My son is considering apply to the following schools. Probably need to shorten the list. Our family is Christian (Anglican) and politically conservative. He’d like to attend a strong STEM school, mainly a strong math school, but we’d like to find a place where a conservative Christian male won’t be persecuted or forcibly indoctrinated. My best guess is that he’d double major in math and economics, but math plus a hard science (e.g., physics) or computer science could happen.
Thus, please rank these schools from best to worse for the above mission, a mix of academic strength and teaching in these areas and tolerance for our views.
Of course, some are safety schools and some are various degrees of reach, but assume all are options for the sake of discussion.
Thanks in advance!
Alphabetically:
Duke
Carnegie Mellon
Harvey Mudd
Haverford
MIT
Rice
Princeton
Stanford
University of Chicago
University of Pennsyvania
University of Virginia
Washington University in St. Louis
William and Mary
@“Virginia Dad 1819” I can’t comment on other schools specifically, but MIT has quite a few Christian groups on campus and is pretty tolerant of students from other religions. From my experience, faith and religion aren’t really talked about much outside those groups (unless you take a religious studies class, although I didn’t take one). There was a Veritas forum last week which was widely attended.
@itsgettingreal17 I’ve heard of subtle cases - e.g. professors saying in front of their students that there is no God, or that there is a God, etc. But “forcibly indoctrinated” is way too harsh.
If you’re looking for a school where your son’s religious and political beliefs will never be challenged or he won’t encounter others with different views, I recommend a conservative Christian college, with the caveat that he will be missing out on a significant element of what constitutes an education. As for “persecution” or “forcible indoctrination”–where in Heaven’s name are you getting such crazy fears? At the end of the day, your kid’s professors and fellow students, regardless of the college, won’t care one way or the other about his religious beliefs or politics unless he proselytizes the former or is confrontational about the latter. But perhaps your real fear is that he once he is no longer subject to your own influence, he will be free to develop his own ideas and beliefs?
Ironic as this may sound, I think the OP may fear that his son will be the victim of micro-aggressions. In all seriousness, being in an environment where the majority constantly make careless or unthinking criticisms about conservative religious or political choices could feel very uncomfortable. It could make it difficult to speak out for fear of being mocked or ridiculed. So I can see where the fear of “persecution” might come from.
As for “forcible indoctrination” that runs counter to the spirit of intellectual inquiry that I hope most colleges and universities would possess.
If the OP is looking for places where religious and political views across the spectrum are respected, that’s a somewhat different goal than seeking a place where his son would be in the majority.
FWIW, I wouldn’t consider any of the schools on that list as safeties, UVA and William and Mary come closest but with acceptance rates at roughly 30%, I’d call them matches at best, and then only if you’re in state. Nearly all of the others are reaches.
Well, to be honest, none of those schools fit the profile for your S.
St. Olaf would be a terrific fit, and very strong in Math and Physics. A S of a friend of mine graduated from Olaf and is now working on his PhD at Madison trying to solve Fusion. He was Math/Physics double major.
Trinity University would also fit the profile very well. Also very strong in sciences and CS, and good fit for that profile.
Even so, the vast, vast majority of college campuses in the US are liberal to extremely liberal.
If his political conservatism does not include hostility toward (for example) people of other religions or no religion, LGBT people, or other such classes of people, then it does not seem likely to be an issue socially.
If I were you, I’d have him look at some of the Christian, Catholic or Jesuit schools. There’s a book called “Choosing the Right College” that rates campuses based on their tolerance for students with more “traditional” values that might be worth looking at.
That said, I don’t see white Christian conservative males as a “persecuted” group in our society or on our college campuses. I think by “forcibly indoctrinated” you probably mean exposed to other schools of thought and ideas that are different from the ones you came in with, that’s all part of becoming educated and learning to think critically.
As an aside, none of those schools look like they’re a safety for anyone!
You might check out a book called, “Choosing the RIGHT college”. A friend of mine has it and showed it to me. It has views on various aspects of colleges, and if I remember right, if a campus has any right leaning clubs.
I remember not agreeing with a number of opinions of schools in the book, but it might be a starting point for you to start thinking about things. I think your best bet is to check yourself if a college has a Young Republicans group, or a Christian group, etc. You could contact those groups and see how active they are, and how they are received on campus.
^ I second the suggestion of getting the book above. It’s by some conservative education guy and is actually well written. I used it to get an idea of where not to send my kids too but diametrically opposed to the OP’s reason.
The language used is really strong- care to tell us who exactly is persecuting conservative Christians males??
Heard of Hillsdale College- it even refuses federal monies. But I don’t think it’s strong in math or computer science. BYU in Utah. Second the suggestion of TAMU. They have great scholarships for very strong students.
Can you nor your son tolerate exposure to different ideologies/cultures/perspectives? Do you really think that he will be persecuted in college for having/expressing conservative ideas/values? Challenged, sure, but persecuted?
All of those schools are basically match- reaches or reach- reaches. You have to work on making a viable list or your kid could be looking at a lot of rejections.
Does the OP really think that any of those schools on the list are safety schools … “Some are safety schools”…
Duke, CMU, HM, MIT, Haverford, Rice, Princeton, Stanford, UChicago, UVA, Penn, WUSTL, W&M???
Because of my son’s academic profile, and because we live in Virginia, U.Va. and W&M are definitely safety schools. Thus, he can swing for the fences out of state as he wishes.
I’m familiar with Hillsdale and the like. Doesn’t need to be a school that’s majority conservative or mandated conservative by the administration. Unfortunately, it appears that there are no schools that are elite in math or STEM and general and in that conservative college camp.
Generally, some schools are more aggressive in pushing things PC, and the intimidation factor for those not PC is higher at some places than other. Some schools appear to have mandatory “diversity” training and the like while others don’t. TheFire.org and the Jefferson Muzzle Awards highlight some of that activity.
Of course my son will have his beliefs challenged in college and of course he will and should be exposed to those with different views. Just trying to get a feel which schools have really strong STEM and are generally ecumenical of those who don’t fit the PC mold.
Tamu, washington&lee, are considered among the most conservative in the nation ; both are very strong in stem. For matches that are academically strong and politically moderate (assuming your son has a NMF profile and he expresses interest now, those may even be safeties) Sewanee, St Olaf, Denison, Dickinson would work I think.
Given your post in #14, I would also suggest that you look at St. Olaf and perhaps Luther College (I don’t know much about Luther and its STEM offerings but have seen mention of it here on CC. It is Christian-centered in its philosophy). Denison has come up as a place that is somewhat more conservative politically, but that’s relative. The majority of liberal arts colleges are going to be left leaning. University of Richmond might be worth looking into.
Pepperdine or Texas A&M might be interesting. Maybe TCU?
LDS schools might be an option.
Your son might find less PC engagement at a more tech-oriented school.
With respect to terminology, schools with a 30% admit rate aren’t really safeties for anybody, even with exemplary academic credentials. Additionally, there are many highly qualified students from VA because the high schools are so good. I would consider them solid matches.