<p>I've always heard that Stanford is a more "laid back" school. But I've also heard it's very liberal and not very open to conservative views.</p>
<p>Any other personality traits you've heard associate with Stanford students?</p>
<p>And how do these traits contrast with other students in schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc.?</p>
<p>When they say that Stanford students are "laid back" they mean laid back as in casual and friendly, not laid back as in lazy. Stanford students work plenty hard.</p>
<p>Casual, friendly, and hard-working...sounds like I'd love it :)</p>
<p>I'm a bit concerned about the liberal-conservative thing, though (posted it on another board). My gut is that almost no college is especially open to conservative views right now, especially not California and uber-elite schools. Plus, if liberals are intolerant and mean to us, we just grow as people...and being challenged on issues means that we become better informed and more rational and all that good stuff.</p>
<p>The reports I am getting about Stanford is that it is somewhat mixed. My son who is an athlete there actually reported that he was the only democrat on the team--which made me sad for him. Tongue-in-cheek, but what can you say about dumb jocks. I doubt that a conservative there would feel incredibly out of place. Remember the Hoover Institute is there, a notably conservative think tank.</p>
<p>"almost no college is especially open to conservative views right now, especially not California and uber-elite schools"
natural phenomenom - how democratic party became party of the elite. weiiiiiiird.</p>
<p>I would advise you conservatives to think long and hard on this question: why is the intelligensia of the country overwhelmingly liberal?</p>
<p>Hmmmmmm......</p>
<p>mmm, maybe not the best place to start a hot topic like that.</p>
<p>"why is the intelligensia of the country overwhelmingly liberal?" arrrrrgh! as a democrat, i hate when other dems do that... thats part of the reason why we lost this election - when people feel divided and like its one side or the other, they see issues in black and white. this isnt about "dems are elitist pretentious bastards and republicans are midwestern farmers". it should be about "this republican prez is running our country in the ground as he simultaneously ruins 2 others" </p>
<p>now many lower income ppl feel discouraged to vote democrat bc republicans (and the attitudes of some democrats) have led them to believe that the democratic party is for rich intellectuals.
it shouldnt take a highschooler to tell you thats wrong, SBmom.</p>
<p>My point was more similar to yours-- a reasoned, dispassionate analysis (like you'd do for a paper in college) points to MAJOR MAJOR errors, falsehoods, wrongs committed by current administration. </p>
<p>I was tweaking the other posters by saying: think about why all the profs at these colleges that you pine to attend <em>don't share your views</em>.</p>
<p>Let's remember that many rich city people voted Bush, however, and many rural poor voted Kerry. I was not trying to make a class distinction between Democrats & Republicans. </p>
<p>Something like 75% of those who voted for Bush still think Irag was meaningfully connected to 9/11. This is undeniably false. My point was that a typical College professor has got this fact straight, and a few others....</p>
<p>i'm very disappointed that majority of the people who voted for Bush put moral values as their most important criteria. Not preventing terrorism, not security, not education, not the economy, not health care, BUT MORAL values! who cares about security and economy. let's make sure women don't have abortions and gays don't marry.</p>
<p>SBmom--do you really think that all conservatives are stupid or wrong? For that matter, do you really think that we all support Bush?
In theory, I'm conservative. That doesn't mean that I agree with all or even most of the actions of the Bush administration (or even that I supported his reelection). That also doesn't make me stupid or uninformed. I see a lot of shades of gray and, right now, a lot of extremely bad choices. Bush and Kerry were both deeply flawed, and there are things about both parties that I really don't like. But--again, in theory--I'm more drawn to the Republican <em>party</em> (not necessarily to all candidates, just in general), and I want to be able to vote in primaries when I'm old enough, so there you have it :) Anyway, please don't assume that for me, and others like me, being conservative means that we're idiots.</p>
<p>its over and done with. might as well support this dude for the next four years, like it or not.</p>
<p>no, its not about supporting this president and going along with whatever bonehead plot he comes up with. we are not about giving up! we need to stay energizd and fight the good fight, but not against our country men, instead against the values that WE dont have (such as murdering civilians in a war for nothing).</p>
<p>entropic girl,</p>
<p>I have dear friends, intelligent friends, who are conservative. I am a social liberal but a fiscal conservative. I do sometimes vote for Republicans (two local races this year.) I go on the person, the issues, and the facts. And, as Joan Rivers recently quipped, sometimes it's "like picking your favorite Menendez brother."</p>
<p>I think smart people can vote for Bush, but if they are smart they vote for real things, not because of the smoke screens: they are voting for his moral (abortion, gay marriage) agenda, with which they agree. They are voting for his economic agenda (deregulation, pro-business, & tax breaks for the rich as economic stimulus), with which they agree. They are voting either because the agree with preemptive war against a non-imminent threat, or because they think is is okay to misrepresent the reasons for going to war, so long as the war results in toppling a despot. Obviously many people share these views. Obviously, I think they are wrong (and they think that I am wrong.)</p>
<p>Smart people who vote for Bush certainly don't think Iraq is connected with 9/11, nor do they think Bush is protecting the environment, nor do they think his primary concern is with the middle and lower classes... etc. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, a great many people who supported Bush were not factually clear on the issues and where the President stands. A very high % of Bush supporters (I heard 80% on NPR) misconstrued the position of the president on the issues they were polled about. On the other hand, only 20% of Kerry supporters were incorrect on Kerry's stands on the issues.</p>
<p>I am a conservative, Bush voting, republican, freshman here at Stanford, so I think I can give you a more accurate view of the school.
In terms of the laid backness: The students here are more friendly and warm overall than many people I see at east coast schools. I do not know the reason why. Maybe it is because of the weather or the campus. People here work incredibly hard, but sometimes try to put on a guise of relaxation. The classes have a lot of work and are difficult, espessially natural sciences and math.</p>
<p>Now about politics: The campus is liberal, but I'd say its about average for major colleges. I call Stanford lazy liberal, because for the most part, there isnt a lot of activism, protests, anger, and yelling directed at those with dissenting views. There is a strong republican club and a conservative newspaper. I had a "Viva Bush" sign in my window as did many others.<br>
Basicly, it is overall liberal, but there are a good number of conservatives, some passionatly so. Being a conservative is no problem here.</p>
<p>bush won the election...HOW wrong is that!!! anyways liberal views vs. conservarive views liberal always wins..liberal means u do what u want when u want in confines of the law however conservees wanna tie ur hands as to wat u can do by what they feel is right!!!! do u guys think thats right.?</p>
<p>jlorber...how the HELL!! could you conservatives vote for bush. when as conservative he is he isnt trying a damn thing to conserve our environment. o and he is o so scared of those homosexuals good forbid they get married and actually live together..o wait they already do that.</p>
<p>"bush won the election... anyways liberal views vs. conservarive views liberal always wins.."</p>
<p>does this make any sense to you?</p>
<p>not very well worded was it lol what i meant was that to me liberals should always com out on top...lol.</p>
<p>Kernon, your posts are as uneducated as they are hard to read.
Your claims are just outright incorrect.
Anyway, the term "conservative" when used in a political sense means conservative use of govt, relative to the term "liberal", which in a political sense means the liberal use of govt.</p>