | The Core Curriculum (columbia.edu)
Williams is strong in Art History, Studio Art, and Music
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