Top LACs and Ivy Political Vibe

I'm a left-end-of-liberal poli sci major headed into my junior year at an elite, non-Ivy, large research university.

In general, you shouldn't worry about it. People are more accepting than you think they are, and as long as you're not a total dick people won't care if you're conservative or liberal or a card-carrying communist. You'll also be surprised by how little personal political views matter in classes, the academic field of political science is very different from the practical field of politics. You're obviously much more likely to find similarly minded people at larger universities, and most small liberal arts colleges are (in my experience) super lefty. I've actually been very surprised by how conservative my campus is, and I was told regularly that it's a quite liberal campus.

TL;DR: You shouldn't worry about politics when picking a college, you'll find like minded people and make friends with people you disagree all the same.

U Chicago and Claremont McKenna are known for being especially tolerant of conservatives.

Okay--I'm going to act as though this isn't a troll post. If it is--fine, ya got me, but maybe this info would be helpful to someone real.

First, as far as Ivies and most(?) top LACs are concerned, being in the top 5% of your class is no particular help for admissions. I used to coach Ivy and we had multiple valedictorians rejected. You typically need a "hook" to be admitted: to be truly outstanding in a particular area. Given that you did not mention running in the OP, I'm going to assume that excellent race times are not your hook. I'm also assuming that you are not a member of an underrepresented minority group.

In other words: as you think about which colleges and universities to apply to, you also need to develop a realistic idea of which would meet your academic interests *and* present at least a decent chance for admission. If you have an active and knowledgeable guidance counselor, s/he could probably help you a lot more than we could.

Second IMO come assessments of political climates. I've been on all of the Ivy and UAA campuses and my general impression is that they have a wider spread of political views than you might find on, say, some NESCAC schools--but a visit to each of your target schools, and conversations with current students, would give you a much better idea of the atmosphere at individual campuses. My guess (again, speaking generally) is that the larger schools are likely to have a wider diversity of viewpoints.

As far as which campuses are more left, right, or center, I'll have to defer to folks who've been in college more recently.

Anyway, good luck!

Sewanee is also a happy place for more conservative types.

Thanks for your reply. For a very good school, the college guidance is very lacking.

I realize that I may not get into an Ivy. It's a reach but think it is worth applying to. I have a 35 on my ACT. My times are 4:21 and 9:26. The Ivy coaches may not be interested but I have gotten interest from an couple academic oriented D1 schools. I would think D3 LAC coaches would be interested in my times. What Ivy league schools, if any, do you think might be interested me as a runner?

political vibes wrote:

Sewanee is also a happy place for more conservative types.

Thanks for the reply. Do you now anything about the running program at Sewanee? I'm necessarily looking for the best program but would like to find one where people improve and most importantly, the runners enjoy being a part of.

PortlandXCGirl wrote:

U Chicago and Claremont McKenna are known for being especially tolerant of conservatives.

Thanks. I appreciate your help. U Chicago might be an option. Claremont McKenna is too far away.

You should check out Hillsdale College in Michigan. They have great academics, a strong running program, and as a D II school they offer athletic scholarships.

Check out Reed, Oberlin and Occidental.

I went to the Ivy that is considered the most politically left of center. At the time (10+ years ago), there was a sizable contingent of College Republicans who seemed to enjoy their niche as provocateurs. I didn't major in political science, but I took a lot of poli sci, moral and political philosophy, and applied ethics -- all subjects which attracted politically minded students. I remember classroom discussions being even-handed. Regardless of which college or university you go to, the focus will be (or should be) primarily on the material rather than on anyone's personal political beliefs, including the professor's.

As for people being in your face with political viewpoints you disagree with, that's life. It's very easy to get defensive when your core beliefs are challenged, so most people don't do this, BUT: if you approach those discussions in an open-minded way, you can actually learn a lot from peers with whom you disagree politically. That type of learning will serve you well in life long after you've forgotten the finer points of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, etc.

Brown?

Dartmouth

Political Minded wrote:

I realize that I may not get into an Ivy. It's a reach but think it is worth applying to. I have a 35 on my ACT. My times are 4:21 and 9:26. The Ivy coaches may not be interested but I have gotten interest from an couple academic oriented D1 schools. I would think D3 LAC coaches would be interested in my times. What Ivy league schools, if any, do you think might be interested me as a runner?

I used to coach at Ithaca College. It's D3 and across town from Cornell. I knew and have kept in touch with some of the Cornell coaches. If you really ran 4:21 and 9:26 by the end of your junior year then I'd bet the Cornell staff might be interested. You should email or call them.

It does sound like your academics are very strong and might be a good fit for Cornell. You might very well be able to get in without a coach's push too. I believe they have at least a couple colleges within the university where you could pursue a poli sci major. Again your best bet is probably to email/call.

IMO any D3 coach who *wasn't* interested in your times would have rocks in his/her head! I know that D3 NYU has need-based aid but also merit aid which could benefit an extremely strong student. NYU is a UAA school and other UAA colleges may have similar merit programs.

Good luck. I'd bet you've actually been hearing from a lot of schools already!

I don't think you're super late on this.

Here's some real advice:

Most college student bodies are liberal. You may find some rare conservative ones, but not in the Ivy League. Maybe in Texas or something. So if you want a higher diversity of viewpoints, you should go to a larger university. You're just more likely to find what you're looking for. Even if conservative students form a minority, you'll have a solid group of them at a large university. I went to Berkeley as a grad student and they had a number of (annoyingly) vocal conservative groups, despite its reputation as a liberal location, because there were enough conservative students there that they could band together to form a critical mass of action.

Political Minded wrote:

political vibes wrote:

Sewanee is also a happy place for more conservative types.

Thanks for the reply. Do you now anything about the running program at Sewanee? I'm necessarily looking for the best program but would like to find one where people improve and most importantly, the runners enjoy being a part of.

It is a great place to run; lots of trails and hills. I can't really offer an opinion about the program as it is today.

Sewanee is a very good school, and you should visit and see for yourself. And run the parallel trail.

PortlandXCGirl wrote:

Brown?

Yeah.