<p>My daughter is having a hard time finding a medium/large, "non-religious" college that has conservative leanings (politically/socially) in the West... Is there such a thing ? She has very strong SAT scores. Thank you!</p>
<p>What is she interested in studying? Does she need FAid? What re “strong” SAT scores? What are her grades? There are 4000 colleges & Us in the US of all stripes. One advantage of some of the larger ones is that there tends to be a large mix of folks and it may actually be easier for folks to find a group that matches their interests better than smaller Us. That has been our experience.</p>
<p>Can you give a little more input about what she means by conservative? I get that she doesn’t want to go to Berkeley of the 60s…but how straight-laced are we talking…</p>
<p>Look at the Arizona publics</p>
<p>Nvm, those will give you politically but not socially (I think).</p>
<p>when you say West, does it have to be the coast?</p>
<p>I’ve heard of a Hillsdale College that might be what your daughter is interested in, but it depends on far in (from Hawaii) she is willing to travel. If she’s flexible on the “religious” requirement, Westmont or Biola in California might work too.</p>
<p>How far “west”?</p>
<p>What about Utah?</p>
<p>This was my 1st post, pls excuse lack of clarity & etiquete mistakes. Thanks for helping solve our puzzle…My daughter’s 1st test: 660, 550, 700, which her guidance counselor says is “strong” but she’ll take again. She also took 2 subject tests (awaiting scores) Her talent is in writing/speaking/languages but is attracted to everything from psychology to military intelligence to acting (?!). She pines for a mainland school 10,000-20,000 size, West of the Mississippi. SHe’s not into organized religion but wants “open-minded without brains falling out” kind of atmosphere, which I’m happy about. She’s attended alternative education here, but wants something more grounded I think.</p>
<p>She looked at Arizona but the schools may be too huge.</p>
<p>Hi HIMom… We’re hoping for some kind of scholarship and/or Hawaii/Western schools help. Yesterday she mentioned U.of British Columbia (Canada) and Australia which I never thought of, making me realize I"m overwhelmed & run to the computer for advice!</p>
<p>TBH it’s going to be tough to find the kind of school that you’re looking for. Almost (or all) of the large, conservative schools in the country are in the Deep South.</p>
<p>There are only a few schools that size that are West of the Missippi and not religious that aren’t state schools. USC is one, and might meet her version of conservative - depending on what her definition is. Lots of Hawaiian students there so you can probably find someone from your high school to ask, or contact them and ask about talking to students from your home state.
For state schools, things get more complicated. Some states are using full -pay out of State (and that means lots and lots higher tuition than in-state) students to help balance the budget, some arecutting back on all admissions.</p>
<p>You might be interested in investigating Western Undergraduate Education program, “WUE,” which gives a tuition break at universities for students who are accepted. It can be a great deal for the right student & school. [Western</a> Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) | Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education](<a href=“http://www.wiche.edu/wue]Western”>Save On College Tuition | Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)) is the website for more info.</p>
<p>Yes, USoCal has been a great school for many HI students but it is pretty expensive if she doesn’t get one of their many merit awards. Her scores are below many of their merit award students, but exceptional grades & ECs could help offset that. Because it is such a large U, there are lots of different kinds of students there–conservative & liberal.</p>
<p>If it is too expensive for your D to go away for all 4 years, another option to consider is the NSE, National Student Exchange, where students go to “home U” for most of their education but are able to go to another U for one term or a year and still graduate from the “home U”. [National</a> Student Exchange - THE OFFICIAL SITES](<a href=“http://www.nse.org/]National”>http://www.nse.org/) Going to a local U or CC, taking a lot of classes toward graduation requirements & then transferring to dream U is another way of reducing college costs; unfortunately, other than WUE above, I am unaware of scholarships just because a student happens to be from HI or the west.</p>
<p>There are also a number of international student exchange programs that are available as well. One of our friends’ D’s went on one & ended up graduating from that university in London.</p>
<p>I know a few folks who have had their kids earn degrees in Canada as well; it was cheaper there than in the US, even with US schools offering merit awards.</p>
<p>My kids were not willing to face the cold of Canada, so chose to go to USoCal, where they were very happy. S graduated spring 2010 & D hopes to get her bachelor’s as a transfer student in 2012. She had many interests & ended up majoring in cinema.</p>
