<p>I'm just a typical conservative Republican from the south, and I'm hoping to get admitted into Yale next year. I'm vice president of the Young Republicans club at our school, and my family also always votes Republicans in elections. I understand that most prestigious universities typically lean to the left, but how liberal exactly is Yale? Does Obama, for instance, come fairly often for speeches? Do other liberal democrat politicians come frequently?</p>
<p>I think Yale does a good job of having people from all perspectives. I’m sure they invite liberal and conservative speakers to give presentations, and you’ll definitely find students from both sides of the spectrum. Don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>I wish Obama came to give speeches. No, Yale does not discriminate against Republicans in admissions. The YPU, in fact, has a very healthy conservative block, with 3 parties (The Conservative Party, the Tory Party, and the Party of the Right) going strong. There are also hundreds and hundreds more who are conservative and not part of the YPU. Being conservative at Yale is cool (I have a couple conservative friends) and it actually lends to some pretty cool conversations. But you can’t try and shove it into people’s faces and not be amenable to others having their own liberal opinions and displaying it on campus. If you’re that kind of Republican, don’t come to Yale.</p>
<p>Most people (not a huge majority, but a significant one) at Yale are liberal. If you’re the kind of conservative that doesn’t like being exposed to different viewpoints or to debate and defend your views, then Yale’s probably not the place for you. I have several conservative friends, and we argue a lot, but I don’t think they feel in any way out of place at Yale; there are plenty of conservative professors as well as liberal ones, and we’re all very respectful of one another’s opinions for the most part. Yes, liberal politicians will come and speak, but conservative ones do too, and it’s not as if you’re forced to attend speeches.</p>
<p>It’s a huge majority - at least 80-20 - and the atmosphere is one of overwhelming liberalness and political correctness. This is the institution, after all, that got rid of The Game shirts saying “I think of Harvard men are sissies” (the F. Scott Fitzgerald quote) because the LBGT Coop whined about it. With that said, you should find a refuge, and know that is general, top institutions are oppressively left wing, so it’s not an issue endemic to Yale.</p>
<p>My Yale-student D comes from a “typical” conservative Republican background and is perfectly comfortable at Yale. While the majority of her friends list Democrat as their political preference on FB, some of them are Republican and most of them come from traditionally conservative backgrounds: nuclear family, fiscally conservative, mainstream values.</p>
<p>Pretty much mostly liberal… but I’m a moderate conservative and I like to bash my ultra-liberal friends from time to time. The overwhelming political correctness atmosphere is at times a little too much though; someone above mentioned the F Scott Fitzgerald t-shirt incident. However just be yourself, voice your convictions loudly and with spirit, and no one here will hate you for it.</p>
<p>Definitely need to be prepared to defend your opinions (if you’re vocal about them) and be prepared for flyers, posters, and articles about some cause. Definitely be prepared for whining. But to be honest, I think most liberals are also annoyed by them. I for one thought the Co-op’s whining about the shirts was unnecessary. Sometimes the “protests” are warranted. A lot of the times they’re not that serious.</p>
<p>I think it’s cute how all these 18-year-olds think the political views that they have grown up with in the bosoms of their families are an immutable part of their identities. Um, no. People actually change their views in college, often a lot.</p>
<p>By and large, they tend to move leftward. That was true – even more true than it is today – long before college faculties were dominated by liberals. Some move to the right. I think that people who come out of political monocultures – like Southern Republicans or Pennsylvania Quakers – tend to find themselves challenged and attracted by the variety of intelligent positions all over the political spectrum that they encounter in college.</p>
<p>My kids have several friends who came out of solidly left-wing Quaker schools here (and solidly left-wing families) who became hard-core free-market conservative/libertarians in college. On the other side, I know a family where the parents were rock-solid Republican bankers in rural Nebraska. Kid #1 went to Yale, and became liberal. The parents were terribly upset. Kid #2 was not allowed to apply to college anywhere in the Northeast or California. She went to Duke, and became liberal. Kid #3 was not given any option other than the University of Nebraska. Guess what? Liberal, too. She wound up moving to New York.</p>
