What about Georgetown then? My older d got her double major in math and physics from there and obviously no stronger school for international relations.
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Hello,
This is too long a thread to read even a third of it, so I apologize in advance if my comments are repetitive. First, congratulations on having the drive and focus to ask the sorts of questions that you are asking. The people on this forum have amazing insight and can really help direct you.
That said, from what I’ve read above, it seems like you are overemphasizing the political leanings of a region (i.e., the south) or a state (Georgia, Arizona, etc.). Depending where you are located within them makes a big, big difference. For instance, Atlanta is much, much different from the northern and southern parts of the state in many ways, and i say that as someone who lives down the street from Agnes Scott, which sports a feminist bookstore across the street, and is located in VERY liberal Decatur (says the father of a 16-year old LGBTQ+ who has shaved the sides of her head, dyed her roots a bright color, and has plenty of similar school friends and doesn’t feel at all uncomfortable). Not to ask you to add more schools to what is probably already an unwieldy list, but I wouldn’t use the state a school is located as an eliminator. Also, due to the elevation (1000 ft) it is not unreasonably hot here here in Atlanta other than the summer months when your student will not be here; this week, for instance, the temperature is ranging from the low sixties to the low eighties, and some light snow isn’t unusual in the winter. Before moving here, I lived in the Tampa Bay area, and I would say that St. Pete is currently one of the most liberal, artsy places I know. Anyway, my point is, try not to automatically reject some of these schools because you have a mental image of what the environment might be like, because it could be wrong. (Don’t get me wrong; there are plenty of reasons to hate Atlanta, but a perceived lack of diversity or tolerance probably isn’t one of them, at least compared to other similarly-sized metro areas.)
Good luck!
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Great point. Atlanta proper is something like 75% Democrat. Missouri is often described as a deep red state with three bright blue dots, St. Louis, Columbia and Kansas City. SLC is majority Democrat and minority Mormon. The previous mayor was lesbian. Very few states are homogeneous. Even Vermont, the most Democrat voting state outside of DC, is 40% Republican.
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However, it should not be surprising that members of minority groups targeted for political hostility may be more hesitant about areas where the politics indicate a higher risk of such political hostility (including where the state government may enact laws based on such despite the local area being friendly). While such politics may be just politics for those who are not members of such minority groups, they can be a quality of life problem for those who are.
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No doubt. As a Jew, there are places I would automatically cross off my list, whether rightfully or not. And, if I am to be honest, I was very wary about moving to Florida 15 years ago, but what I discovered was a community of aging hippies and artists, which was much different from what I expected. No doubt much depends on exactly where you go. In Georgia, politics are changing in part because of the growing movie and entertainment industry here. As college students, though, you are somewhat insulated if your campus is a bit of a bubble. But yeah, I probably wouldn’t want to go to a school down south that I thought was more regional, as opposed to one with a more national and international student body and staff like Emory. Yet, using being Jewish as an example, while there are schools in Louisiana I would never consider, Tulane can’t be beat. So I’d counter that it is a school-by-school thing.
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I believe I first suggested WPI to you on this thread.
We all want the absolute best for our kids and sometimes we end up searching for a Unicorn to try to find it. This is the thread that keeps on giving and it’s great that so many out there want to help by providing experience and perspective. Maybe at some point you get to information over load and it starts a diminishing return.
We had a really big list. For us it was the actual visits to the schools that did the trick. It was Pre-COVID and for the most part all schools were within driving distance. I realize that visiting all the schools high on your list may not be close to feasible. Our son found his unicorn during one of those visits and has been super happy ever since.
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My son was the contrast to this. When we visited him for Parents’ Weekend his first year I asked if he felt that it was the perfect choice now that he’d been there for a while. His response was illuminating. He said: “I like it here a lot, but I’m sure I would have been fine at any of the schools I applied to.”
Many feel like they have to find the unicorn for their kids, but year after year, 80% of graduates who are surveyed say they are happy with their undergraduate experience. They can’t all have found “the one.”
Don’t put too much pressure on yourself or your student to find the perfect school. They all have strengths and weaknesses. You need a list of schools that are “good enough.”
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It is crazy how long this thread has gone, sometimes in circles for me, but I really do appreciate all the feedback. We’d love to visit more schools, but will likely not happen until D gets some acceptances to really help narrow down the field, and hopefully Covid dies down more. Still cutting down the apply-to list, but I’m hopeful WPI will be on it – thanks again!
Thank you for the healthy reminder - I do have a tendency to over-research things (I suspect this may be a common CC trait)! But I am grateful my research led me here because I have learned a ton, including the importance of fit for the student that many other parents I know seem to forget. It has been great discovering so many schools that might be a good (enough) fit. 
Thanks again!
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She removed WashU due to its location – as an LGBTQ Asian American, she (we) are not comfortable having her go to school in Missouri. It’s also a reach for D so she preferred to keep other reach schools on her list instead.
Another poster on this thread suggested the school and its surrounding community are very progressive, so you may find more feedback on that post to help your son: Critique this college visit list? Astronomy and diverse environment search! - #82 by JustVisiting76 Good luck!