<p>Despite its rep as “unsafe” and “Greek” and “a party school,” both my kids feel they have gotten a good education there. They have not felt unsafe, not joined a frat or sorority, not gone to many parties. Because it is a larger U, they were able to find their niche, where they have thrived. Within the different schools at larger Us, there is considerable cohesion. For example, there were only about 200 freshmen engineers, so S got to know many of them pretty well. Within his major of electrical engineering, they all got to know each other even better. Within D’s cinema school, similarly, they have all gotten to know one another quite well & work together closely.</p>
<p>No reports of any “brains falling out,” tho I’m not quite sure what that is.</p>
<p>University of British Columbia fits some of your categories, but if you’re looking for politically/socially conservative, UBC is not going to fit the bill. </p>
<p>If that’s a very important quality for your D, you’ll have some challenges. But she should keep in mind that at large schools there are always many communities of students. Some may be very liberal, some may be very conservative, some in between. So she’ll probably be able to find a group to hang with, even if it’s a “liberal” school. You might look at schools in eastern Washington state, like WSU, Gonzaga (it’s a Catholic school, but Jesuit, so don’t think it would be difficult for her to deal with), etc. Schools in Idaho are another possibility, Boise State might be a good one to look at. Also Arizona and Utah, as others have mentioned.</p>
<p>Santa Clara University… although it is a Jesuit institution, it does NOT have religious requirements and doesn’t push for conversions. I think it gives it a more conservative student body than some schools. And almost all of its majors are well taught.
expensive, tho’.</p>
<p>Yes, it IS expensive; not sure about availability of MERIT awards for folks with this student’s profile. Did get the feeling that many of the students to attend mass & notice who does & does not attend. Have known many who were happy attending & graduating from SCU.</p>
<p>Has your daughter considered the University of Wyoming? WUE is available there (subject, of course to a certain GPA, test scores, etc.) making it a possibly affordable option. Not too far from Denver and (according to their website) 91% of classes are taught by faculty (not grad assistants). I know of Hawaii kids that went there and loved it! Fits the conservative bill (the alma mater of former VP Dick Cheney!) and is a “medium-sized” U.</p>
<p>The University of Utah and Montana State in Bozeman both come to mind (definitely NOT the University of Montana in Missoula, though–if you want a conservative vibe, Missoula isn’t for you)… Maybe U North Dakota as well?</p>
<p>One other question, OP, how is your D in COLD weather. Some of these locations are quite cold with significant snow. I know that was a consideration for my kids. I had a friend who taught at Montana State in Bozeman. We had to walk thru a blizzard because he had to teach–they did not cancel classes, tho as I recall hardly any students showed up that day. It may sound silly, but it is definitely something to keep in mind. When my S saw the snow fences in Rochester, he decided he’s more a warm weather, urban kid than just anywhere, which is what he had initially said.</p>
<p>UC Colorado Springs & I believe U Northern CO and UNLas Vegas also participate in WUE and have some HI kids, I believe. Not sure whether they are as conservative as you indicated.</p>
<p>I agree with the counselor that a re-take of the SATs are in order–it would be good to get that 550 into the high 600s so that it matches the rest of the test scores.</p>
<p>I agree with esobay that some of the Jesuit colleges are not as religious in nature as BYU, for example. You could add Gonzaga (in Washington) to the list of colleges to check out. Two kids of a friend of mine attend and I haven’t heard any horror stories from her about her visits to the campus.</p>
<p>It’s been our experience that in most cases ‘State’ schools are more conservative than the flagships. In our home state, Colorado State University (great school for your daughter to look at) is considered to have a more conservative student body than the University of Colorado. The same is true for Kansas State, Washington State, Montana State and Oregon State. Some of the Texas schools would lean conservative - Texas Tech, Texas A&M. But when you have a big school, conservative students can find a niche even in a school with a very liberal reputation. We’ve known several conservative kids who are thriving at the University of Colorado.</p>
<p>Also look at NM State in Las Cruces. Part of WUE, with a very multicultural student body that leans more towards the conservative side. Warm weather and a very reasonable COA.</p>
<p>U New Mexico might be too big for her. Undergrad enrollment is around 18,000 but if you include the graduate and professional programs, then it’s closer to 28,000. UNM offers more options than NMSU. (And Albuquerque is at the center of NM’s film industry if she wants acting. D1 has picked up extra $$ working as an extra on TV pilots and series.)</p>
<p>RE: U Wyoming—it’s about 1.5-2 hours from Denver. Close but not that close.</p>