<p>I am very conservative but love New York City. I am interested in majoring in economics, and nothing against liberals but I was wondering if the economics department may draw more conservatives, etc. Pretty much.. is NYU worth applying to for a hardcore conservative hahah?</p>
<p>There were less than a dozen people in Young Republicans last year. Every other political club had more, even the Socialists had more people in their club. </p>
<p>You CAN be conservative at NYU, but please remember that it’s smack dab in the middle of one of the most liberal areas in the entire COUNTRY. NYU made Princeton Review’s “Most Gay Friendly Campuses” at NUMBER ONE.</p>
<p>I know there are some conservative professors in the politics department, but I’m not sure about economics. (Econ at Stern or CAS?) If you’re hardcore conservative but also open minded enough to accept other people (gay, libertarian, feminists, etc) you’ll be fine here. There are conservative New Yorkers. Just don’t be an ass about it.</p>
<p>I think you need to exemplify what “conservative” means to you, since one’s perception of “conservative” and “liberal” might mean something totally different.</p>
<p>If you’re conservative as in you are not very open-minded, then I really do not think that you should apply to NYU.</p>
<p>If you can handle being around a lot of people who don’t agree with your political views, a lot of people of different races and backgrounds, and a lot of people who are gay, then go ahead. It’s not just the school that’s liberal, it’s the whole city.</p>
<p>There’s a few conservatives, but you need to be ready for an extreme imbalance towards liberal beliefs. I happen to be a moderate who leans right, and in our power of politics program there happens to be a few that share similar ideals (or are more conservative than me). </p>
<p>You’ll have to watch out for the extreme liberal hippies (aka the tree huggers, socialists, etc). they are in full force around the city (in the residential college program, they have a stream named “the green stream” and some of the people in there want to have plants outside their dorm rooms in the hall. nuff said.)</p>
<p>I’m pretty conservative and I’m going to stern this fall.</p>
<p>basically, all that we’re saying is that you’ll find a niche if you come to NYU and NY, just please be respectful of everyone else that’s here. </p>
<p>NYers don’t take crap from anyone, and they WILL call people out on their bull.</p>
<p>Greenwich Village has been liberal long before any of us were even born, and it is definitely NOT changing any time soon.</p>
<p>i’m just bitter over how much of an ass the young Republicans leader had to be to everyone last year, it was completely unnecessary.</p>
<p>^ I’m curious to know what that’s about? I saw a news report about an NYU young Republicans leader doing an activity called “find the illegal immigrant” or something, but I think that was a couple years ago.</p>
<p>No, Stern is liberal like the rest of NYU. NYU is very libeal, and no you won’t be welcome with open arms if tell people you’re “conservative” or “republican”. Especially in Manhattan, of all places.</p>
<p>@kyle</p>
<p>a lot of the upper east side is historically Republican. there are conservatives and Republicans in Manhattan, believe it or not. </p>
<p>@Abby</p>
<p>it was incredibly offensive to a lot of people. i wasn’t around when it happened, but NYU hasn’t exactly accepted Young Republicans ever since. it was badly planned and people were polarized over it.</p>
<p>[Through</a> the Magnifying Glass: NYU College Republicans’ “Find the Illegal Immigrant” Causes Uproar](<a href=“http://blog.case.edu/james.chang/2007/02/22/nyu_college_republicans_find_the_illegal_immigrant_causes_uproar]Through”>http://blog.case.edu/james.chang/2007/02/22/nyu_college_republicans_find_the_illegal_immigrant_causes_uproar)</p>
<p>i don’t want this to turn into a Democrats vs. Republicans debate thread. i’m a Young Democrat and i was in “NYU Students for Barack Obama” last year, btw. but i’m also a lifelong NYer.</p>
<p>I think the notion that conservatives aren’t welcome in NYC is ********. While it is true that NYC as a whole is liberal, it is also an extremely diverse city and with that comes diversity of ideas. There were people at my orientation who had conservative beliefs. I consider myself independent because I don’t agree with either extreme. The point is that I’m sure in this huge city and even at a notoriously liberal school like NYU you will find people with both similar and different beliefs from your own.</p>
