How to find schools that are NOT political?

Parents Forum
461

<p>She does :smiley: </p>

462

<p>Fiskes and CTCL dont give the same flavor of a school, IMO, that The Insiders guide does. Its written from the POV of the students, and talks frankly about the atmosphere of the schools, the hangouts, the activities, the things to do, etc. very different guide.
And LOL, scholarme. Having been around here for a decade, I’ve been on the receiving end of pile-ons. And its easy to get snarky. In fact it sometimes fun (if you didnt catch my double entendre in post 458). But its time to dial it back a bit. If the thread just becomes a pi$$ing contest, it will surely see the padlock.</p>

463

<p>I will try to get a copy of Insiders then. I honestly thought it was similar to Fiske’s.</p>

464

<p>For the love of god, scholarme. You said in your very first post “I know other parents might disagree with my attitude and find it narrow-minded; but I think I am just trying to be pragmatic and look out for my kid’s best interests.”</p>

<p>So why were you then surprised when people disagreed with you?</p>

<p>I believe you can ask for a thread to be closed that you have started (if that is not true I am sure someone will say so). If you weren’t liking the answers you were getting, you could have looked into that–or just walked away. You didn’t have to go all “woe is me” and antagonize people. You also could have been a little more gracious about the disagreement you knew would be coming. But maybe that’s not what you wanted. There are people who come to this site to stir things up almost for sport. Since this thread is on page 31 and you are still here, I’m guessing you are enjoying the attention whether it’s the kind you wanted or not. </p>

465

<p>That’s confusing. When I didn’t comment people started asking why the OP isn’t replying.</p>

<p>From my perspective, it would be good if the mods locked the thread. I feel more than a bit battered by it, frankly.</p>

466

<p>Re: Insiders Guide:

Posters really ARE trying to help you. Its OK to take down the sword and shield.</p>

467

<p>Wiki is your friend:
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Insider’s_Guide_to_the_Colleges"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Insider’s_Guide_to_the_Colleges&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>So yes, you may not like all the feedback you get, but try to separate the wheat from the chaff. If you close your ears to suggestions before you consider them, you will lose out on a lot of helpful feedback around here.</p>

468

<p>Agree, it would have been easier if the OP had been up front about what sort of political perspective she is trying to avoid. It is becoming clearer
 but she doesn’t want to admit it. There are plenty of colleges that are a fit for conservative families, but she is playing coy. Which gets annoying when people are trying to give her suggestions of colleges that would work.</p>

469

<p>Note that Liberty was suggested upthread. It was also suggested upthread that STEM subjects can avoid politics. However, Liberty provides an example where the most popular STEM subject (biology) is constrained by the school’s political viewpoint.</p>

470

<p>OMG, The Insiders Guide interviews friends, and friends of friends. Thats starting to sound like a familiar poster
</p>

471

<p>Don’t think Liberty was suggested for the OP. just given as an example of some schools where one might opine that its not a hotbed of political activism.</p>

472

<p>If I remember correctly Insider’s Guide is the one that our D found really helpful - especially the “If you go, bring ______” sections.</p>

<p>Macalester said “bring a cause” so not the one for OP. I think Davidson said “bring a sundress”</p>

473

<p>Right. She doesn’t want causes. Liberty has conservative causes, but causes nonetheless.</p>

474

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<p>What school DOES fit that description? </p>

475

<p>Actually, I would be more concerned about the OP’s fears coming true if her daughter attends a conservative University. For instance, attending BYU could influence her very impressionable daughter to convert to Mormonism, go off on a 2 year mission, marry young and start having lots of kids. I would call that a distraction from career and one I consider much less far-fetched than the scenario the OP painted.</p>

476

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<p>@Ucbalumnus </p>

<p>I specified Western European governments as I know the political landscapes of Eastern Europe, SE Europe, and some Central European countries are different. </p>

<p>For instance, Austria still has issues with right-wing groups which has some relation to their difficulties with reconciling their preferred post-war historical narrative as “just victims” of the Anschluss when the actual history is much more complex and the hands of many Austrians from Anschluss through WWII were far from clean. </p>

<p>Greece has had a legacy of the Greek Civil war with the communists in the mid-late '40s, brutal dictatorship at the hands of an extreme right-wing military junta in the late '60s-mid-70’s, and rise of rising xenophobia and right-wing groups due to a worsening economy and the need to find the ever convenient scapegoats
immigrants and non-Greek foreigners. </p>

<p>And Hungary has had its own conflicted history with a legacy of its own substantial territorial loss as a separate discrete territorial entity in post WWI settlements due to being part of the losing Austro-Hungarian empire, brief but brutal communist takeover in 1919, authoritarian rule under Admiral Horthy, rise of the indigenous and anti-Semitic Arrow Cross fascist movement, alliance of Hungary to the Axis powers, Nazi takeover of Hungary with Arrow Cross support when Horthy looked like he was going to surrender to the advancing Soviets in 1944, being part of the Soviet dominated Eastern Bloc, and the reappearance of the extreme nationalistic, fascist ideologies, and anti-Semitism from its past after the collapse of that bloc. </p>

<p>Also, just because a party can win some seats in the legislature doesn’t necessarily mean the party itself isn’t considered part of the political fringe by most of that country’s population. Most French folks I know
including conservatives do perceive Le Pen’s Front National as part of the right wing lunatic fringe. </p>

477

<p>Can we PLEASE stay on topic. Side history or political science lectures are good sleep agents, but not helpful in this thread or to the OP.</p>

478

<p>I think I found what the OP wants. I was looking at the Wikipedia entry for Caltech for a different reason today and came across this:</p>

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<p>Clearly (1) the students aren’t coming in with much of a political mindset, and (2) professors aren’t managing to sway them (if they are trying at all, probably not much).</p>

479

<p>If the kid is not interested in STEM - St John’s (Annapolis or Santa Fe) would be perfect. Great books curriculum, not too much that contemporary!</p>

<p>Caltech may not be very political, but it’s very, very hard to get into.</p>

480

<p>The OPerative word in the Original Post was “mindless.” That is, by definition, a subjective judgment. Is starting a petition drive for the dining services to use more locally-sourced, fresh produce mindless? Would baking brownies for a fundraiser benefiting an underfunded program qualify as “mindless?” Is hiding in a dorm room or library on a beautiful, sunny day the best use of time? Even STEM students (I say especially STEM students) should do a little questioning now and then, and someone will accuse them of wasting time and brain cells on an activity that does not immediately assist their GPAs or starting salaries. Those activities might just keep them sane and happy. I think that all parents should worry more about the financial pressures that attending too expensive a college might exert.</p>