<p>One tip for fitting in: don’t write “democrat politicians” if you mean “Democratic politicians.” Using “democrat” as an adjective in this way is a deliberate (although piddling) insult used by some Republicans.</p>
<p>I’m sure you’ll be fine. I went to an extremely Conservative, Southern Baptist, Republican high school in Texas. I don’t fit into any of those categories, and my political stance has remained the same, regardless of the people around me. I have learned diplomacy a lot better, though. </p>
<p>Like JHS said, college is a time where we find ourselves and our beliefs challenged, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You’ll come out either a) enlightened or b) stronger in your convictions.</p>
<p>Notable conservative alumni: George Bush, George W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Dick Cheney, and many others. Even Glenn Beck briefly went to Yale. Not to mention many prominent business execs who probably lean conservative. </p>
<p>You will usually find a general liberal majority on every college campus (except perhaps business-only colleges), though you will find plenty of conservatives at most of them.</p>
<p>The Yale Political Union Conservative Party (prominent member: William Buckley, Jr.), sponsors a weekly lecture series hosting many conservative speakers (as well as speakers who self-identify as liberals), there is a Tory Party, Party of the Right, and a newly forming Federalist Party within the Yale Political Union. There is also a chapter of the Yale Republicans, and other special interest groups specifically organized around issues usually associated with social conservativism: example: the pro-life group, CLAY (Choose Life at Yale); a chapter of the St. Anscombe society (promoting traditional values of love and marriage), and the Yale College Libertarians.</p>
<p>The campus seems particularly encouraging of engaged and vibrant debate–a recent congressman speaking to the YPU was highly impressed. Any student who can defend their views cogently and eloquently will generally be treated respectfully (and argued with over dinner).</p>
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<p>This list makes me sick to my stomach. Especially the last three names. Seriously?</p>
<p>Only the first two graduated from Yale College. Ford, Alito, and Thomas are Yale Law School alumni, having gotten their undergraduate degrees at Michigan, Princeton, and Holy Cross, respectively. Dick Cheney started college at Yale but left before finishing his first year, and continued his education at the University of Wyoming.</p>
<p>Whichever side of the political spectrum you fall, you will find “sick to your stomach” alumni at all the Ivies. Point is, whatever your views and beliefs, you will have plenty company at these schools. Plenty of opposition too, which is probably a good thing.</p>
<p>I went to an all business college in the 80s, during the Reagan era. Talk about partisan. Only liberal I ever saw was when Amy Carter came over from Brown to speak.</p>
<p>“One tip for fitting in: don’t write “democrat politicians” if you mean “Democratic politicians.” Using “democrat” as an adjective in this way is a deliberate (although piddling) insult used by some Republicans.”</p>
<p>Huh? I thought it was the other way around, after all, even Republicans are under the democratic system. What’s wrong with calling members of the Democratic Party Democrat politicians, or just Democrats, for short?</p>
<p>If you would find liberal politicians coming to campus to give speeches offensive, then Yale is not the place for you. Most of my conservative friends were pleasantly surprised at how welcoming Yale is, but they’re the sort of folks who came to New Haven actively hoping to be challenged in their political views. They embrace the many liberal and conservative thinkers who come to campus and work as professors, and enjoy the opportunity to debate prominent politicians of many political persuasions at the YPU. </p>
<p>Yale frequently has liberal and conservative thinkers coming to campus. Many conservative students who come here move left (I’m one of them) and many liberal students move right. Expect to be challenged constantly for four years. If this bothers you, then you may want to reconsider applying.</p>
<p>I agree with posts #9 and #10. I was going to say something along the same lines, but am glad that JHS and Hunt did it first (and probably much better).</p>
<p>Re Dick Cheney: According to two sources, his own characterization is that he “flunked out” of Yale. [Dick</a> Cheney - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney]Dick”>Dick Cheney - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>In today’s New York Times: </p>
<p>McChrystal to Teach Course at Yale</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/08/16/us/politics/AP-US-McChrystal-Retirement.html?hp[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/08/16/us/politics/AP-US-McChrystal-Retirement.html?hp</a></p>