just make sure that you avoid ‘Studies’ majors… 
Just be yourself. If you are a respectful person, you can share your views with those who espouse other views who are also respectful. And you may befriend some of them. Better a nice liberal than a conservative who’s a jerk. (and vice-versa)
Huh, I think “studies” majors maybe spend more time thinking about some of the nuances around political topics, and might be more informed on them. I wouldn’t avoid them at all (and I was a business major, so have no specific axe to grind there).
Can anyone link to some news stories of conservatives at college shouting down some liberal speakers or maybe shutting down a few scheduled appearances? Thanks in advance.
Who are all of these 17-year-olds who are already worried that they might attend a college with “liberals” or “conservatives.” I could see avoiding colleges where there’s outright bigotry but, honestly, other than that, just go to college. Don’t already close off your mind to any way of thinking other than what you learned in your home towns.
Yea, I guess we Boomers grew up in a simpler time. It seemed perfectly natural to ask honest questions about difficult moral and ethical questions and to field such questions without feeling we had the fate of the entire Western world sitting on our shoulders. Just ask yourself, “Suppose, I’m wrong?”
Watching the memorial for Senator John McCain reminded me of the deep relationship shared by Senators Ted Kennedy and Orin Hatch. You couldn’t have two differing ideologies on role of government, social programs, etc. However, they developed a lifelong friendship based on mutual respect and understanding of each other’s points of view. They must have had wonderful conversations over a nice scotch hundreds of times.
You’ll do fine!
To OP – I don’t know whom to attribute the quote “no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care” but I find this spirit/practice works well. I always find it a compliment when others can’t quite tell if you’re liberal or conservative.
@SouthernHope … “avoiding colleges where there’s outright bigotry” Just curious, which colleges do you feel fall into that category and what constitutes the “outright bigotry”?
I think joining the debate club is a great place to make friends. As a previous poster mentioned, Debate teaches you to look at all sides of the issues. My DS was a debater all four years and is a self-described Bernie Sanders Liberal. He has always had friends who are all across the political spectrum. He just started his Freshman year at American U (a very liberal college) and one of his new friends is a Libertarian. Go in with an open mind and be willing to listen to other’s opinions and share your own in a respectful manner.
@bluebayou , do you mean, say, Medieval Studies majors? Or American Studies majors?
It’s true that most American universities and colleges skew left, but that doesn’t mean a conservative student can’t thrive in a liberal school.
The smarter the students, the more likely there are to be some truly open-minded intellectuals there, so pick the best school you can afford to attend.
Don’t assume everyone is an enemy and go into survival mode. You’ll want to have friends from a variety of political views. Your education doesn’t just come from your professors, but from your fellow students. So remember their humanity.
Look for schools that have a thriving Republican club. Actually talk to the leaders before you commit to attending. This is true for any student looking for particular support (Jewish, Christian, Muslim, conservative, etc.) The websites of nearly every school say they have clubs for various points of view/faith traditions, but these groups are only as active as the current group of students.
Don’t assume you’re smarter than your left-wing peers, just because they appear to be toeing some party line that makes no sense to you. Nearly everyone has solid reasons for their beliefs. So assume that each person you meet has a well-thought out understanding of their own views.
Don’t use ad hominem attacks when arguing with people. It doesn’t change anyone’s mind. No human being is a “libtard” or a “deplorable.” Even complete jerks are valuable.
My daughter went to Yale in the middle of all that publicity about “angry students.” Everyone outside Yale was bemoaning the “state of higher education these days.” In real life, that incident, and others like it, affected almost no one on the campus. It just made for good TV. The vast majority of students went about their studies, and their lives, as usual. Don’t get over-exercised about the small minority.
@nikolateslaxi - you can take a look at college ratings on the FIRE website to determine which schools restrict free speech. Here is a link, but if it’s not allowed just search for: Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
Comments from a female Conservative student at Yale. Brushing aside the concerns of the OP as overblown, completely ignores the very real issues surrounding politics in the USA.
In my experience, the political climate on Yale’s campus makes it challenging for students to have open discussions. Students are quick to dismiss ideas as “offensive” rather than trying to understand where they come from. Even though Yale has residential colleges that form smaller, diverse communities within the larger university, students still find ways to surround themselves with people who share their same ideologies. The deeper issue arises, however, when students blatantly refuse to engage with those they disagree with, a practice that is becoming commonplace.
This is not just my perspective. According to a 2016 survey conducted by the Yale Daily News, 75 percent of the students surveyed think Yale does not provide a welcoming environment to conservative students. That number is staggering and illustrates the need for more political discourse on campus. Students who enter college with a liberal versus conservative mentality will only have those attitude reinforced by Yale’s anti-intellectual culture of sensitivity.
I’d be careful about the FIRE ratings. You really have to read why a school is rated the way it is. For instance, this policy gets a college a “Red Light” rating from FIRE.
I can’t imagine Conservatives are any more likely than Liberals to view stalking, physical threats, ridicule or property damage as positive.
Massmom: in general, I’m not a fan of any studies major, as they tend to breadth over depth in a discipline. That being said, a school like Williams, that requires a senior thesis/project, has plenty of opportunity for depth.
Of course, the general comment doesn’t specifically apply to this thread about a self-defined conservative attending ‘liberal’ colleges. And with regards to studies majors in general, one is more likely to find faculty members with a pov that if challenged, will not result in a good grade. OTOH, parroting back the party line so-to-speak will result in an easier A.
@Sue22 - I agree that you should be careful with the FIRE ratings, just like any other rating. And no one is going to argue against stalking, physical threats, or property damage as being positive, those are criminal acts, but there is plenty of gray area.
The First Amendment certainly protects the right to ridicule or disparage; after all, in the USA you are not protected from having your feelings hurt.
I believe that our children are better off learning how to engage and handle speech they disagree with or that hurts their feelings, rather than trying to punish or criminalize speech that bothers them.
I encourage anti-bullying policies in K-12 because it is important for our children to understand the power of words, but I think we do a disservice to our children if we try to coddle and protect them from speech they disagree with, or find offensive, as they transition to adulthood in college.
The subject of this post doesn’t match the body text, which sounds like a liberal going to a conservative college.
Anyway, on the theme that most posters take (conservative going to a liberal college), I remember going to UT-Austin back in the early 1980s. The Left and their media “friends” were loudly beating the “US out of XYZ” drums … and then I saw scrawled on a bathroom wall, “USSR out of UT”. Yes!
Blue- your point is quite illogical. There are colleges (rigorous ones, in fact) where you could major in Classics- the traditional major focused on fluency in Latin and Greek, with lots of course work focused on the literature (and the relevant history) of that region. But they also offer “Classical Studies” which is a MORE rigorous, harder major, which also does a deep dive into architecture/art and archaeology, political theory, and geography. (So many Roman influences in Britain, of all places-- the nether-reaches of the empire).
The fact that it’s got the word “studies” in it- quite irrelevant to whatever difficulty, depth, rigor or complexity is in the major. It’s just nomenclature.
In many universities, “American Studies” is a DUAL major requiring all the pre-req’s for a degree in American history, PLUS literature, and then a deep dive into economic history, political theory, etc. How is that breadth over depth??? It is often both.
Maybe @bluebayou means Asian Studies major? Or Human Development and Family Studies? or Media Studies? Or Religious studies?