<h1>479 I did not use the word “mindless” in the original post.</h1>
<p>Otoh the examples you gave are not what I think of as political activism.</p>
<p>Oops! I should have checked it personally; I saw an excerpt alluding to “mindless” demonstrations.</p>
<p>That was much later and based on the particular bias of that poster. It seems that the types of activities that the OP would be more concerned about would be the protests that aren’t “mindless” but deeply moving and heartfelt. An example from the past might be the Freedom Riders. They were college students who were deeply committed both intellectually and physically to a cause which most of the country now feels was right and just. However, it WAS dangerous and it DID distract from being on campus and getting down to academic business in many cases I would imagine. </p>
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<p>@Mathmom</p>
<p>I wouldn’t be too sure about that. Everyone I knew who went to St. John’s College at either campus tended to be very politically active in college and beyond. And I’d think a Great Books curriculum would actually encourage more questioning of and acting on difficult questions/issues…including politics. </p>
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<p>I think we could have avoided most of the last 33 pages if you would be clear about what you DO think of as “political activism.” We have discussed at length why you needn’t worry that your daughter will be brainwashed into joining an armed insurrection. As far as I can tell, that’s the only specific worry you’ve told us about.</p>
<p>Does the USA have an active armed insurrection movement? N. I made it clear when I shared the one of the reasons I view political activism skeptically is the way it can derail a young person’s life and career (in my friend’s case, probably claiming his life as well); someone else’s example of getting recruited to be a Mormon missionary is also something I would be upset about, fwiw. Getting arrested at a rally that turns violent would be another example; who wants an arrest record when they apply for a job?
Do I think my kid would get in that kind of situation - frankly, no. But it would concern me if that was a commonplace occurrence among her peers - either "hey, my friend is going to be a missionary in Uganda!’ “Or hey, my friend got arrested at a rally!” would not be things I would be elated to hear about.</p>
<p>Maybe this will help clarify - we visited Carnegie Mellon U this weekend. I liked it - if it was in our price range (which it’s not) I would encourage the kid to apply. I like how they are focused on research and cross-disciplinary learning. I’m thinking that schools with a lot of under-grad research might be a good indication of the atmosphere I’d be happy for the kid to pick.
(The kid liked CMU a lot btw. We talked about how it’s not in our price range; she may apply anyway as a reach just in case she is able to get an outside scholarship.)</p>
<p>“Does the USA have an active armed insurrection movement?”</p>
<p>Well, there was that bro-ha-ha at the Bundy ranch but I doubt any college student would show up at something like that! And there is a certain group, who shall remain nameless, that think armed insurrection might be necessary because <em>you know who</em> wants to take away their guns.</p>
<p>There were also the Minutemen who were at the border a few years ago in search of illegals. I bet they will be ramping up given the current situation. </p>
<p>And there are survivalist movements scattered about. </p>
<p>Activism by Engineering students at CMU:</p>
<p><a href=“Progressive Student Alliance”>http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/psa/</a> </p>
<p>Scholarme - Thank you for bringing things into perspective a little more. I wasn’t sure that you were looking at urban campuses at all. Now that you have mentioned Carnegie-Mellon, Pitt would be an obvious “match” or “safety” for your daughter. My brother-in-law teaches there. My sister was once the very type of activist you fear, but she is now a highly successful attorney (albeit in class-action litigation). I can’t think of anyone I’ve known there to be activists in organizations more radical than the Democratic Party. As PA residents, it should be pretty affordable. Temple might just be too urban for you. Campus security is pretty tight, but I don’t think they guarantee on-campus housing for upperclassmen, and the surroundings get rough within a few blocks. I still don’t think of it as an overtly political place. Penn State might have too active a partying culture for you. Your daughter might qualify for a very generous scholarship at Drexel. Most of the students (not all) I know there are pretty career-driven and serious. </p>
<p>woogzmama - we like Pitt too. She is applying there (*fingers crossed for merit scholarships).
She is thinking of applying to Drexel as well, but I think she likes Pitt better right now.
