<p>I am starting at Wooster in the fall, so I think I can shed some light on this.</p>
<p>On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being very conservative and 10 being very liberal, Wooster is probably a 7. </p>
<p>However, Wooster is not especially politically active, at least as compared to most LACs.</p>
<p>Anyone know how Wooster compares to Kalamazoo in terms of “liberalness?”</p>
<p>Are you looking for relatively liberal or relatively conservative? If you want more conservative, I’d look at some of the excellent Jesuit schools in the Midwest such as Loyola-Chicago, Marquette, Xavier, St. Louis etc. They vary in size so you need to do some research, but I think at least Xavier is pretty small (4,000 or so undergrads).</p>
<p>She’s not religious, though.</p>
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<p>The latter may be an issue at most colleges.The first two not so much.</p>
<p>I would think out of 1 to 10 (1 the most conservative to 10 the most liberal) this is how they rank:</p>
<p>1 - Denison
4 - Southwestern
5 - Wooster </p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p>^ hm interesting</p>
<p>The only colleges where she’ll find <em>some</em> people who are “anti-gay” MAY be on religious campuses and only those of the evangelical variety where in their application students state that they are not gay and do not condone that lifestyle choice (usually worded thus). Even there the wording has considerably changed and a large number of conservative, evangelical colleges no longer expel students for being gay as long as they’re not in a relationship (and even that is being challenged, at schools like Baylor for example most recently).
If she’s not religious and won’t attend a religious school, she probably needs a “middle of the road” college because even “conservative” non religious colleges aren’t so much socially conservative as they are fiscally conservative – even though obviously there’s some overlap. But when I think non-religious conservative colleges I think of schools like George Mason or Wake Forest and conservatism would apply more to Obamacare, guns, fiscal policies, role of government in people’s lives, etc.
I don’t think Wooster would be “too much” for her though.</p>
<p>That’s just not true. There are plenty of secular schools where homophobia isn’t unheard of, some even in liberal states. The reality is, even though my generation is far more accepting than previous ones, many still cling onto absurd notions about homosexuality and carry those attitudes into college. Antigay bullying is still a huge problem and the perpetrators aren’t just found at schools like Bob Jones.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think something that’s more “middle of the road” would suit her. I’m hoping that she’ll “grow out” of her homophobia - I just think that she doesn’t know the facts for herself. Our dad is very “masculine” and therefore he thinks that it’s “weird” and “wrong” to “want to be gay.” She’s only going by what she hears from Dad - she doesn’t take the time to judge things for herself. She doesn’t listen to me, but I think if she were to be submersed into a culture that isn’t like her conservative high school, I think she could benefit from the diversity. I should also mention that she wants to go to a “white” school. Her high school has like 2 people of color in it and she likes the non-diverse environment. I, however, think she could benefit from a paradigm shift. I graduated from the same high school and I’m thriving at my “left” college. It’s taught me to be more accepting of others and it has been beneficial for me. I think she could use a similar experience.</p>
<p>I think you should let your sister be her own person, if she doesn’t want to apply and go to Wooster, that’s fine, don’t make her. If she wants to be a conservative that’s fine, don’t try to change her.
