Political Atmosphere at Penn

<p>So like the title suggests, what is the political amosphere like at Penn. From my limited knowledge about the university. It does not seem like a crazy liberal place (bc on all those liberal universities threads I have never seen Penn). Also is it inclined favorablly toward conservative viewpoint or is it more centrist or is it basically nothing at all in terms of political activism.
I am very conservative and want to be active in College Republicans and I am just trying to find out about the state of opinion at Penn. Also ppl seem to associate pre-professionalism with Penn (which I think it great, bc I am definitely pre-law), is this an accurate description of Penn?</p>

<p>From what I heard, Penn's political atmosphere is pretty central.
There are people on the extreme left, and on the extreme right.
Heck, there was an article in the Daily Pennsylvanian a couple of weeks ago about how the increased crime rate spurred the Penn Republican's to demand that students should be allowed to have their own concealed handguns so they can shoot people who try to shoot them/mug them etc.
The Penn Democrats were against it, obviously. And the DP had a pretty objective view of it all.
But definitely, I think the school is just pretty open minded to all ideas and dialog, especially since Dr. Gutmann loves to have debates over public policy and how it involved Youth.</p>

<p>haha say what you will about the political environment at Penn, but Amy has almost zilch to do with it, even if she is a political scientist.</p>

<p>definitely leans liberal with many having a sort of condescending view towards conservative viewpoints. most people are not so active politically so it never really makes for conflict or anything. it's definitely more centrist and less active than Brown or Berkeley</p>

<p>This is great. Penn, not being liberal activist is appealing. i don't have a problem with liberals are whatever, but I did not want to go to a school that had liberal activism everywhere.
Ironically almost all my other schools are liberal, but that is bc I wanted a school that would allow me to get my BS/MS in chemistry in four years and that also had great financial aid.
My others were: Yale, Penn, DUke, Brown, and UT in that order. But at Yale I heard it was liberal (being from Texas I don't have direct access), but this is certainly making me want to apply to Penn ED.</p>

<p>Though there isn't much activism from either liberals or conservatives, I think you should just remember that Penn is a very open-minded school.
People are pretty pro-choice, gay friendly, etc. Just reading from most of the topics here, it seems it has a very vibrant party culture, so if you're very conservative and reserved, you might want to think about that too.</p>

<p>Just bc a person is conservative does not mean they are not open minded. What other people do in private, does not affect me, so why would I care. I care about activism, bc I don't constantly want to hear about liberalism.</p>

<p>I wasn't insinuating that conservatives are not open minded; I'm just pointing out that if you're the very socially conservative and reserved type, that you should think about it.
Like if you were an Evangelical Conservative, I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate the hoochiness at parties which Penn, or any top tier school, has a reputation of.
But since we don't know much about you except for what you said, we can only tell you things as they seem and are.</p>

<p>I am a evangelical conservative. But I don't care a whole lot about what other people do.</p>

<p>Well that settles it :)</p>

<p>Penn's neither a Christian school (which tend to be politically conservative) or an activist campus (like Berkeley, or dozens of small LACs). It's also not a school with a heavy military presence (which tends to skew things conservatively), and it does have a fair share of intellectual liberals. Because of this, the political culture is fairly open and everyone can find a place. I would say that outwardly it's a very liberal place, being smack dab in the middle of a Democratic city with many liberal college kids, but there are quite a few "closet" conservatives who don't wear their opinions on their sleeves but will share them when push comes to shove (possibly drawn from the pre-professional atmosphere). Both the Penn Dems and the College Republicans are very active, but the Dems definitely have a larger membership.</p>

<p>The faculty is extremely liberal, and they're known for it in quite a few publications, but there are a few notable conservative faculty as well. </p>

<p>You really shouldn't choose a school based upon its political atmosphere unless it would be a horrible mismatch, and I wouldn't place Penn as an extremity in any political alignment. I would say that (from my experience and conversations) all of Penn, Yale and Duke have a very similar culture, and that Brown's not too different. I've heard conflicting opinions on UT (that it's conservative "because its in texas", or that its liberal "compared to A&M").</p>

<p>On one hand, I'd hate to see someone miserable at a school because of its political environment, but on the other hand I really do think that being surrounded by different voters is a great opportunity to learn and grow in your own beliefs.</p>

<p>It is not the difference that is an issue, but rather the beratement of my own opinions. Some schools (Berkeley) are know for not being the open minded liberal atomosphere, but rather the yelling liberal type thing, which is what I am trying to avoid.</p>

