Any Ivies or Peers not overrun with a 'hippie infestation'?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
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<p>My daughter is a HS Jr. and deep in the college selection process and is trying to determine the best fit. While she is not defined by the two parties (well, she hasn’t even voted yet), she does find that many conservative analysts (George Will, etc) are often more insightful and well considered than their liberal counterparts. </p>

<p>This is not to mean that she is conservative politically (quite to the contrary at least on social issues), nor is she a supporter of organized religions (but she is spiritual) simply that she does not use 'republican' or 'conservative' with same negative connotations as those she is told that throw these words around on some liberal campuses. Additionally, she does volunteer work but is still hoping to make a more than comfortable living when she completes her undergrad/grad journey - money, in her view, is not the exclusive domain of evil oil barons’ - and she loves shoes.</p>

<p>Her credentials are nearly perfect (what a kid) so she will likely have her choice of many elite schools but we both hope to locate a campus for her to thrive. So far, anecdotally she has been told that neither Brown nor Dartmouth nor many of the small LAS colleges would be the best fit. She has also been told that Stanford, Northwestern, and Penn are more preprofessional and are often considered less immersed in the liberal establishment. </p>

<p>She has ranked her top 5 initial impressions (from college visits) as Stanford, Northwestern, Yale, Dartmouth (she loved the campus), Harvard. She likes the idea of typical college experience with large competitive sports programs so is why I think Stanford and Northwestern were ranked highest. She did not care for the vibe at Duke, although her experience was with a group of more southern applicants so that may have unduly influenced her. </p>

<p>I attended the great University of Illinois (I tried to convince her as Fiske Guide says "Illinois is a budget Ivy") where liberal leanings are much less pronounced, she is not overly interested.</p>

<p>If you believed Obama was a good speaker but that he was incredibly inexperienced and lacked gravitas - and was not the Second Coming? (My thoughts, not hers, but we are often of similar leanings) would you feel free to confess this openly to your faculty or on the quad?</p>

<p>All thoughts, impressions, and insights into any of her top ten: Stanford, Northwestern, Yale, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, Penn, Brown, Duke - or other schools such as Vanderbilt, Pomona College or U Chicago that may help her with her decision are encouraged.</p>

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<p>Political opinions hear run wide and far. There are conservative people on campus, as well as liberals. I don’t really get why the phrasing “hippie infestation” had to be used, but people of all beliefs - political, social, personal, and religious - seem to fit in here. There’s a place for everyone, as far as I can tell.</p>

<p>I live on South Campus, which is a lot of film, theater, and arts/“liberal arts” kids. There’s a slightly bigger ‘liberal vibe’ down here, but even in a film class of 100ish, we get all kinds of people. I don’t think anyone here is afraid to speak their mind. Being close minded in either direction, however, does not go particularly far - tolerance swings both ways quite readily here, from what I can tell.</p>

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<p>^ Columbia, MO? Nice.</p>

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<p>You might want to add some safety schools to this list. Even people with 36’s and 2400’s get rejected a lot from these schools. Anyways, I don’t think you should put that much thought into this subject. At all top schools, there is a mix of rich conservatives who can afford tuition and liberals who get need-based aid. If she has a liberal major, she is going to run into a ton of liberals no matter what school she attends. I would focus on how good the schools are at her major and whether she likes the campus. I think you have the right idea that Northwestern and Stanford are less liberal. Oh, and most young people are liberal anyways - they don’t pay much taxes yet. Sorry I don’t know specifics about any of these colleges.</p>

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<p>FallenAngel - Thank you? =P I like it there. I like it here in Evanston, too!</p>

<p>Twins - There are also plenty of conservatives with need-based aid, and rich liberals, too.</p>

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<p>This is , and what i thought was a fairly well known, Cartman quote from South Park; actually my favorite episode. Was supposed to be funny, im sorry if it missed the mark.</p>

<p>Thank you very much for you insights though.</p>

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<p>Ahhh, I see - I don’t watch South Park very much, so I missed that. =P No problem!</p>

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<p>Northwestern’s undergrads lean a bit right. Not like bible-thumping conservative, more like George Will.</p>

<p>The faculty are probably like most schools, leaning left.</p>

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<p>Well! . . . It would appear that at age 17 she has the entire world figured out, sorted, and defined, as well as her own place in it. Surely there is nothing more for her to learn at college, since she already knows all the right answers. I would recommend that she discontinue her college search and open her own university instead.</p>

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<p>@Twins… Sorry to mess with your stereotypes, but here’s yet another liberal paying full tuition!</p>

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hmm, I’d agree some LACS would likely be poor fits … but some might be very good fits … I say you’re more likely to find some LACs that have more of a conservative feel than virtually any research universities short of Notre Dame, BYU, and other similar schools.</p>

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<p>i wasn’t aware of any hippie infestation, but don’t worry we have exterminators for that.</p>

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<p>Oh dear, here’s yet another liberal paying full tuition x two for twins, one at NU!</p>

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<p>no hippies at northwestern …and i am from the bay area so I know them when I see them…</p>

<p>I wish there was, NW is a bit stuffy at times (more so the student body than the profs), she’ll probably like it.</p>

<p>I’d stay the student body is right down the center, or center-right, as are the northshore suburbs.</p>

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<p>oh, and somebody mentioned taxes, I wasn’t referring to that. I meant socially conservative…a bit conformist/bland/uptight if you will. </p>

<p>and again, I’m referring to student body, not the profs.</p>

<p>I think it might just be a Chicago/midwest thing and not so much NW for that reason…but that kind of flys in the face of somewhere like UW-Madison… so, more a Chicago suburb/NW thing…hard to pin it down.</p>

<p>as somebody said, it isn’t bible thumping type stuff…just a bit socially conservative.</p>

<p>but again I was living in CA previously and also on the east coast. So it will likely depend on where your set point is.</p>

<p>nothing bad/good about it, just how I see it.</p>

<p>this is certainly no revelation, many of my friends agree.</p>

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<p>Do you know any of the theatre kids? I know of none that fit your description!</p>

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<p>theater, creative writing, etc is an exception at all schools… I am talking about the general student body.</p>

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<p>Girl (OP), you ignant!</p>

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<p>NU’s student body is, for the most part, liberal. At least, that’s been my impression so far. However, I am not much of an Obama fan, am very politically moderate and have had no problem expressing my political views. The fact is, NU is an intellectually diverse environment. But then again, I’m only a freshman, so what do I know? :P</p>

<p>Anyway, OP, as someone who has gone through the college application process within the last year, I would urge your daughter to add safety schools to her list, because none of the ones that you mentioned would qualify as such. College admissions get more and more competitive every year and it often turns out to be a crapshoot, no matter how great your daughter’s credentials are. The University of Illinois is nothing to sneeze at (my whole family went there), but it will definitely be more of a “safety,” so even if she’s not that interested in attending, I’d make sure that one’s on the list. Good luck!</p>