<p>Would a liberal fit in at Vanderbilt? I've been told that it is a predominately conservative school so I'm curious as to whether or not a liberal (with an open mind, though they will never become repub) would have a hard time at Vandy</p>
<p>No, you'll be fine, your fellow students will try their best to refrain from throwing eggs at you. </p>
<p>Seriously, though, there are plenty of liberals at Vandy.</p>
<p>Political Distribution of an intro Poly Sci class:</p>
<p>Strong Liberal = 3
Liberal = 16
Liberal/Independent = 18
Independent = 11
Independent/Conservative = 22
Conservative = 20
Strong Conservative = 6</p>
<p>Whereas most "elite" universities are a breeding ground of Obamania and disdain towards Conservatives, Vanderbilt is a little more Conservative than Liberal.</p>
<p>I'm a conservative. My roommate is one of many strong liberals.
You find a lot of diversity like this and we all coexist well (although we do argue a bit!! ;-) just in good fun though) However, I have noticed myself become more conservative since arriving here.
It's a good politically active campus for any beliefs without being overly obsessed.</p>
<p>Nice to read the above two posts. We'll put it on the list. Open-mindedness and diversity where it counts - point of view - in a top university. What a pleasant surprise.</p>
<p>My daughter, a senior, is (moderately) liberal, and a Democrat, and has had no issues whatever at Vanderbilt. A survey done on campus in 2005 (I think) found the campus split evenly between liberals and conservatives. And Davidson County voted Democratic in the last national election, though Tennessee did not.</p>
<p>The issue depends largely on your POV, of course. When d was a freshman, a columnist for The Hustler (school newspaper) wrote an opinion piece decrying the liberal atmosphere on campus. So there you are.</p>
<p>Vandy is more conservative than peer institutions. But that simply means it's roughly evenly split, if not slightly leaning liberal. I think the college dems mentioned that 65% of vandy students supported Obama (don't quote me on this one).
The poly sci department at Vanderbilt is uber liberal.
Davidson county is always blue
If you are interested in politics, there are many political papers on campus as other partisan and nonpartisan organizations. We had tons of activities leading up to the recent election (debate screenings, student debates, speakers (John Geer, Soledad O'Brain), election night party, etc
but "predominantly conservative" is far, far from the truth</p>
<p>Awesome, Vanderbilt sounds perfect for me then! I just hope I can get in! Thanks so much for all your help</p>