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Thanks for your feedback. Perhaps when my D is older, she may change her mind and decide she does want to explore parts of the country that we don’t feel comfortable or safe in right now. But as an LGBTQ Asian American, there are just some areas she’d rather avoid. The recent attacks on Asian Americans makes us feel especially vulnerable and while it does seem the schools that have been suggested here are very progressive, we are not comfortable sending her to states where we see major attacks on LBGTQ+, reproductive, and/or voting rights, along with ongoing anti-immigrant sentiment. She can’t just blend into the majority, nor can she not feel affected by the message the broader public / their governments are sending her.
The next presidential election will occur while she’s in college, and I don’t see political divisions getting any better. She already has too many selective/reach schools on her list so, while it is sad she won’t get to consider some schools that might otherwise have been a great fit, it actually helps us to have one simple, straightforward way to shorten her list.
But I’m honestly glad to hear you and others sharing positive views of schools and communities that we’d already decided against. It gives me hope that some of the recent political trends can eventually go back towards trying to be more inclusive of others.
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The crazy things about the horrific Asian American attacks we witnessed - SF and NYC. Unfortunately, there are intolerant people everywhere, in all 50 states.
I agree with you - the divide is getting worse politically, not better. We attack a politician just this week (McConnell) for helping to keep the country out of default. The list goes on and on.
Hopefully your daughter - all our kids - will experience the goodness in people. I believe all the hatred, while enhanced by politicians, begins at home. And I hope as parents, we can all teach our kids to love and respect others, regardless of differences we may have.
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Yes the attacks recently captured on video were often in NY or CA, perhaps in part because we have larger populations there. Anti-Asian sentiment and sometimes violence, has been going on for much longer than it’s been in the larger public eye including here in California. There’s definitely no place that guarantees safety from violence or bigotry.
But there is comfort in being in a place where the population as a whole, and the government that represents them, is more protective of civil rights than not. So as a family, we do our best to live, work, travel, and go to schools in places where we feel safe. I hope that sphere grows for all our kids. 
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What is it like at Georgia Tech? Similar to Emory or a more regional feel?
Both are liberal (Emory considered moreso per Niche), both have large international student bodies. Emory a bit more domestically diverse.
It’s easier as a GA resident to get into tech than a non-resident…so different than UGA.
Ga Tech is extremely urban…Emory is several miles from the action is a sleepier part of town. And it’s Oxford campus is in a rural setting 40 miles away.
To me it’s less about “regional” and more about - one is like being in NYC - or close to it and is right against the freeway. The other is more a traditional campus like environment…a beautiful campus in fact.
Thanks, @tsbna44. I’ve only been to Atlanta once and, compared to NYC or London, the whole city felt a bit sleepy (but in a very nice sort of way!).
As I just moved to Georgia last year–during the height of the pandemic–I can’t give any real nuanced input, but I can say that Georgia Tech is in the center of the city, so I’d compare the campus to, say, NYU in that sense. But the streets are much sleepier than in NYC; there are not crowds of people and the traffic is more akin to downtown Pittsburgh or downtown Tampa. You definitely feel like you are part of the city, though, and I imagine there are plenty of distractions for students there, for good and bad. Also, that part of the city is not rundown; it isn’t like the area surrounding Johns Hopkins, for instance.
Emory is about five miles from me, in a neighborhood called Emory Village, and I’d classify it more as “dense suburban.” The campus is set off from the main road–which is well speed controlled, in part due to a nearby roundabout–and I haven’t been there; it may actually be access limited to just students right now due to COVID. Along that main road, though, are a number of shops and restaurants, a couple of which I periodically eat at. However, you definitely feel like you are part of the city, unlike, say, the University of Rochester, where the campus feels like its own separate coccooned entity.
As a whole, I’m not a fan of the Atlanta metro area, but the area around Emory is pretty nice, with very expensive homes. Atlanta has become diversified as it has grown and of course the CDC is here, which further attracts people from all over the country. In my small neighborhood, for instance, there are several foreign families–a Japanese family who are scientists, a Russian family, and now a couple from Brazil have moved in; I think they work for Coke. It does not feel like a southern city at all–more like a mid-atlantic city that happens to have hot summers.
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Thanks, @RayManta. My D22 is again interested in applying to Georgia Tech, although we are a bit concerned about her attending school in the South (the video of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder really shocked me) but I was heartened to read upthread about the growing diversity in urban areas (and I am well aware that there are good and bad people everywhere).
This is something I haven’t thought of as potentially being part of a college search before, but www.city-data.com will give you detailed demographic data by zip code, and can give you some sense as to what an area might be like as far as diversity, education, etc.
Like all big cities, Atlanta has problems, but I suspect that the things that annoy me about living here would be irrelevant to a student. There is a lot of crime here, for instance, just like all big cities, although I don’t know what it is like near Georgia Tech–the city-data.com site has that info. The rural areas of Georgia are much different, of course, and it isn’t unusual to see (for example) confederate flags and stickers on pickups. It is a shame, because north Georgia is so beautiful, especially the area near the start of the Appalachian Trail.
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Yes, The area around Wash U, really STL city and county are liberal. I understand not wanting to be in Missouri. I live here and would love to move.
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I think how MO feels day to day will depend on where you live. I have family in all three blue dots. Their lives aren’t that different than mine on the West Coast, they’re just embarrassed by what the state legislature is doing.
A student at WashU would very unlikely feel like they were in a red state, unless they ventured out to St. Charles. Then they might feel like they were in a different country.
All that said, the OP has WAY too many schools they’re interested in. The list needs to get culled somehow. This is just as good as any other reason.
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