She wasn’t trying to get you to apply to large mostly conservative schools like LSU. Don’t do it to her, let her be her own person.</p>
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<p>Suggest Smith College to her, seems like she needs a reality check.</p>
<p>The real question is why you are so emotionally invested in your sister’s college choice. This is the third or fourth thread you’ve posted about it. She’s not you and you’re not her. Every college is going to have some seekers and non-conformists. If she’s not interested in exploring alternative viewpoints now, shoving them down her throat is not likely to help.</p>
<p>Whenhen sorry I wasn’t clear. I certainly do not want to suggest that anti gay bullying is not a huge problem in all kinds of schools. however the kind of school that would condone it is rare nowadays and I can’t imagine a secular school encouraging a student group to ‘normalize gay kids into straight’ for example, something that would be seen as positive on some religious conservative campuses since it would helpthe students avoid pin and thus save their soul. I don’t think OP is wrong in trying to find schools that would be acceptable to his sister while exposing her to other ways of thinking.</p>
<p>Yes, I am shoving this down her throat. I think she could use a reality check. It does’t help that I am really pushing for a liberal school, and that may be just because I love mine and I think she could benefit from gaining new perspectives. I realize that we are different people, but understand that it is not my intention to make her miserable in college. I think it’s beneficial for someone to be open-minded to everything, and her conservative high school is not conductive to that. My intentions are good and honest, but she does think that I’m being pushy and controlling. She’s much more laid-back than I - she doesn’t research colleges. She won’t even read the articles I sent her on liberal arts education. I did what was best for myself, and I’m trying to steer her in the direction that I took. I realize that liberal arts schools aren’t for everyone, but I still think she could benefit from small class sizes, teachers interested in teaching, and research for undergrads.</p>
<p>Of course I’m biased. I did my research and I’m happy with the path I chose. I’m surrounded by students and professors who think the same way in terms of undergraduate education. When you have professors who say that “universities are no place for undergrads” and “I would send my kid to any of the top 100 LACs than Harvard,” you tend to encourage that mentality. They know they’re biased. </p>
<p>The topic of “university vs. liberal arts school” is such a sticky one. People really do have their opinions.</p>
<p>She thinks I’m one of those liberals who "pushes things on people and always assumes the position of being “right.” I can’t argue with her, but when you have some saying that “people choose to be gay,” “God doesn’t make gay people,” and “people hurt people, guns don’t,” you get angry if you’re me. She bought a license plate frame that says “God, Guns, and Guts Made America Free.” I can’t disagree with her more.</p>
<p>Going to a certain type of college does not guarantee that one will adopt a certain mentality. There is almost certainly more political and intellectual diversity at a large state university than at any given LAC, and I say this as a LAC supporter. Just because your sister may end up going to a large university does not mean that she’s doomed to a life as a knuckle-dragging neanderthal. You seem overly concerned about classifying colleges by political bent. It’s not that simple.</p>
<p>I’m sure that there is more diversity at a larger school, but I think she’s the type that may get lost in the crowd. For example, she doesn’t ask questions in class - I don’t know how a state school could be good for someone who doesn’t like to speak up in class. She also doesn’t have a clear idea of what she wants to do after college in terms of careers. Well, at least she never talks about that kind of stuff.</p>
<p>The only thing she’s been talking about all summer is getting her driver’s license. She is not interested in the college search. She hasn’t even visited any local schools. She’s not worried about it at all like I was when I was her age.</p>
<p>Plus, she’s very against drinking, drugs, and premarital sex. She thinks she can avoid those things by attending a “non freak show” school. She doesn’t get it. I don’t understand why she can’t accept those things as they are and just not participate in them. I should add that when I was her age, I wanted to avoid those things like the plague too - I applied to schools like Wheaton. Wheaton’s covenant intrigued me. It took me a long time to accept those things as being socially acceptable. I don’t do them myself, but that doesn’t mean that I need to shun people who do participate (or even shun the activities.) I really want her to be more open-minded to stuff like this - not because I’m encouraging her to participate in these activities, but because I want to show her that they aren’t all bad like she thinks they are.</p>
<p>What you tactfully call conservative many conservatives would object to because some of it just sounds like intolerance to me. - conservatives don’t think a school should be basically all-white for example - you mentioned that as one of her criteria. Her high school sounds narrow-minded rather than conservative and there are a lot of conservatives who would vehemently disagree with what passes for ideology. it’s a lot more than ‘God and guns’ sheesh. so your intentions are good- he your sister is to be a conservative at least she should know what that means and be exposed to more open-minded versions of it.
however she may be reacting to your investment. 
Big brother thinks A I’ll show him and do C and certainly not anything like him If you’re travelling near colleges. sure suggest a visit; request information from colleges you think she may get interested in, middle of the road colleges that sue’s not likely to find objectionable. do NOT say ‘I got you college brochures’ in fact say nothing about it. let it sit and give her time to process. she may not be as college-focused as you were but she still has time to think about it. Give her that time - and anonymously get her shiny brochures to look at :)</p>
<p>You are clearly a very interested, caring brother but at this point it seems like you are getting a bit too invested in sorting out your sister’s college choices. It seems time to give her a list of schools you think might be good fits and let her start doing her own research. – I’d also suggest some mid-sized universities to your list for her. My quiet, conservative son who I thought would love a small LAC felt they were uncomfortably small – he loved his mid-sized university which had small classes and he found his place with the ministry organization on campus. You never know a person’s reaction until they actually see some schools.</p>