<p>So, I think if you are choosing a school for it’s advertised worldview, that would be political. The OP says she wants schools that are not political. Although, some posters seem not to want to believe her for some reason. And, she seems to have disappeared after being called an idiot. I wonder why? lol. </p>
<p>People can also hotly disagree about the right way to bring about social change they all want. There are major strategic rifts, for example, within the anti-abortion and pro-gay-marriage movements. Should we seek incremental change or all-or-nothing change? Should we move via the courts or the legislatures? Should our rhetoric be moderate and conciliatory or fiery and emotional? </p>
<p>Did anybody actually call the OP an idiot? I can’t find that, although I’m still having problems with the search function.</p>
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<p>See the next sentence about mainstream.</p>
<p>The point was that the conservative are predominantly viewed with scorn by a majority. Left leaning schools represent the overwhelming majority of colleges in the country. </p>
<p>Is there a difference? If a 2300 SAT with great GPA and EC asked this forum where he should go to either avoid a very political school or … embrace it with passion, he might be told to look at Wheaton or Bob Jones in the first case, and for the latter … about every selective school in the nation. </p>
<p>In a way, this argument reminds me of the Roberts Vs Sotomayor positions on discrimination expressed in the Fisher SCOTUS decision. There are things we seem to accept but still do not like to have to address. The colleges are on the left of center by a huge margin, but some prefer to think they are truly balanced with equal representation and a representation that follows our political distribution. </p>
<p>@Flossy, I still scan the thread. I kind of feel like Eris after throwing the apple … wow. What did I do? 8-| </p>
<p>I still scan the thread. Some suggestions are helpful.</p>
<h1>182 - see post #41</h1>
<p>Personally, I’m waiting for Xiggi to cross the political line and get this thread shut down by monitors. </p>
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I certainly agree that the colleges are on the left of center by a huge margin. I suspect that we may disagree about why that is.</p>
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<p>Making such a sweeping declaration of most colleges as left-leaning says much more about your own political stances than anything else.</p>
<p>It also sounds odd considering conservative folks I know from HS and other parts of my life had no issues feeling comfortable at colleges like UVA, Dartmouth, Princeton, W & M, Pepperdine, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, or even Columbia. </p>
<p>They also found plenty of fellow conservatives/libertarians with which to rally around. </p>
<p>Also, some departments do tend to be more right leaning…even to the libertarian side. </p>
<p>Some examples depending on colleges and individual Profs: Economics*, Business, US History/Politics, engineering/CS, etc. </p>
<p>Another thing to keep in mind is that in comparison to many Western European countries, our political spectrum tends to skew much more rightward, especially after 2000. What would be considered left-leaning democrats here in the US would be more on the right end of their political spectrum. </p>
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<li>The Chicago school of Economic theory under Milton Friedman is one good example and a reason why some right-leaning HS classmates who were interested in econ applied/flocked there in droves whereas others avoided it for the same reasons.<br></li>
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<p>“The OP says she wants schools that are not political.”</p>
<p>I don’t believe there is such an animal, so I googled, “colleges and universities which are apolitical.” This is what came up: <a href=“Google”>Google;
<p>Then I googled “colleges and universities where students are apolitical” and got this: <a href=“Google”>Google;
<p>Then I googled “colleges and universities where students aren’t interested in political activism” and got this: <a href=“Google”>Google;
<p>The CC thread was #5 on first page. </p>
<p>There was also an article on “activism” at three colleges in Virginia - Lynchburg, Liberty and Sweet Briar. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/area-colleges-see-flurry-of-political-activism/article_282fd64a-0ebc-54a0-a987-04831d15aa34.html?mode=jqm”>Area colleges see flurry of political activism;
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<p>Supply and demand. If there were a big market for right leaning schools, there would be more of them. As of now there’s not much demand. Maybe that will change</p>
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<p>Katliamom, it would be hard to cross the political line as long as the context remains about education and colleges. Unless I read the TOS incorrectly, such discussions have always been permitted. </p>
<p>If there is a particular element in my post that annoys me, please let me know, and I will make sure to avoid repeating. Isn’t that how free speech works after all? </p>
<p>Lol no, that has nothing to do with free speech, at least not in the constitutional sense</p>
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<p>I don’t think that supply or demand will dictate the political leanings of schools in the US. The political leanings of any school are more so reflective of the student bodies themselves, not necessarily the school itself. Geography will also play a role. “Demand” for more conservative schools won’t result in conservative-minded schools to pop up - students who highly value a school having a conservative political scene have options open to them, but I don’t think a higher amount of right-leaning students will inherently result in more right-leaning schools… The students may spread out and introduce more conservative sentiments, but that would be a result of their own behavior.</p>
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<p>Try this “The point was that the conservative COLLEGES are predominantly viewed with scorn by a majority. Left leaning schools represent the overwhelming majority of colleges in the country.”</p>
<p>While omitting the word college was all my doing, I thought it was clear I was talking about conservative colleges. And to avoid further confusion, conservative colleges are in the narrow range of Hillsdale, the University of Dallas, Patrick Henry, or Grove City. Feel free to add a couple of religious schools in the mix. </p>
<p>Please take the first pages of the USNews rankings, and let me know which of the top 50 schools in each category might be considered NON LEFT LEANING? At best, you will find a couple that are balanced, including the school I attended. Do you think Oberlin is … balanced in terms of political leanings? </p>
<p>As far as my own political stances, please read my posts about the rewards and the challenges of attending a school that has different views from your own. Learning how to “deal with it” is part of one’s education, and can be very rewarding. </p>
<p>I think colleges should be places where all sorts of views can be openly discussed. I don’t see any need for them to be balanced, however, in terms of political views. I think most colleges with student bodies larger than a couple of thousand, and which aren’t affiliated with some specific viewpoint, are likely to have people with all sorts of views, including conservatives, although the distribution will vary.</p>
<p>Are there any colleges at which liberal views are mandatory? I don’t think so.</p>
<p>Xiggi,</p>
<p>Reread my post at #187. I named several mainstream colleges and academic departments which can be right-leaning or centrist. </p>
<p>Then if there’s more demand for right leaning schools, we’d expect to see some of the left leaners moving to the right. There’s a lot of money to be made in higher education, and if there’s a demand for more conservative colleges, someone will move in to supply it. Maybe by new colleges springing up, maybe by existing colleges moving right, maybe both. The point is, neither is happening. </p>
<p>“Please take the first pages of the USNews rankings, and let me know which of the top 50 schools in each category might be considered NON LEFT LEANING?”</p>
<p>U of Chicago. </p>
<p>I went there for graduate school in public policy mainly because I wanted to learn how the other side thinks. I was awash in Milton Friedman and his disciples. </p>
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<p>There is a difference between wanting more conservative schools and pointing out how the academic offerings are unbalanced. For whatever reasons --as Hunt intimated-- there are reasons why the usual suspects listed among conservative schools are on the fringe of the academic world. </p>
<p>It is what it is! But ask yourself about your own reaction when a promising student might tell you his parents would like him to attend Hillsdale or Biola or Ave Maria? Does it not include … “Why would he or she do that?” </p>
<p>I know I do! 
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<p>What’s the school that wanted to become the conservative Harvard? How have they done in attracting highly qualified students? (Serious question–it seems like this would be an opportunity.)</p>