Was a great athletics program a factor in choosing schools?

[RACooper]

Originally posted by ariesrising
I find this so interesting, because being Canadian, collegiate sports are pretty much a non-issue in choosing schools, unless you plan to play those sports. Our stadiums don't hold many students, you would never see a football game anywhere close to what US college football has here.

I mean, our CFL teams don't draw as big a crowd as college ball in the States lol.

Huge Understatement!!!

For example if the Hockey team (mens or women), or the Football team (it might help if they'd won a game in the last 6 years) had more than say 200 random students - not family or friends, alumni, or opposing fans - show to a game, even play-offs it'd be a big thing, heck a huge thing!!!

This from a school of 60000+

Of course there are some exceptions like University Western Ontario or Queens... but they are a huge exception.

[Betarulz!]

Originally posted by hoosier
One of my room mates was from Nebraska. They were even worse than Indiana in football.

Things have changed at Nebrsaska football, but Indiana still smells. At least we occasionally have a good basketball team, and men's soccer is top.

Things change, and they stay the same.

When has Nebraska ever been worse than Indiana at football!?! Considering that from 1969 to 2001 we won 9 games a year - every year, and last year was the first year since 1961 we were below .500, unless youre ALOT older than I ever imagined, Nebraska has always been better than IU at football. Even last year we went 5-6 while IU was 3-8.

[KatieKate1244]

When I was a senior in high school, I didn't even bother to look at sports. I was looking at tiny Div. II schools (Ohio Dominican and Point Park) and neither were really tops in any sport. At the time, I was split between education and journalism, but went to ODU because it was closer.

When I transfered, I did look at sports, but I didn't let it affect my decision.

[aephi alum]

Athletics? The running joke at my school was that they'd installed stereo at the football stadium so that you could watch the game on the campus TV channel and hear "both" fans cheering.

[moe.ron]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Sorry, just thinking that my school of a great athletic program is hilarious. I think our Ultimate Frisbee team can beat our football team.

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by valkyrie
I chose my school because of the creative writing program, too.

You guys both realized that the creative writing programs ranked are the grad school programs, right?

Not that there's not going to be some spillover (i.e. usually Lorrie Moore teaches grad classes at my school, but the past few semesters she's taught one section of undergrad advanced fiction too), but on the whole, the ranking of grad schools doesn't necessarily reflect on the undergraduate programs.

At any rate . . . I didn't choose my school for its athletics, but I had football tickets a couple of years and basketball tickets one year, and I definitely enjoy going to games. My college experience wouldn't have been complete without college football game days.

[valkyrie]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
You guys both realized that the creative writing programs ranked are the grad school programs, right?

Yeah, but chances are, the cats in said graduate programs are the ones teaching the undergrad writing classes. I'd rather be taught by someone in the best program in the country than someone at Backass State U. Plus there's just the whole awesome creative writing vibe that really pervades all of Iowa City.

[Munchkin03]

HAYLE TO THE NAW!

My application to U.Florida was the biggest waste of $25 ever. I knew I wasn't going; I didn't want a school with a big sports program.

[Sister Havana]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
My college experience wouldn't have been complete without college football game days.

I agree. There is nothing like a Big Ten game.

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by valkyrie
Yeah, but chances are, the cats in said graduate programs are the ones teaching the undergrad writing classes. I'd rather be taught by someone in the best program in the country than someone at Backass State U. Plus there's just the whole awesome creative writing vibe that really pervades all of Iowa City.

Eh, not really. I work for a lit mag, and thus I get to read submissions from a LOT of grad students or people who have recently graduated from various programs. The Iowa workshop is obviously famous amongst the creative writing set, but the stuff from Iowa grad students really isn't any better than the stuff from those who are in the graduate programs anywhere else. The majority of creative writing graduate programs accept extremely limited number of students per year (most programs have 8-20 students a year -- Iowa is a little different because it is so much bigger, topping out at, I think, 40ish) so once you get to that level, the quality really doesn't vary all that much from program to program. (Of course, that may influence undergrad a little -- with more potential TAs, you could have a wider variety of undergrad classes.) Plus, the acceptance process is sooo arbitrary when compared with almost any other subject. Unlike other programs (med, law, business, etc.), it's very common for people to get accepted to, say, Iowa even though they were denied by Florida (decent program, but lower ranked). Two-thirds the battle is who reads your stuff and what they like.

Plus, as always, just because someone can write doesn't mean they can teach how to write.

[PM_Mama00]

I never really was into sports when I was little (college sports) but I always wanted to go to Michigan, just because it was UofM... the best in the state. Then in high school I started to get a lil more into Michigan football. I knew I wouldn't get into Ann Arbor so i settled for Dearborn because, well, I WANTED to go to the University of Michigan. Although my first choice was Western Michigan because all my friends were going there and I awnted to go away.... I'm pretty damn happy with my decision.

So I guess sports had a LITTLE to do with my decision.

[Kevlar281]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
You guys both realized that the creative writing programs ranked are the grad school programs, right?

Wow I would have never known that if you hadn't told me...

I can’t speak for Iowa but at U of H the undergrads have a unique opportunity, by having access to the unlimited resources of the graduate program.

[DeltAlum]

Nope. But the games were fun anyway.

[AGDee]

It wasn't for me (obviously, since I went to Eastern Michigan when they had a 57 game losing streak, which they broke my sophomore year), but I'm highly suspicious of my sports fanatic brother who went to U of Mich (football) and UNC for grad school (basketball). Highly suspicious...

ETA: He started at UNC when Michael Jordan was there.

[UKDaisy]

YES!! In the 5th grade I went to a UK basketball game, saw the UK PEP band and decided I wanted to go to UK and be in the pep band.

So I did, and I was.

Had I not gotten in at UK I would have waited and tried again. I didn't want to go to any other school.