<p>The assumption is that they are mean. They’re people – some will be vociferously opposing, but most will be pretty cool.</p>
<p>And – there are Protestants who take Jesus in a liberal direction. So while the school might identify as Protestant Christian, that doesn’t mean there are no liberals. In fact, I bet ideas on economics run the (US) gamut.</p>
<p>Huh?? Who said anything about the students at Wheaton being “mean”??</p>
<p>I am not sure you know what it’s like to be a non-believer in an evangelical Christian school. I do. I am also not sure you know what “evangelical” means. This piece contains interviews with several professors from, of all places, Wheaton College. Here are some excerpts.</p>
<p>[The other thing is an emphasis on evangelism on the idea that the Gospel is not just for a few, but for everyone, and that it’s the job of everyone who is a Christian to let everyone else know about the good news of Jesus Christ.</p>
<p>His four characteristics are: a very strong belief in the Bible as the primary religious authority; a commitment to the practice of conversion, so that people need to be changed in a Christian direction as a basis for participation in the life of God. The third characteristic that he mentions is activism, especially a willingness to tell other people about the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. The fourth characteristic is a special assessment of the work of Christ on the cross. The death and resurrection of Christ is the heart of the Christian faith.</p>
<p>And this is how someone from the National Association of Evangelicals describes it:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Plenty of Protestants are liberal. Some evangelicals may be. But back to the OP’s question, I don’t think Wheaton (or any other super-religious school) would be a good choice for her son.</p>
<p>I was raised a Nazarene. Yes, I know what “evangelical” means. My parents are among the kindest, least judgmental people on earth. Mom won’t let anyone leave their home without food. Lol</p>
<p>My overall view is that kids shouldn’t be afraid of the school’s official stance or unofficial reputation: people who love learning are happy to hear differing views. And people are mostly good wherever you go.</p>
<p>I just think that the kid would be fine at wheaton.</p>
<p>Unless a non Christian lies on their application they aren’t getting in to Wheaton. They require a testimony of faith and recommendation from a pastor. @prezbucky the comment wasn’t implying meanness, it was totally accurate. We visited Wheaton and their core includes many bible courses. Anyone that doesn’t believe the NT won’t feel like they fit in.</p>
<p>Well he could lie. Hehe ;-)</p>
<p>Dang it.</p>
<p>The pastor won’t. They also require and interview and I am certain this is one of the reasons why.</p>
<p>prezbucky, with all due respect, I think you are missing the point. I am sure you and your parents are lovely people. I am sure many people at Wheaton are lovely people. The point is, Wheaton’s stated mission is converting people to its views; education is secondary. I was taught by many teachers who graduated from Wheaton, Calvin College, etc., and I can tell you that academics were not nearly as important as “spreading the word.” Some of these people also have some pretty extreme views about living in a secular world. Someone like you might do fine at a college like Wheaton; I seriously doubt the OP’s son would.</p>
<p>Not sure if anyone else already mentioned it, but check into Clark University.</p>
<p>^ Good suggestion. When we toured Clark I got the feeling the students were very “save the world” types. I really liked Clark but my S, not so much. </p>
<p>Clark is a great suggestion! Had he not ended up at his first choice school, I’m pretty sure S2 would be at Clark. I was very impressed with the whole atmosphere of Clark. The only downside is the part of Worcester Clark’s in IMHO. It’s another of the Colleges that Change Lives as well. </p>
<p>Speaking of Colleges that Change Lives, I’ve seen there is a traveling college tour with that name. Does anyone know much about it?</p>
<p>@Picapole - Go to the CTCL website, and you will find an itinerary for its regional “fairs.” They are worth attending, if only for your child to introduce him or herself to admissions representatives and collect information. Since they are all small colleges, human contact can be very valuable. CTCL deliberately includes colleges from all over the country, which most people won’t be able to visit in person. I brought my son to a fair on the Jersey Shore. There was a general presentation, followed by free time to visit all the individual booths.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the thoughts and suggestions - I’m in a deadline situation for work and won’t be able to post much this week, but I am reading everything and will use this thread as a resource during the next year+, when DS will develop his list of schools. </p>
