<p>Of course! The thing is that all of it relative so who really knows how good their food is. It’s a pretty convenient website non the less</p>
<p>Most liberal: Oberlin - pretty much the standard of leftist political campus, Grinnell, Carleton, Macalester
Liberal overall : Earlham, Kenyon, St Olaf, Kzoo
Conservative : Denison
Very religious and conservative : Hope Hillsdale Wheaton
I did not rank colleges that I only know of but do not know well.</p>
<p>Connoisseur: the list IS inaccurate. whoever ranks Wooster as more liberal than Carleton or Gustavus before st Olaf does not know the schools at all. 
well except for Oberlin as #1 but I think we can all agree on that :D</p>
<p>Sorry to break up the party, but each of these schools is so much more complex than a rating on a political spectrum.</p>
<p>Even Oberlin, the school so many of you have no doubt is the most liberal Midwestern school, has conservative students and alums (Conservative Michelle Malkin is a famous example). Carl Rove spoke at Oberlin a few years ago. The earlier mention of communes is referring to Oberlin’s optional co-ops, which offer dining and living opportunities for students in which students purchase food, cook, and clean up after themselves (in my opinion valuable skills). And, like some other colleges, there’s a women’s rugby team - not football.</p>
<p>We’re not saying that there are no conservatives at liberal schools or no liberals at conservative schools but I assume OP wants an idea of what is representative for colleges - apparently for a sister who thinks kzoo and Beloit qualifies as ‘freak shows’ so I’m not sure Oberlin will seem all that conservative. also, you probably wouldn’t have Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum or Bill O’Reilly as guests of honor at Oberlin as you could imagine or has happened at some religious conservative schools.</p>
<p>OK, I just hate to see good schools pigeon-holed with labels. Great schools, and I think Oberlin is one, want diversity of thought. </p>
<p>And Carl Rove is a true conservative and was a guest of honor at Oberlin. But you’re right, the school wouldn’t invite just any conservative, and Sarah Palin would neither be invited nor would she accept.</p>
<p>I understand that it’s not very holistic to pin a label onto a school, but I feel like I just need a general feel of these schools. I’m doing this for my sister because she thinks that liberal arts schools are “freak shows.” That’s her new favorite word. I feel like a spectrum could be helpful. She’s telling me that Wooster is “not as much of a freak show as Kalamazoo.” She doesn’t understand that college students are generally more liberal than other (age brackets.)</p>
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<p>I admire your perseverance with your sister. Clearly, you are at opposite ends of the spectrum. If she were my sibling I would have given up trying to help by now.</p>
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<p>I want her to be in a good place two years from now. We’re visiting Wooster next week. I would recommend places like Wheaton and Hillsdale to her, but she’s not religious. It doesn’t help that Dad jokingly fuels this “freak” obsession, and apparently her best friend thinks just like she does. The only super-liberal person she’s around is me, but she calls me a “freak,” even though I don’t match the physical description she has (I don’t have my hair dyed, I don’t have piercings or tattoos, I don’t drink and I don’t smoke.) She thinks I’m weird because I put coconut oil and apple cider vinegar in my hair and I’m vegetarian.</p>
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<p>There are other ELCA affiliated LACs that like St. Olaf lean more conservatively. Augustana College, Luther College and Gettysburg College (if you want to count Penn. as the midwest.) come to mind.</p>
<p>She isn’t religious - are those schools very religious? ^</p>
<p>Probably no more religious that St. Olaf. There are not required religion courses if that’s what you mean, but I think they does attract a different kind of kid than might want to look at, say, Beloit.</p>
<p>My son went to a Jesuit college — religion was there for those who wished to take part, but the Jesuits are educators first and foremost and do not push religion on anyone. Most Jesuit schools have one or two required courses in theology (doesn’t always have to be Catholic) and philosophy. It might be worth visiting a Jesuit College to see if they might be a good fit.</p>
<p>How would Southwestern compare to Denison? Denison is known to be very conservative. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being most conservative to 10 being most liberal) would you say Denison is a 1 and Southwestern is a 5?</p>
<p>I definitely wouldn’t count St Olaf as “conservative” in that sense - last year the students (and the faculty) officially took position in favor of gay marriage, and overall compared to the other Lutheran schools it’s fairly liberal (in fact, compared to most Southern schools it’d probably be liberal). But there are conservative students and politically it’s not Carleton (just across the river though) and for political action it’s not Macalester. However there are three “Religion and ethics” classes, one involving the Bible (for ex: “Women in the Bible”, “African Americans and the Bible”, “It’s the End of the World and other versions of the Apocalypse”, this type of thing), one course of your choice and one in Ethics.
More conservative but not too religious I think Gustavus Adolphus, Luther, and Coe may work? They too require some religion classes although not doctrine-based.
Catholic Colleges as Happy1 said can have various religious requirements and “imposition” - see who is invited to speak, for example, how many religion classes are required and what they involve (doctrine or general knowledge), etc
Or you may get her to look at St Olaf thinking it more conservative than it is, and since the “look” isn’t what she terms “freaky” (think: tall blonde students everywhere, with a few Hmong and Hispanic students) she may like it and you may get your wish to see her at a place that may open her mind a little (since I understand that’s one of your hopes).</p>
<p>^Hahaha…most of the students I know at St. Olaf are tall and blonde. Very nice kids–smart, engaged, responsible. Not huge partiers but like to have fun. I think it might be a good choice for the OP’s sister. Your other suggestions are good too.</p>
<p>Yeah I’ll have her check out St. Olaf.</p>
<p>I just talked to her - she said “find me more schools like St. Olaf” (because it’s very white.) Go figure. She said that she wouldn’t go to a school with “required religion classes,” however, and I think St. Olaf requires some.</p>
<p>She doesn’t want many requirements.</p>
<p>The latest is that she’s more “moderate” on her views of marriage equality, but she’s still strong on her views for pro-gun laws and pro-life stances. I keep telling her that she will likely change her views in college, but she’s in denial.</p>
<p>What’s new is that she wants to start attending church again. I still think that she won’t attend a school with religious study requirements, however.</p>
<p>She also seems pretty certain on engineering, so LACs may be out of the question.</p>
<p>She wants to visit Kettering. I’m not going to stop her, but I don’t think they have civil engineering.</p>