I’m suddenly very interested in applying to the Industrial Labor Relations school at Cornell. Every publication they put out perfectly describes me - I’ve been extremely involved in leadership, mock trial, and government throughout high school. After college, I hope to pursue law school or possibly business. It seems that the ILR school was created for students with my interests and goals, but I hesitate to apply without understanding the political atmosphere better.
The whole “labor relations” thing scares me. I’m conservative - I like business, and I have a hard time sympathizing with unions or labor. Will I be surrounded by extremely liberal union lovers? I grew up in a radically liberal town, and I’m not sure I can tolerate the same in college. Or will I find a solid group of students/professors with similar political views as me who are more interests in the economics/law/business aspects of the school? Are the students open-minded? I just want to know what type of school I am applying to! Of course I know any elite college leans left, but I need to know I will not be a political pariah who can never get a word in during discussion or meet like-minded peers. Thank you!
Traditionally, ILR has had a more liberal bent and attracted like-minded students (when I was there a few decades ago, I don’t remember meeting ANY students who were conservative in today’s sense of the word. Republican, maybe—which then was the equivalent of today’s moderate Democrat—but not today’s type of conservative). But students are different now. I think you would find a whole spectrum. There will be students who want to work for labor unions, but that’s not the majority of them. My hunch is that being conservative can be a boost in getting you into the school. But it is extremely important to demonstrate through the essay that ILR is a perfect fit for your interests.
The ILR school has a variety of people on the political spectrum. Last year, the president of both the Cornell Democrats and Republicans were ILR students.
The whole point of going to a university is to broaden your mind – to discuss ideas with people from different parts of the world that you don’t necessarily agree with, and to do it in a civil manner so that you don’t end up killing each other. You will find plenty of people who agree with you at Cornell, plenty who don’t, and most who are prepared to discuss matters intelligently. You might even be persuaded to broaden your outlook.
My D graduated from ILR a few years ago. She, and none of her ILR friends were politically extreme. I still am unsure of my D’s political beliefs.
She is now working in finance. She was planning to attend law school, took the LSAT, but interned in investment banking, S &T, and offered a job. So she decided to accept and put off law school. Not sure she will ever go to law school.
If I had to define her beliefs at this time, I would say she seems to be socially liberal and fiscally conservative.
Prospective students need to be rest assured that at the majority of colleges, whether Ivy, other elite, private, public or whatever, most students are all over the map politically and are rarely extremist. You will find (many/most) students who have some interest, some no interest , and the remaining are activists.
Since you find everything about ILR appeals to you, you should definitely apply.