<p>I am definitely going to look for a CTCL fair. I remember something coming in the mail about a combined school fair, but it wasn’t this, because I remember that UChicago was one of the participating colleges.</p>
<p>NYMomof2, there’s a CTCL event in NYC every year in May. Here’s the listings of all of them:
<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/events/map”>http://www.ctcl.org/events/map</a></p>
<p>I found the presentation at the beginning, given by CTCL’s executive director, to be inspiring. However, my daughter was looking for a college bigger than her 5500-student high school and we didn’t look serously at any small colleges.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, we have a NYC friend who is a rising junior at Grinnell. She grew up on a very worldly environment in the city and loves Grinnell. Some of her friends there are from Chicago and she stays with them during short breaks.</p>
<p>Prezbucky, I live fairly close to the campus of Wheaton. You HAVE to make a statement of faith to go there. It’s very intense evangelically. The atheist or secular kid doesn’t belong there. I think you just made up stuff about it without understanding what it’s like. They are perfectly nice kids - one of my best employees was a Wheaton grad - but it’s a deliberately evangelical college by design. It’s not INTENDED to be “tolerant of other views.” </p>
<p>You know, there was a poster who made the statement once that DePaul U in Chicago was intensely Catholic and a non-Catholic would feel unwelcome, which isn’t the case at all. What you said about Wheaton is just as inaccurate. I really wish people who don’t know anything about a given school would simply say nothing, other than pass on what they “think” a school is like. </p>
<p>An alternate approach: Go to a large school – maybe even one with a party school reputation – but seek out the serious students as friends. </p>
<p>At most large schools, there is a dominant culture, but there are also plenty of people who are not part of it. In terms of sheer numbers, there are probably more serious, non-party-oriented students at State U than there are at a small, church-affiliated liberal arts college. You just have to find them.</p>
<h1>23 Thanks for the link. My D is a vegan who is a freshman at Yale - which got an A. She has been vegan for almost 2 years. Rarely does she have to venture out to vegetarianism and that’s only if she has to break down and eat veggies that have butter on them if there is no other option. I know that they have a vegan option at every meal, including vegan waffles.</h1>
<p>You know, “party school” is not mutually exclusive with “serious academic experience.” For example, many large public universities have reputations as party schools, but because of the sheer number of students there are some who are partiers and some who are serious students. Penn State’s Schreyer Honors College, for example, only has 5% of PSU’s student body in it. But with 40,000 undergraduates, 5% is still 2,000 students, which is larger than some small liberal arts colleges. The honors students live together in exclusive residence halls and have special academic offerings.</p>
<p>I live in State College. I’m just a short drive away from the university (I work there) but I hear NOTHING at night, not even football weekends, except crickets. (My neighborhood is all young professionals and some graduate students.) I have some friends who live downtown - walking distance - who say that their buildings are pretty quiet, too. Each building/complex has its own reputation - the quiet ones, the party ones, etc. I’m sure it’s similar in most American college towns. You can find quiet places to live and study.</p>
<p>You put together a bunch of 18-22 year olds, and even the most academically serious of them will have a little fun from time to time. And there are notes about incidents at many top colleges - but one single incident doesn’t make them a party school or not. Wesleyan’s in the news these days for the young lady who fell out of the fraternity window during a party, but I don’t think anyone would call Wesleyan a party school. I also attended an Ivy for grad school and worked with the undergrads there, and they are work hard/play hard. There was definitely drinking and partying, but there was also Serious Academic Work going on too.</p>
<p>What happened to the OP?</p>
<p>Thanks for reviving the thread, Goodkidsdad. It does sound like a possibility that we should consider.</p>
<p>You have a good point, Marilyn, about the advantages of large schools. I tend to think that DS would be better off in a smaller school, but we will consider some large schools, too.</p>