<p>I've done a little research on Notre Dame, and I was wondering if you could answer a question for me.</p>
<p>First off, I'm pretty liberal. However, Princeton Review ranks Notre Dame as most conservative when it comes to gay rights. Does this hold true for a majority of the school?</p>
<p>I know some of you are thinking, "Why should matter?" But it does. Education isn't the only factor I take into consideration when selecting a college. I have to be comfortable with my surroundings, too. :)</p>
<p>(For the record, I'm completely straight. I just can't deal with homophobes, as I am extremely open-minded. Everyone's equal.)</p>
<p>^I can't say for sure, but I used a website where students wrote reviews about their college experience to help me get first-person feedback on the cons of all my schools. This is the one criticism of ND that came up several times, so it may be true. I kind of get the impression you'd be a better fit at WashU, though. (Similar caliber, similar course offerings, much more liberal.)</p>
<p>I was actually looking into Washington University, actually! But for some reason, I just don't like the idea of living in Missouri for four years...</p>
<p>For what it is worth I was at a conference at URochester (granted, it was hosted by their psychiatry department for junior level faculty) this summer and it was very nice! That being said, I have heard the city is rough and the winters are down-right brutal!</p>
<p>^For Rochester kids, the main hangout is the super cool Wegmans (a grocery store). It's a bit of a redneck area (sorry if this offends anyone). For the record I used to live there.</p>
<p>Haha, yeah, I don't know if I'll sit well in a "redneck" area. That's one of the reasons why I want to leave Texas in the first place (on top of the fact that it's a pretty conservative state).</p>
<p>At Notre Dame, its more of a "don't ask, don't tell" sort of atmosphere. But the majority of students are accepting of gay students (which do exist, and openly, just not as flamboyantly as at other schools). There are, of course, a few homophobes, but it definitely doesn't seem to be the prevailing attitude (of course, I don't live in a guys' dorm, so I dunno if it comes out more there). Most of the people I know who disapprove of the homosexual lifestyle have more of a "hate the sin, love the sinner" approach.</p>
<p>In terms of general political leaning, Notre Dame is extremely conservative compared to the majority of colleges. However, objectively it is pretty moderate. About a 50-50 split between conservatives and liberals.</p>
<p>Im just lurking but def check out Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>have you been to the campus? Absolutely breaktaking... in beautiful nashville. Def give it some consideration... and you wont meet anyone nicer than those on the campus.</p>
<p>I had to decide between Vandy and USC in LA. I have no regrets about choosing USC, but there are sometimes when I think how legit it would be to be at Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>Def give it a good look!! PM me with any questions on the school or anything :)</p>
<p>What I've heard about Vanderbilt is that it's all cliques, that you're not worth anything if you aren't in a frat or sorority, and that you have to dress up to do anything (i.e. go to football games).</p>
<p>I'm a current freshman at ND and here is what it's like in my experience</p>
<p>Everyone is required to go to a CommUNITY meeting that is an open discussion about homosexuality and the catholic view of it. (Being gay isn't a sin, but because you can't separate the unitive and procreative aspects of sex, gay sex is a sin, same as straight sex with contraception)</p>
<p>There are a few openly gay students on campus, but it's not flaunted. However, I have not seen anyone hating on them either. It doesn't bother me if someone is gay; sexual oreintation doesn't define who a person is.</p>
<p>The school is trying to change its image and be more accepting of every kind of student. Is it perfect? No.</p>
<p>people who are politically active are actually mostly liberal. College Democrats is huge. There are some conservatives whose voices are outweighed by the many liberals. Liberals need not fear coming to ND.</p>
<p>Notre Dame is very conservative. And I understand what you are getting at, you want a good fit both education wise and culturally. Notre Dame is very Catholic, and the Catholic teaching is that sexually active homosexuals are basically a no-no. So, you probablly wouldn't like it here.</p>
<p>Generally, if a school's culture is so strong that it is mentioned in a review, you SHOULD take it into consideration. I don't think from what you have said ND would be a good fit for you.</p>
<p>I disagree. The thing about reviews is that you realize once you get there that the image they paint is not quite how it actually is. If you want a campus where there's lot's of rallies for gay rights/animal rights/ etc. then Notre Dame doesn't have that much involvement. However, if you are more looking for aplace where the student body generally has a tolerant attitude along with respect for those who they disagree with, Notre Dame shouldn't be a problem. Notre Dame is definitely more conservative than most, but they don't shove it down your throat the way activists from the other side of the spectrum often do.
Keep in mind there's 8000 kids between 18 and 22 there, so it's not exactly going to be evangelical bible camp. There is not a bias, it's much more like an even split, as many others have mentioned.</p>
<p>I hear talk about Missouri and WashU. Well I live about twenty minutes from WashU, so in Missouri and it's not too bad. I definitely would not base a college decision on the weather (but that's just me). It's a great school, of coarse. The weather today for example was 60 degrees, so it's got it's ups and downs. We've had no terrible snow weather yet! But it's not to bad living in St. Louis, going to Notre Dame is a million times worse (weather wise!!). So just informing you that it could be worse, but also, theres some things around WashU, but not too too much. :) St. Louis is pretty cool though.</p>