<p>DS is interested in UNC Asheville, which has a strong reputation as a liberal arts school here in NC.</p>
<p>It also has a strong reputation as a leftie-liberal school, where students do not readily tolerate ideas other than their own.</p>
<p>DS is fairly conservative, socially and religiously (Catholic) as well as politically. At the same time, though, he's also kind of bohemian -- loves '60s protest and folk music, traditional folk music, etc. He's the creative / imaginative type...really, like most of us, he's pretty hard to pigeonhole.</p>
<p>I'm worried about "fit" if he ends up at UNCA. I myself attended a lefty-hippie undergrad institution (New College of Florida), and I lived to tell the tale. In fact, to tell the truth, I found a group of like-minded friends and had a lot of fun. :) So, it can be done.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, I would be interested in hearing from people familiar with UNCA. Are there plenty of non-hippies there? Can a fairly conservative kid who just wants a good education thrive there?</p>
<p>We visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville last year. We were surprised to see so much tie-dye and hippie attire in the town as we walked around. My daughters thought Asheville reminded them of UC Santa Cruz. It sounds like that would be a fun place for your son.</p>
<p>I think the “hippiness” of UNCA can be overstated. Yes, you see the tie dye and the hair and the folkie music but we saw lots of fairly traditional looking students, too. It may look like Santa Cruz on the outside, but inside: far more conservative. Most of the students come from western North Carolina, which may seem liberal by southern standards but compared to other places, not so much. </p>
<p>I really liked the way they have developed their freshman seminars and core requirements. They have taken a very interdisciplinary, old school, liberal arts approach to education. UNCA remained my s’s #1 choice for two years. Alas, after being accepted and attending freshman orientation, he ended up at a different college. I think he realized that he wanted a bigger school with students from more diverse locations. (OOS is capped at about 18% by NC law.)</p>
<p>Here’s something that really impressed me about UNCA when we were doing the college visits: everyone connected to the college spoke about academics and learning opportunities. Yes, they answered questions about dorm life and safety and sports facilities and job placement. But the focus was their interdisciplinary approach to education. It sounds like it might be a perfect place for your son.</p>
<p>Liberalism is the byproduct of being educated. I wouldnt be too worried, except if he has the same views after college as before. If he already knows everything, why go to college?:)</p>
<p>Graduation Rates University of North Carolina Asheville: </p>
<p>Freshman who graduate within 4 years: 28%
Freshman who graduate within 5 years: 54%
Freshman who graduate within 6 years: 58% </p>
<p>Pay close attention to these numbers, Diane, they are not impressive. Your son may not want to stay here for all 4 years if all his friends leave before the 4 years are up! </p>
<p>The friends my children have made the that First Semester of Freshman Year are still very close friends with two of my college grads. My other two children are still in college so I can’t comment on their friendships from Freshman Year. </p>
<p>You know how everybody wants to know WHO is going to a party? Same idea, here!
You might not want to go to the party if your friends aren’t attending!</p>
<p>SLUMom: A lot of those kids transfer up the ladder to UNC-Chapel Hill or NCState. Its not indicative of a poor school, rather a rankings and lifestyle issue. Asheville is very special…its very artsy and creative…the entire town is that way. But its also high elevation, cold and remote in the winter. </p>
<p>Dianeski: if you are Catholic, then spread your wings. Not sure what your budget is for college. Or your son’s scores.</p>
<p>Did you look at Saint Louis University, Marquette, Fordham, Loyola New Orleans, Loyola Chicago, Loyola-Maryland? </p>
<p>And of course there is Belmont Abbey which is coming on strong and has a conservative reputation. </p>
<p>Ping me on Fordham if you want. Great school. Very academic. Moderate politically. But also very diverse.</p>
<p>I agree that Asheville is a very special place. It is one of the few schools that is truly a public liberal arts school. At every school, even bastions of liberalism like Swarthmore, there are going to be people with other political views.</p>
<p>If possible do an overnight. At the very least, check out some of the student organizations and get a copy of the student newspaper. This can help you get a better picture of what the political/social spectrum is.</p>
<p>I had lots of concerns about the graduation rate. I made plenty of inquiries and could never get to the bottom of the low graduation rate completely. One theme that I heard over and over is that they have a lot of non-traditional students who do not take a full course load and this accounts for the low graduation rate.</p>
<p>@ghostbuster – DS has already been accepted to Belmont Abbey, but money is an issue. He has also been accepted at Franciscan University, but money’s an issue there, too, even with a scholarship. He is applying to Ave Maria as well.</p>
<p>We are so torn between a good in-state school with a strong Catholic student group, on the one hand, and a Catholic college, on the other. Most of the latter, especially the smaller ones, do not have much available in FinAid. </p>
<p>I will definitely PM you–thanks so much in advance!!</p>
<p>LadyDianeski, no. He did not even apply, but we did visit and tour the school. We are OOS for NC and the tuition in NC for OOS is pretty equal to our HIGH instate tuition costs in NJ. We decided that if we did pay for a public school that our son could go to one in NJ rather than adding on transportation costs and time for us lost from work. My son applied to one of our instate public instead that has a much higher graduation rate. He was accepted to our instate public, but is attending a private school.</p>
<p>LadyDianeski, if cost is a concern for you (and it is for just about everybody) please make sure that if your S gets a great deal at Asheville and enrolls, if he wants to “transfer up the ladder to Chapel Hill”, will he lose financial aid? Even though it would be an in-state student transferring to another in-state school, the FA might not be the same. Transfer students do not usually get same attractive FA package as freshmen do.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t assume that any 17-year-old is a liberal, a conservative, or anything else in particular. What they are (intellectually) is a work in progress, and being exposed to a culture that does more than simply reinforce the current status quo of their thinking is probably a good thing.</p>