<p>Hi, I'm a pretty conservative person and I just wanted to hear from current students on how liberal cornell is. Can conservatives survive there? I mean I'm sure it's liberal like every colleges but a reason I didn't apply to Berkeley was it's conspicuous, in-your-face liberalism. Is cornell anything like that? I was recently accepted and I will attend but I want to make sure I can fit in there first.</p>
<p>it is the most liberal place on the face of the planet. it makes Berkeley look like an Amish church. the average professor at Cornell scorns bill maher for what they call “radical conservatism.”
just kidding, i have no idea. im not going to be able to visit until my spring break in april.</p>
<p>I know a lot of conservatives, but the campus definitely leans liberal. There is a decent sized conservative community though.</p>
<p>my opinion - very liberal</p>
<p>If you are looking to be politically active, Cornell’s right-leaning groups are very active and I’m sure you’ll find a role there. If you are just wondering if you will be offended by liberalism in classes, etc. the answer is generally not really. I was an Econ/Govt major and I generally found professors impartial (and I’m by no means on the left). Will liberal groups be handing out quarter-cards and hosting left events? Yes, but you don’t have to attend them. Unless you are in the government, ilr, or history major (and maybe a few others), most students are generally politically apathetic.</p>
<p>My observation is: liberal, just like all other universities (even the universities in conservative states)</p>
<p>But people who “think” for themselves will not just blindly follow the crowd. Each person has his own identity. I think you’ll be fine there.</p>
<p>I’m looking to be politically active on the right so it sounds like I should be fine. Thanks guys!</p>
<p>ScholarAthlete: don’t buy into the popular media when they paint the “liberal” label on colleges as if people w/o liberal tendencies are savagely attacked there. It’s a popular whipping boy in the Fox news-type media. In reality, they are well-versed and politically aware communities where all sides have a voice. If you go with an idea to have discourse you’re fine. If you go with an idea to only defend your points of view, you’ll be guilty of the thing you originally were wary about – being like a bunch of non-compromising or irrational liberals, only for conservative ideas.</p>
<p>The conservative groups here are slightly less strident and self important than the liberals, if that answers your question.</p>
<p>You’ll be fine if you don’t talk about politics 24/7. That goes for liberals too.</p>
<p>Liberal enough. Politics don’t dominate the campus. Hell, a good number of people may not even be very informed thanks to the fact that many of them don’t even have the time to check up on news and current events.</p>
<p>Ithaca is very liberal. Cornell is a large university - so you can likely find other conservatives there but you won’t be in the majority.</p>
<p>From a 2007 CC post </p>
<p>"Cornell freshman in 2004 self-identify most often as liberal or very liberal (43%), followed closely by middle of the road (40%), with only 16.5% identifying themselves as conservative or very conservative. </p>
<p>…</p>
<p>Cornell students tend to be liberal, but if you’re apathetic, moderate, or conservative you still have plenty of company. "</p>
<p>Cornell is as liberal as you want it to be. The great thing about this place is there’s always someone you can relate to and they’re not that hard to find. No matter what your interests are, which seem to be staying conservative, you’ll find someone who agrees with you and supports it. No one is going to shove their opinions in your face unless you ask them to. Personally I’ve found the best conversations I’ve had here are with the people I disagree with because it’s a chance to learn about another perspective of a topic. However you are free to choose who you’ll be friends with and what you’ll talk about.</p>