<p>Collegemom234, hold off on that scholarship decision! I am a conservative-in-every-way parent of a similarly conservative Brandeis upperclassman. He loves his school and the education he is getting, and has never, ever been docked for his views - views he is not at all shy about sharing. He does say that he is now a bit weary of being the lone opposing voice in so many situations. But while he has tired of defending his views, he has not stopped. And while he is clearly different politically and religiously, he is not wanting for friends. Most students may be over-the-top liberal, but they are willing to listen, and to debate. This is a wonderful opportunity to help educate them! Mr. Conservative has more friends - friends he values - than he can handle. Most of them come from affluent liberal cocoons and had never met a real conservative until meeting him. They were fascinated and amazed; they had simply imbibed the malicious lies fed them since at least kindergarten. (You know - Conservative Christians are ignorant yahoo wingnut bigots who can’t think their way out of a phone booth.) Now they have met an intelligent, friendly, caring conservative guy, and they’ve had to question their preconceptions. You never know who you may influence, who may ponder your life and views later on. Take away all the conservatives - so they can be safe and happy in a different cocoon somewhere - and you lose any chance of it. Also, I want to address the degree of Brandeis’ liberalism. Nobody can argue it’s not liberal, but at least it’s very upfront about it. Many schools try to present themselves as tolerant, inclusive bastions of free inquiry when they are anything but. Brandeis paints itself honestly, and not just as liberal but truly committed to justice. I don’t know of any grade-docking situations (although I know of them at other schools), but I am convinced that if the affected student were to bring his case forward there would be outrage among the students and, at the least, discussion in the administration. Look: conservatives have been marginalized throughout academia and are truly persecuted at many schools. There are only a few truly conservative, free-thinking, colleges, and they are also, not coincidentally, academically excellent. Another of my sons is deliriously happy at one of them, but he is not meeting people who need to meet him - who need to have their stereotypes burst. Your description of Brandeis (minus the architecture; but is that truly important?) could apply to almost any school in this country - including having Bill Ayers feeling right at home. But I’m very curious: whatever makes you think Tufts is different?! PM me if you’d like.</p>
<p>collegemom is most likely a ■■■■■, but I’m glad this thread was bumped b/c i saw my post four years ago expressing regret i didn’t apply RD “to see if i could get into WashU and Cornell.” I laughed when reading that b/c i don’t think i would have been happy at either one. If I applied to Cornell, I would have applied to ILR (a land grant school since I’m from NY), and I have absolutely no interest in going into the field. I wouldn’t have been happy at WashU because St. Louis is not Boston…</p>