<p>I have issues with liberals who tell conservatives that their beliefs are okay as long as the conservatives aren’t *******s about it. One might tell the liberals that just because they’re the majority doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be held to the same principles. I understand that being open minded in a city like New York and at a school like NYU is vital, and that’s where the warnings to the conservatives come in. What I’m saying is that while I agree that people with conservative views shouldn’t come to NYU and advocate against things like gay rights and ethnic diversity, I also feel that the liberals shouldn’t hear the word “conservative” and immediately take up their swords. </p>
<p>Anyway that little rant was my two cents worth. In short, I’m sure you’ll find other conservatives at NYU and if you can keep an open mind and accept ideas that differ from your own you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>missamericanpie: I remember watching some NYU young republican on Fox and the guy was like, “well I just don’t see how this is racist, illegal immigrants aren’t necessarily Hispanic; it’s the other side that’s being racist by jumping to conclusions.” He acted so smug and the anchor just laughed along with it. I was pretty apolitical at the time but the incident really turned me off of conservatism. </p>
<p>Also my mom calls Staten Island “the 7%”. Meaning that all the people who voted for Bush in 2004 live on Staten Island. I have no idea if that’s true.</p>
<p>@abby</p>
<p>Staten Island did vote conservative, but people forget that Staten Island is also particularly religious, which would lead them to be pro-life and thus, Republican. Certain areas in the other parts of NYC follow the same pattern.</p>
<p>Lauren, according to the election results district by district, the Upper East Side is still “democrat” and votes democrat. The UES/Georgetown set is what people on the right like to coin as “liberal elite”.</p>
<p>And Manhattan voted about 90% for Obama last year. 90%!. The only conservative part of New York City is Staten Island but it seems to be trending blue, because Bush won Staten Island by 18% while McCain only won by 5%. But none the less, it’s still conservative.</p>
<p>And I stand by my assessment that in general, people will look at you different at NYU when if you proclaim that you’re republican or conservative. I have no prejudices, I am more moderate myself (well socially I’m a flaming liberal - lol) and have conservative friends who complain about the same thing at NYU or in the Manhattan scene.</p>
<p>@kyle</p>
<p>huh, i didn’t know that about the UES. i was going by my personal experience when i was doing internship work at 21 Club and found out that it was a benefit dinner for the McCain/Palin campaign, and that most of the attendees were from the wealthier parts of Manhattan. that’s interesting!</p>
<p>Wow lots of responses, thanks. And it seems what you have been hitting on is it’s okay if you are open minded. As conservative as I am, I have nothing against gays (my closest cousin is gay) as well as ethnic diversity (my best friend is black). I am open-minded, so it appears it may not be a bad decision to apply to NYU. Or am I wrong?</p>
<p>hey, if you’re a good fit for the University as a whole, why not apply? </p>
<p>one of the best things about NYC is that you’ll find your place somewhere.</p>
<p>Just because you are conservative, don’t let that stop you from applying. The one thing great about NYU is the diversity of ideas, cultures, religions, political thought and sexual orientation/identity. It is always good to agree to disagree. You can find your tribe here.</p>
<p>If however, you are not tolerant or respectful of other thoughts, ideas, beliefs, cultural difference and sexual identity then you will definitely not be happy at NYU.
But best of all you should really visit to get the full flavor of NYU.</p>
<p>As long as you don’t explode into a fit of hysterics every time someone disagrees with you politically, I think you’ll be fine. I’m also a moderate who leans to the right when it comes to social issues, and I do just fine here. You don’t have to agree with everyone or anyone, but you will have to be uber tolerant-- that just comes with the territory with living in such a diverse city. </p>
<p>Also, I think there are a lot more “conservative” minded people at NYU than people make it out to seem. After all, I don’t go around pronouncing my views to everyone, so I’m sure there are others like me who generally keep quiet about their political views.</p>