Hi there,
I’m a very focused student academically, with interests in the STEM area (not sure exactly what just yet…). I’ve never really been a fan of sports games or sports culture. Do you have any suggestions of schools that have nice social scenes NOT revolving around athletics?
Thank you!!
(for reference, I’ve been interested in many LACs, so something like that would be great!)
There are a lot of schools like that! If you could give us some info, it would help us give suggestions.
What are your stats? What are you interested in studying? Regional location? College town, city, etc? Enrollment size? Activities you might be interested? Are you full pay, or will you need aid?
Lots of LACs fit the bill. Have you looked at a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges? Answer the questions posed above and you will get a lot of great suggestions.
There are so many schools that fit the category of not too sporty. You need to break it down and give more specifics. One school that comes to mind is University of Rochester. Plenty of STEM oppotunties. Lots of smart kids who also keep active on campus. But without knowing more about you and your desires, it’s tough to advise.
There are many schools where the social life does not revolve around sports- can you provide more information? Also… even if you attended a school with a big sports scene, you will still find many students who have a very active social life that does not involve sports at all.
University of Rochester is a great school. Finding a school without huge sports is not difficult… If you provide more information.
As a rule of thumb, any school that is ranked in the “national university” category by USNews, but which plays sports at the NCAA Division III level (instead of Division I). Going thru the USNews Top 50, for example, this would include:
Chicago, MIT, JHU, Caltech, WUSTL, Emory, Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, Rochester, Brandeis, NYU, Case Western, RPI
*these schools are mostly DIII, but do play one “signature sport” at the DI level (lacrosse at JHU, hockey at RPI)
Note that there are two ways for a college student to be involved in “sports culture”: as a fan, and as a participating athlete.
At LACs, the fan culture is generally muted compared to major DI universities. You probably won’t find rabid fan bases, elaborate tailgate parties, televised games, or huge packed stadiums or arenas. If you want to avoid such things, then a LAC would probably be a good choice.
However, LACs often have high levels (as much as 30-40%) of athletic participation. You could find that lots of your fellow students are on the lacrosse team or run cross-country or play softball, just as you might find that lots of them play in the orchestra or work on the newspaper or are involved in student government. LACs commonly attract students who did lots of extracurricular activities in high school, including athletics, and they keep up those extracurriculars in college.
In fact, some people are attracted to LACs specifically because they want the opportunity to play NCAA sports in college, but aren’t good enough to get recruited for an athletic scholarship at a Division I university.
Thank you so much for your replies! I have a 95 GPA (my school does not weight and does not use the 4.0 scale), and I have taken 4 APs. I’m signed up to take 5 more next year. I have a 35 on my ACT (35 on both English sections, 36 on math, 32 on science) and a 1500 on the SAT with 760 E and 740 M (so I’m thinking I’ll just submit the ACT). I’d love to be in the Northeast if possible. I prefer schools that are in college towns and near a city. I’m not entirely sure of what I’d like to study, but the Computational Biology major at Colby and Brown really interests me… I’d prefer a school that has a strong computer science program and a strong math program. I’m interested in becoming involved with volunteer opportunities (I am the president of Key Club at my school, and would like to continue my involvement with community service). I’ve also been involved with a lot of other clubs and organizations at my school, and have a lot of leadership positions. I won’t need financial aid. So far, I’ve been on a bunch of college visits but just haven’t been able to get a sense of how important the sports culture is at different schools. I’ve loved Vassar, Wesleyan, Swarthmore, Harvard, Tufts, and Yale. Definitely need to do more visits!! Thank you so much for all of your help! I really appreciate it! @natakwali @intparent @Lindagaf @twogirls @Corbett 
Oops! Forgot to mention I also really liked Amherst. I haven’t visited University of Rochester, but will try to!
I would definitely add U of Rochester to your list. Although you are a competitive applicant, you need some “likely” schools. Have you discussed finances with your parents?
In general, the fan sports culture is not prominent at any of these schools. Vassar and Swarthmore don’t even have football teams.
Harvard and Yale are both DI schools, and occasionally have “big” sports events. The annual Harvard-Yale football game, for example, is a big deal. It would also be a big deal if either school qualified for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, as Yale did in 2016.
