<p>im thinking of going there and was wondering
thanks</p>
<p>um...it's LA. tell me what you think. ok, fine i'll just answer. it's gonna be liberal. they have programs for accepting latinos, homosexuals, and other special interest groups, and they are very internationally oriented. you'll definitely find conservatives there because it's a very diverse population, but expect mostly liberal ideals, especially in the case of accepting everyone as equals.</p>
<p>uhhh, actually there are very few conservatives around, if any. The overall campus orientation definitely leans to the left.</p>
<p>If you want conservative, then look up Pepperdine.</p>
<p>or Dartmouth</p>
<p>True, the majority of students are what I would call "liberal"...but there are many conservative students as well...and sometimes they can be quite vocal :)</p>
<p>thanks for the replies thus far</p>
<p>so would you say that the politcal science departments and int. relations are fairly liberal as well?</p>
<p>Even if you consider yourself conservative, you won't have any problems at USC unless you come here to specifically pick fights with liberals.</p>
<p>Part of it just has to do with the fact that, we'll it's the University of Southern CALIFORNIA. California as a whole is a fairly liberal state, so pretty much all the large colleges here will have its share of liberals (unless it has religious ties, like Pepperdine).</p>
<p>We were encouraged the USC student population might possibly be a bit more ideologically diverse as we know a number of conservatives (as well as liberals) who have graduated from USC. One of the college guides we read also indicated they thought the USC student body was the most conservative of the major colleges in CA. I hear the political science and history departments at USC lean pretty left, though...can anyone confirm or deny?</p>
<p>As an aside, last weekend we asked the history chair at UCSB how many in his department had ever voted for a single Republican for President...he said maybe 25%, but not that many are registered Republicans. </p>
<p>It's too bad, as students would really benefit from more of a free exchange and debate of ideas of all kinds...the best way for students to learn is to be exposed to everything, instead of such a narrow range of thought.</p>
<p>i consider myself liberal rather than conservative so thats def not a problem</p>
<p>i had heard the usc was pretty conservative and thats why i decided to ask</p>
<p>USC is actually pretty liberal, but there are conservativres as well. The democratic national debate was held at USC about 2 years ago I think.</p>
<p>the reason you see mostly liberals in the history department is because conservatives are not as comfortable with the nation's past. liberals like to point out the atrocities/embarrassments of america's past in order to apply them to current events (i.e. to try and learn from past mistakes). conservatives, on the other hand, tend to focus on the present, telling liberals to do the same, or they just deny atrocities altogether.</p>
<p>For a university...USC is relatively in the middle, especially if you consider it in comparison to the extremely liberal Cal and extremely conservative Pepperdine. I guess I would say that the school leans a little to the left...but it isnt overt and overpowering on campus.</p>
<p><<conservatives, on="" the="" other="" hand,="" tend="" to="" focus="" present,="" telling="" liberals="" do="" same,="" or="" they="" just="" deny="" atrocities="" altogether.="">></conservatives,></p>
<p>As a history major/poli sci minor, I find that an inaccurate assessment, based on my personal experience, but I'll leave it at that, as that's pretty tangential to the original discussion.</p>
<p>why should you care???
expand your mind.
p.s.... you're like what, 17? 18? i think it's a little tough to label yourself politically when most of the issues discussed you've yet to experience. don't get me wrong, its great to be politically active- right now i'm accepted as a poly sci major at USC- but don't let things like this determine where you'll go to college. yes, you want a school to be a good fit for you, but don't be overly obsessed by labels like "liberal" and "conservative" that only serve to build walls up between people... yaheard?!?!?
go to college with an open mind, whether you be a "liberal" or "conservative"...</p>
<p>again thanks for all the replies </p>
<p>and thats a nice point as well sarah</p>
<p>thanks...
sorry if my post came off a little hot-tempered...
i just automatically assumed you were like one of the kids from my school... ugh. : )</p>
<p>Zelda, you're making some pretty broad, sweeping generalizations. I'm not sure I agree with you in the slightest. </p>
<p>I consider myself a South Park Conservative. I think it suits me best. Meaning, I'm liberal with social issues and conservative with economical ones. No, I'm not a libertarian, I tend to think they have extreme ideals with ways to solve problems.</p>
<p>bottom line: i don't think it's a good idea to let the generalizations of how liberal/conservative the school is affect your decision. It won't be a big thing if you don't make it a big thing. I haven't made it a big thing.</p>
<p>beammeup4... how odd that we have the same exact viewpoint, haha! : )</p>
<p>when you reference history in politics, you are most often not talking about economic issues, although every action has SOME monetary impact on the country. thus, i was referring to conservatives' views on embarrassing social decisions by past american leaders. what i was trying to say is that liberals TEND (notice that by using this word i was implying a generalization, as i know there are many variations and exceptions) to over-emphasize historical failures, while conservatives either alter the motivations behind these decisions or completely ignore that they happened. a few examples would be the bombing of hiroshima and the my lai massacre. conservatives would certainly argue vehemently as to why japan <em>needed</em> to be bombed (with liberals sarcastically disapproving) and shy away from confronting the my lai massacre.</p>