<p>This is for anyone who goes to college in the Midwest...I'm interested in some LACs that are in the Midwest, specifically Grinnell and Oberlin. Let me preface by saying I am Midwest-phobic. I grew up and currently reside in the speaker's district (that is Kane County in Illinois; luckily in a couple months it'll no longer be the speaker's district...ah, sweet relief!). Not to generalize, but I pretty much hate the Midwest. </p>
<p>But how is going to college in the Midwest? Obviously people at these top schools have a different mindset then the regular townsfolk. Is that enough to suffice for a creative, radical girl who wants to avoid witnessing "ride your tractor to school day"?</p>
<p>For the most part it doesn't matter what LAC you go to, most are in rural areas, even ones in New York and California. And what do you mean when you say, "what is it like going to college in the midwest?" Your from Illinois (in the midwest), you should have a decent idea.</p>
<p>I'm not sure about Grinnell but Oberlin is overwhelming liberal. (I'm assuming from your post that you're feeling a bit stifled by the politics of your area and fear that those leanings are rampant among Midwest colleges.) Fear not! College campuses tend to be more liberal than not, even if they're smack in the middle of the bible belt.</p>
<p>To kinglin: I'm assuming--just assuming--that college life would be different though then growing up within the community and going to a public school. I just want to know how different. </p>
<p>I want to visit, but it might be a problem because the next time I have school off is winter break, and what good would that do! I'm totally rushed and irresponsible in this, I know.</p>
<p>And I'm going to apply to Mac, but because it's in St. Paul, I didn't put it with Oberlin and Grinnell, both of which are far from being in cities.</p>
<p>Being from central Iowa, I'm somewhat familiar with Grinnell. It's a liberal school but not sure how it compares to other schools. It's a well known LAC with excellent academics. I have two friends there who are very liberal and they love everything about the place. I'm at Iowa State and it's about evenly liberal and conservative, although maybe slightly more conservative. A lot of the conservative vibe here stems from the huge presence of the College of Agriculture. But Iowa is MUCH more liberal than ISU. I grew up in the country and loved it--but I don't feel like I live in the country when I'm at school. Grinnell is in a decent-sized town. You'll find many liberal people at most colleges in the midwest, unless it's a religious private like Northwestern College in Minneapolis, where it's a conservative student body. You can get a great education in the Midwest and alot of schools are the "study hard, play hard" type. </p>
<p>PS--Democrats won the Iowa elections ( :( ) so you probably wouldn't feel out of place here.
PS 2--I drove my tractor to school one day a year for all four years of high school and loved it. But you won't run into it on campus :)</p>
<p>I was raised in the South and love it, but just moved to Indiana three months ago and currently attend Notre Dame. ND's a school where everything occurs on campus, so I don't go off campus very much, but the surrounding city of South Bend is not a good city at all. However, despite the fact that the weather in the Midwest absolutely sucks (I can't believe how much it rains!), I'm still extremely glad that I chose to broaden my horizons and move to a new part of the country for college. Besides, I love ND so much, I'd go here no matter where it was located. :)</p>
<p>Honestly, I have never read a more idiotic post in my life. You assume the "midwest" to be one entity, entirely absent of diversity of peoples, religions, and ideologies that living in the United States allows, and most of all, you seem to believe the Midwest to be a kind of barbaric kingdom void of any educated peoples, class, or culture. First, let me correct the first point by saying that the Midwest IS diverse. Your town, where tractors are apparently considered a suitable means of everyday travel, (which could have been anywhere) is not representative of the entire Midwestern region (AT ALL!). Yes, there are a few backward folks (particularly in Kansas) who have, for some reason, decided that science is the devil and the Bible is the highest source of authority and thus, should be taught in public schools. Well, these people are exactly what I called them, BACKWARDS. But, the Midwest is also very diverse and not so backwards as you assume. (Democrats won in several traditionally conservative places) That said, college campuses tend to lean left politically, (few exceptions, namely Vanderbilt, Duke, Davidson).</p>
<p>Okay...clarification...the purpose of this post was not to bash my community; who I am today would be drastically different if I grew up affluently on the eastern seaboard and I am very grateful for my upbringing. I didnt meant to generalizeother people generalized for me. See, I posted this because Ive had my parents, teachers, school superintendent, and even a college admissions officer all tell me to either get out of the Midwest or look at more progressive, east coast schools. People who know me very well and have lived here alot longer than I have. Heck, a lot of kids on CC dont preference going to school here. I want to know if going to college in the Midwest is as dreadful as a lot of people have told me it is. Id <em>like</em> to go to school here, thats why I asked the question. This post had the best of intentions--in fact it was to dispell other people's stereotypes. :) </p>
