<p>Hi everyone. I'm a member of the class of 2009 looking for some help refining my college list. Let me tell you a little bit about myself.
- Middle of the class at an elite NE Prep School (one of Exeter, Andover, St. Paul's)
- Varsity athlete in two sports; captain in one of them. I am athletic and love watching sports, but I don't have the game to be recruited to play in college.
- A section editor at the school's newspaper. Editor for another publication.
- 2150 SATs
- Interested in english, history and economics</p>
<p>In general, I'm looking for a small school - one of those places where you here about professors dining with their students and getting to know them on a personal basis. I think that I thrive in small classes. Therefore, a lot of the LAC's are desirable to me.<br>
However, I also want to go to a school where there is good school spirit and support for athletics. I'd like to see people at the football/hockey games - not just a bunch of empty seats. A good club/intermural scene is also important to me. I don't mind a preppy or fratty atmosphere if that makes a difference.</p>
<p>Some schools that I liked while visiting were Williams, Middlebury, Amherst and Dartmouth, but these are all reaches for me. Which one of these would be the best fit for me? In addition, what other schools that might offer a better chance of admission should I be looking at?</p>
<p>Colgate's a possibility, although it's a little bigger than Williams, Amherst and Middlebury. Football's always competitive and draws a decent crowd, as does hockey.</p>
<p>Don't know much about the club/intramural scene. D is a senior there and not an athlete.</p>
<p>Fairly prep, and a strong greek school, but with 700 kids in a class, plenty of differences, too.</p>
<p>Look at the "patriot league" schools. Lafayette has an amazing football stadium and loves playing their rivals e.g. Lehigh. Agree with Colgate. Other small schools into the undergraduates and their sports include Holy Cross, Wake Forest, Bucknell and Wesleyan.</p>
<p>Williams and Dartmouth would both be fun for football and probably hockey; obviously Middlebury and Amherst are also great choices and I assume there would be some people at football games and maybe more at hockey games. Williams does have active IM sports as well and I imagine a careful Web search as well as talking to friends will tell you about the other three that you've liked when you visited.</p>
<p>I'd agree with fireflyscout about Davidson in terms of academic excellence and community sprit (accessible faculty and all that); it has no hockey,but the basketball games are great, and there is a strong intramural program. It is essentially a peer institution of the northeastern LACs.</p>
<p>Can't speak to admission chances for any of the schools, though I suppose Colgate might be a little less difficult than the superselective ones you've cited. I do remember when I visited it with my daughter several years ago that our guide was very enthusiastic about hockey games (from a spectator point of view).</p>
<p>What about Colby? I don't know how actively students support its teams but it certainly has the sort of feel you seem to be looking for and again might be a bit easier to get into, though obviously not really easy. also seems to have a strong IM program in terms of lots of students participating in various sports. Bates also comes to mind, as does Kenyon. Again, I don't know about attendance at football games, which seems to vary at small schools depending on whether there is a major rivalry involved as for the Williams/Amherst game, but in other respects they would seem to be places you might like, and all just a little easier to get into, so might be matches rather than reaches for you.</p>
<p>The role of athletic life as part of the undergraduate experience differs significantly among the colleges that have been mentioned here. There are LARGE differences between what goes on at a Dartmouth or a Williams and what goes on at a place like Wake Forest. For size purposes and with a great reputation for undergraduate attention and education, Wake is tough to beat for students who are fond of colleges that offer a great blend of academics and nationally competitive/relevant athletics and passionate fans/students. I strongly urge you to consider this college. </p>
<p>I would also take a close look at Davidson as its student body is very athletically inclined and school spirit is very high. One cautionary note-its football scene is much more akin to what you’d find at the Ivies, NESCAC, Patriot League. Their basketball scene, however, promises much more and has long had a national profile, including a great performance in last year’s NCAA tournament.</p>
<p>Although a little larger, three other schools that you should look at are Rice, Vanderbilt, and Georgetown which each have wonderful campuses located in Houston, Nashville, and Washington, respectively. More to your opening requests, all are very undergraduate oriented and provide, to varying degrees and in different sports, excellent athletic scenes. Rice’s baseball is consistently among the nation’s elite while Georgetown has a similar profile in men’s basketball. Vanderbilt has the strongest athletic franchise of these with strength & nationally prominent teams in men’s and women’s basketball and baseball, though it will be hard pressed to be a factor in the football-crazy SEC. But school and athletic spirit at Vanderbilt is high and unquestionably their athletic scene is a different (and IMO, much better) flavor than any of the Ivies, NESCAC, Patriot, etc. </p>
<p>I would also include Duke in this list of colleges. It is the premier college in the South and offers as good a blend of great academics and great athletic life as any school in the country not named Stanford. </p>
<p>Finally, all of the colleges that I have mentioned here (Wake Forest, Davidson, Rice, Vanderbilt, Georgetown & Duke) were ranked by USNWR in their survey of colleges that offer the best undergraduate teaching.</p>
<p>For a safety, what about Union? My friend's sister goes there and hockey games are huge on campus apparently. Everyone goes and the team is really good.</p>
<p>I think Wesleyan would be worth a roll of the dice. A 2150 SAT for a guy is basically the same as a 2200 for a female. I know it sounds unfair, but, that is the price Wes is willing to pay for gender parity.</p>
<p>And, you don't have to worry about empty seats at football games since they have been played in the center of campus, on the same field, since the end of the Civil War.</p>
<p>Wesleyan’s football field may be in the center of the campus, but the home attendance at their last three home games in 2007 (vs Colby, Bates, and Williams) attracted 1250, 1100, and 1000 fans respectively. </p>
<p>By comparison, Wake Forest’s last three home games in 2007 (vs Florida State, U North Carolina and North Carolina State) drew 32,906, 33,023 and 33,052. Yesterday was their 2008 home opener (vs Ole Miss) and they drew 31,986 and the game was broadcast nationally on ESPN. Wake Forest is also ranked # 20 in the USA.</p>
<p>I think it is fair to say that the athletic scene at Wesleyan is vastly different from what you’d find at Wake Forest. </p>
<p>I also believe that if similar comparisons were made involving any of the Ivies, NESCAC, and Patriot League colleges, the results vs Wake Forest (or Vanderbilt or even Duke and Rice) would be similarly lopsided.</p>
<p>Sounds like Notre Dame might be a possibility--it's a bit selective, but not as much as the ones that you mentioned. You might also look at Northwestern.</p>
<p>I would agree on both Colgate feeling similar to Dartmouth, Williams, Middlebury and sounds like it would fit what you're looking for. I think Union and Bucknell would be appropriate as well.</p>
<p>Wesleyan’s football field may be in the center of the campus, but the home attendance at their last three home games in 2007 (vs Colby, Bates, and Williams) attracted 1250, 1100, and 1000 fans respectively.<</p>
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<p>Hawk, you DO realize, of course, that's half the Wesleyan student body!!?</p>
<p>so I interpreted that to mean he would enjoy schools that offer a good athletic scene and with a nationally relevant program in major sports. His size constraint led me first to Wake Forest.</p>
<p>It just means he enjoys watching sports. It doesn't mean that he has to have 20,000 other fans watching sports with him in order to enjoy watching sports. It doesn't mean that his team has to be #1 to enjoy watching them.</p>
<p>pizzagirl,
We've had this argument before about the relative attractiveness of different athletic scenes, but let me try to put it in a context that you have greater empathy for. </p>
<p>Let's suppose someone is a great fan of the theater (like you, right?) and, for the same price (free!), were given the choice of watching a small college play or going to a Broadway show. Which one do you think most people would choose to go to?</p>