But even without a sports fan culture, you could still find a high percentage of athletes at these schools, especially the smaller ones. At Swarthmore, for example, 27% of students are on a varsity sports team. They are probably smart jocks though, or they wouldn’t be at Swarthmore.
Let’s see:
- you are attracted to schools like Vassar, Wesleyan, and Brown;
- you dislike sports culture;
- you prefer a more urban location and college town vibe;
- you want strong sciences and math.
Why aren’t you looking at Reed College?
- Funkier than Vassar, Wesleyan, or Brown;
- No NCAA sports at all;
- In Portland OR, a large city that feels like a hip college town throughout;
- A top producer of students who go on for science/math PhDs.
OK, not in the Northeast, but draws a large percentage of its students from the Northeast.
Funny, I just had a conversation with a friend who does interviewing for MIT this weekend about Computational Biology and how it’s becoming a hot major! Carnegie Mellon is a reach, but would fit the bill for you, I think.
Not a place for sports fans – except for the annual Williams-Amherst football game, which is a big deal (by LAC sports standards).
But Amherst is definitely a place for athletes, with 31% of students on a varsity team.
You will find that this is a common pattern with LACs. At LACs, a large percentage of the student body may regularly attend sports events – but it’s because they’re on the team, not because they are cheering in the stands as fans.
It’s the exact opposite of a traditional large DI university sports scene. In that case, only a tiny percentage of students actually play NCAA sports – but there may be tens of thousands of fans in the stands to cheer them on.
So you can’t say that there is no “sports culture” at LACs. There is a sports culture, but not the kind that most people associate with the term.
Few people play NCAA sports, but many fans: large DI university, e.g. USC
Many people play NCAA sports, but few fans: small DIII LAC, e.g. Swarthmore
Few people play NCAA sports, and few fans: large DIII university, e.g. NYU
No one plays NCAA sports, and no fans: alternative LACs, e.g. Reed, St. John’s College
I agree with @Corbett that Reed is definitely worth considering. Probably quite a few hipster types there. You mentioned Colby and Brown. Brown’s vibe is more in line with Vassar, Wesleyan and Swat. Colby is actually quite sporty, with 44% of students participating in sports. Are you more indie or more preppy? If more preppy, then Colby and Amherst are good choices. If you are more indie, the others are better. I also really like the suggestions in post 5. Those schools have smart students who probably run the gamut of nerdy science geeks and intellectuals to everything in between.
Harvard and Yale, eh. Your list is filled with reaches. You need to carefully consider match and safety schools you would be happy at and can afford. U Rochester is a great choice and you will probably get good merit aid there. Rochester has a lively art and music scene and there are plenty of good restaurants and shops. CWRU has an excellent rep. State honors colleges are a good idea. Work on the safety and match schools. They are important.
@Corbett - At Wesleyan, the tailgating takes place right in the center of campus, to the delight of a surprising number of non-athletes.
I like Johns Hopkins for you! They are renowned for premed, which should translate to biology. They also have a Center for Computational Biology, which would give you research opportunities. I don’t know about math and cs at JHU in particular, but they are a top school that’s strong in STEM, so I imagine they’re pretty good. Seconding Swarthmore. You should also check out Wellesley if you are a girl and are fine with an all-girls’ school. Carleton is also a top LAC with a strong bio program. Harvey Mudd is on the West Coast, but it seems to fit the bill for you in other aspects. Good luck!
Thank you so much for your help. I’ve never considered Reed but it sounds like it’d be a great fit for me. I’ll definitely look into it! I’ve been trying to find good match and safety schools. Do you have any suggestions? @Corbett @Lindagaf Thanks again!
Thanks for the reply @natakwali ! I visited Wellesley, but didn’t really love it. I might go visit Harvey Mudd this summer, and maybe Pomona as well. I’ll look into Carleton, too. Thanks again!
If we dive further into the USNews rankings, in search of more “National Universities” with DIII athletics, we get the following additional options:
WPI, Stevens Institute of Technology, Clark University, Rochester Institute of Technology*
*RIT is mostly DIII, but has DI hockey
Less selective than the first list, but all arguably not very sporty and with urban or college town access.