<p>My school (Tufts) is well-known for its student body’s leftist leanings. I consider myself a Democrat, but am more centrist than the student body’s political consensus.</p>
<p>However, in my classes so far, I have had the most objective education I could expect. My econ professor offered a thorough discussion on the benefits and inefficiencies of both free-market and mixed economic models, and my IR professor offered great instruction on the realist, liberal, and constructivist classes of paradigms. I’ve heard that other professors in the IR department are decidedly more realist (not what you’d expect at a liberal place), but I fully expect that the faculty is willing to discuss and entertain any reasonable viewpoint.</p>
<p>That being said, I’m sometimes frustrated with what I see as the over-idealism of my peers. I think that a lot of them fail to understand the implications of some of the policies they believe in, and I think that they often don’t have a good understanding of the other side’s opinion. But hey, we’re in college! We’re young, and we’re still learning about the world. </p>
<p>I think it is absurd of the OP’s family to treat those who they disagree with politically as some sort of nefarious force out to corrupt people. These are people we’re talking about, and by and large, everyone’s political beliefs are shaped by a genuine desire for good to be done.</p>
<p>The new issue is out and has the traffic lights. They do a good job of updating their overview stuff with recent info. But still very opinionated too.</p>
<p>Most colleges lean to the left. There are comparatively few conservative colleges, and as a result, there are fewer academically strong conservative colleges.</p>
<p>If you are very political, it makes sense to care about the campus environment. But even in the most liberal colleges, there will at least be a small group of conservatives.</p>
<p>In any case, ‘opening your mind’ doesn’t necessarily mean following the crowd. I ‘opened my mind’ in college and flipped from liberal to conservative by paying attention to the conservative publications on campus.</p>
<p>The most prestigious schools will obviously be more liberal. If you want more conservative schools, I suggest looking in the south or midwest. Wheaton College is a small evangelical school in the midwest that is conservative and up your alley. May also try Oral Roberts, etc.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, the University of Chicago, where President Obama taught, is/was home to bastions of conservative intellectuals such as Milton Friedman, John Mearshiemer, and Hans Morganthau.</p>
<p>Anyone think people put too much stock in books and media articles that make money for someone else? I once worked for one of the “everyone knows it’s name” resource books- owner’s primary goal was to sell books and build the company. Granted, that was a while ago. And, of course these do provide valid info, but none is the sole, definitive source.</p>
<p>And, OP said: …I embrace choosing a school not based on its political atmosphere. I am quite excited at the idea of being challenged, forced to rethink everything (for MYSELF this time), and develop my own stances.</p>
<p>We use the online version. It has the lights. I’ve seen a more recent copy at the bookstore and it has lights too. However, I’ve no idea what year they added them. Obviously relatively recently.</p>