From my pov it feels like a safer type of urban area than the neighborhood that Drexel or Temple is in. Philly crime stats can be unnerving.</p>
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<p>Heh. Maybe it’s a good thing we can’t afford CMU. Just kidding. From my impression, the STEM students at CMU would be too busy to be involved in a lot of that. </p>
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<p>If the arrest is for political protests one would expect from some college students, especially if it is for non-violent civil disobedience, such an arrest wouldn’t have much of an effect when applying for jobs. Especially the longer one has been out of college. </p>
<p>In some cases, having such an arrest may actually garner more respect from some employers as it signifies greater concern for and engagement in public civic life. Especially considering the common complaint of the generation previous to the current millennial generation is that we were lacking in such civic concern and engagement. </p>
<p>This was illustrated back in 2000 when several elderly poll workers ranted about how I was one of only 5 people under the age of 40something who bothered to show up to vote by 6:30ish pm in a district heavily dominated by students and young 20-30something professionals. </p>
<p>“such an arrest wouldn’t have much of an effect when applying for jobs.”</p>
<p>True for a close friend. She was arrested for occupying an administrative building during a protest for need-blind admissions. Ended up at Yale Law and is a prominent attorney in her field.</p>
<p>I tend to think that an arrest record when applying to most Fortune 500 companies would require a lot of explaining though.</p>
<p>“Maybe it’s a good thing we can’t afford CMU. Just kidding. From my impression, the STEM students at CMU would be too busy to be involved in a lot of that.”</p>
<p>That is where I think you are wrong. College isn’t like high school. Kids have quite a bit of free time. They usually only take 4 or at max 5 classes a semester - and they don’t have every class every day. My son, for instance, has enough time to have a 15 hr. a week job, be on exec committee of student gov’t, be on the sailing team (practice every afternoon in both fall and spring,) and be a member of the DJ Club (they play the music at campus events, etc.) All that and he manages a 3.5 GPA and works his bum off (often has a 1000 pages to read in a week, papers, exams) at a college not known for grade inflation. </p>
<p>Uh-oh. Emily and I agree again. This is getting scary.</p>
<p>My STEM son has time in college to participate in marathons, triathalons, and surfing competitions along with training for the events and working a part-time job. I assume there’s also some sort of social life going on. GPA 3.8. One of the funniest CC threads ever was a mom asking if college students have time to iron. WTH?</p>
<p>^ Flossy, we have to stop meeting like this. 
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<p>I too have STEM S …10 hr/week job, cycle team, in training for a pilots license and minoring in a language. He’s pulling a very high GPA - all A’s but an A- pulls it below a 4.0 (no grade inflation here). Maybe STEM kids are just super organized and have a high level of time management skills. </p>
<p>Oh dear…if Emily and Flossy agree I may need to check the time/space continuum … was there a rip? :)</p>
<p>@cobrat, everyone I know at St. John’s (recent and current grads) are all very apolitical nice smart kids. A few are outdoorsy types, another is a would be novelist. They aren’t protesting graduation speakers and their professors certainly aren’t leading any crusades for the current cause du jour. (Which appears to be the main worry.) </p>
<p>My CMU son was a lot more interested in playing the latest video and computer games than getting involved in politics. It’s a pretty pre-professional place. CMU does have some merit scholarships, but I don’t know how meritorious the OP’s kid is likely to be considered.</p>
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<p>CMU is a preprofessional place, but that doesn’t meant there’s no political activism.</p>
<p>As for academic workload and free time, this is to some extent a YMMV situation. A HS friend who attended CMU as an engineering/CS major(double major) was somewhat politically active, juggle a long-distance relationship, smoked pot on occasion, and worked part-time doing computer related consulting work. I don’t know how he did it, but despite it all, he managed to graduate with that double major and an MS in CS in 4 years. </p>
<p>Don’t know his exact GPA, but it must have been high for him to be allowed to pursue graduate work at CMU and to be hired by several computer tech firms with household names. </p>
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<p>Funny, I ended up cutting back on computer gaming and online chat when I started college because I was concerned it would interfere with my studies and prevent me from fully experiencing college which to me was to get out of my dormroom and be engaged with part-time work, ECs, and chatting up folks IRL in and around campus. </p>
<p>I figured I have the rest of my life to work/chat/game on my computer. </p>
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or on an online forum predominantly for current HS/College students and their parents when one is none of the above … ^#(^ </p>