<p>Also, I only mentioned politics because a lot of the campuses simply dont have a direct outlet for activism and campaigning and such, as much would a place like New York City or Washington DC. And the democrat thing is kinda irrelevant, seeing that Im far more left than that! </p>
<p>The stuff I said in previous posts i.e. Midwest-phobic were all done in jest! I just wanted a serious answer to other peoples perceptions that I previously listed.</p>
<p>Like I said, you could have a blast at Michigan, IU, or Northwestern, all schools in the midwest, and all schools that have great academic programs.</p>
<p>Don't worry, I'm sure that the Midwest has your fair share of coffee houses, art houses, coffee-art houses, and stupid college demonstrations and protests over who-cares-what going on.</p>
<p>I think it depends. I'm applying to schools all across the U.S., including Northwestern, and I'm from Maryland, in the DC area. I'm very excited about going there. It's tied for top choice on my college list :). Being so close to Chicago, there will definitely be plenty of "outlets for activism" and etc. Also, many of the LACs in the midwest are very, very liberal and have active student bodies, so I here. It sounds like going to Macalester, Kalamazoo, Oberlin would be just as great as going to Bates or Bowdoin - maybe better.</p>
<p>But on the other hand, I don't believe stereotypes just come out of thin air. There are places in the South/Midwester/Southwest that I would not like to be, but of course the entiriety of the regions aren't going to be like that at all. For instance, I'm really torn about applying to UTexas-Austin. I like the school, but I'm worried about the state...people from rural Texas will say it's liberal to the maxc0re, but then people from my area will go down to Austin and say, no, you wouldn't like it there, I heard two UTexas boys yell faggot out of a car window at a gay kid...</p>
<p>So, <em>shrug</em>. My advice in short is that there are definitely colleges in the midwest that aren't composed of a bunch of backwards hicks. But visit schools and see for yourself how it feels! That can't be too hard.</p>
<p>P.S. Kids have been known to ride their tractors to school here, too, in jest. I totally don't see that as a negative thing, considering most of their parents are lawyers, doctors, scientists, etc. and they live on multi-million dollar estates :P. And drive their BMWs to school all the other days.</p>
<p>What's it like going to high school in the midwest?</p>
<p>Add more liberals, more alcohol, and more opportunities. Tada. College in the midwest.</p>
<p>If you hate the political/religious/whatever environment of the midwest, you really should go somewhere else. Small towns are going to be small towns, no matter where they are. On the other hand, at most small LACs your life revolves around the school, not the town. Just visit and see how it feels.</p>
<p>"I'm not sure about Grinnell but Oberlin is overwhelming liberal. (I'm assuming from your post that you're feeling a bit stifled by the politics of your area and fear that those leanings are rampant among Midwest colleges.) Fear not! College campuses tend to be more liberal than not, even if they're smack in the middle of the bible belt."
"What about a school like Macalester? It's urban, liberal, and seems to have a lot of unique people."</p>
<p>Why do people always list a campus being liberal as a positive trait? I'm pretty conservative and from what I've seen some almost all college campuses are liberal, which I don't have a problem with. I do, however, have a problem with colleges that are extremely liberal (which people often associate with acceptance) when in fact the people at these colleges are sometimes very closed minded and very intolerant of anyone who has opposing views.</p>
<p>I think it's nice to be at a school where opposing views are accepted. Where I go to school (in the san francisco bay area), that's not really the case. If you are conservative, many people consider you to be evil/greedy, which is why for the most part, Im forced to conceal my political views.</p>
<p>Worried Student speaks the truth. I feel the same way here at my very liberal college. People often equate liberalism with tolerance and conservatism with intolerance when that's not often the case. At our campus, conservative flyers get vandalized, torn down, or both, in fact, our school newspaper (believe it or not) seemed to condone such activity just because the editor disagreed with what the flyers were saying.</p>
<p>I hate how people stereotype the midwest as being all "small towns." There's some pretty huge cities like Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Detroit, Milkwaukee, Columbus, and Cincinatti to name a few. You can get a mix of everything in the midwest, but it has some of the most highly populated states in America.</p>
<p>And Case is a good school in the midwest by the way. It's in downtwon Cleveland. I wouldn't want to go there, but it's a good school.</p>
<p>It's one thing for a liberal to be intolerant of a conservative viewpoint like, say, some environmental thing or how they budget money. But then you have conservatives going around saying gay people are evil and, well, it's no wonder most students equate liberalism with tolerance and conservatism with...uh...scary evangelists. Obviously not all conservative people are like this (I lean conservative and am gay, myself), but the truth is, areas that vote Republican are often SOCIALLY conservative as well, which in most cases does equate to intolerance that is more harmful than somebody saying liking bush is stupid. I guess, what I'm saying is, it's one thing to feel like your political viewpoint isn't accepted, another to feel like /you/ as a person, entirely, aren't accepted, which is what some conservatives make people feel.</p>