<p>I've found Penn to be a remarkably centrist institution. Which as a right-of-center person, I felt put it ahead of the other Ivies with their legions of hippies.</p>

<p>I think the Wharton school goes a long way towards warding off hippies, like some sort of giant, vaguely phallic talisman</p>

<p>Dbate, you might also want to consider Baylor. It has great academics, you would not have to travel far, and you absolutely would not have to worry about liberalism. Also, as you probably know, Baylor Law School is also excellent as well.</p>

<p>We're harcore liberals. Just last week I was protesting against "insert X conservative view". INSANNEEEE</p>

<p>
[quote]
. What other people do in private, does not affect me, so why would I care. I care about activism,

[/quote]

Actually a lot of conservatives are close minded, who else would have the sheer audacity to try and dictate the way people live (abortion). if you want to have a baby out of rape or incest thats your choice, but who gives you the right to tell other people what to do? Thats what I dislike about conservatism, they seek to force people to conform to their views...Lets not even get into their stupid policies</p>

<p>"let's not even get into" it. . .and yet right there you're turning this damn thread into an argument against conservative policies. Please learn to be silent in your opposition </p>

<p>to the original poster. . .focus on academics. most places are liberal. penn is less activist. otherwise, it really doesn't matter.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Thats what I dislike about conservatism, they seek to force people to conform to their views

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Guess someone has yet to discover the wonderful world of left-wing Political Correctness</p>

<p>
[quote]
"Actually a lot of conservatives are close minded, who else would have the sheer audacity to try and dictate the way people live (abortion). if you want to have a baby out of rape or incest thats your choice, but who gives you the right to tell other people what to do? Thats what I dislike about conservatism, they seek to force people to conform to their views...Lets not even get into their stupid policies"

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Actually i dont care. I did not bring up abortion, so why the heck are you talking about it. Leave the thread. This is a prime example of what I am trying to avoid I said I am a conservative and this random person goes on about close mindedness and abortion? Really NOONE was talking about abortion. </p>

<p>Who gives me the right to tell ppl what to do? When did I in this thread try to tell anybody to do anything? This thread was about the politcal atmosphere at Penn, if you want to talk about liberal stuff try the Huffington Post. Please leave.</p>

<p>Bagels, you crack me up. Thank you :)</p>

<p>Dbate:
Maybe a complete derailment of your thread might be avoided if a huge issue isn't made of attempts to sidetrack it. And you really cannot throw people off a discussion [if they are not breaking the rules], as it is not a 'chat', but you may get lucky as they may just wander off [or lurk] if wounded or feel that they are taking 'the higher ground'..hehe...kidding. You'll find folks here on this forum that have great senses of humor and things tend to fizzle themselves out as most people are very respectful and conscientious of what they say.</p>

<p>This board is very helpful because of its semi-permanent information, and many folks probably have the same questions as you posed, but might not want to post. It's best to ignore things that might inflame yourself or others, or if you can respectfully send a PM [private message], it might be more helpful. [I'm only posting here, rather than PM, as I want to reply to both issues]</p>

<p>As to your original post, here's my take:</p>

<p>I shared your concerns about college searching with my son, as he is a very mature openly [but not obnoxiously] conservative young man who grew up in a very p/c suburban town. He has great leadership skills, and he is fair and open-minded. I wanted to be sure he was choosing a place where he felt he would be allowed to express his views in thoughtful discussions, without being suppressed by the p/c police. One good thing about the schools that you are looking at, is that the students and faculty are really smart. While you will have far left and far right leaning folks, political debate is not silenced. While freedom of speech is not really free, you nonetheless have the right to it. Now if people disagree with you or shun you, that is the price you pay. More often than not though, I have found that reasonable people enjoy the company of differing opinions. </p>

<p>I loved Penn from Day 1 for many reasons, perhaps because our first visit was on Hey Day. We also toured Yale, Princeton, MIT, Cornell, Brown, and many others. The atmosphere at Penn from our experience thus far has been very upbeat and friendly, inside and out. We also happened to be on campus on a day that Hillary and Obama were both speaking in Philly last April and the political atmosphere was palpable. There were people stomping for Hillary and even a pair dressed up like Hil/Bill in a VW bug. Obama fans were blasting music out their dorms at the Hillary supporters, and it was quite amusing to say the least. What a wonderful time to be a college student, was my first thought. </p>

<p>In any event, good luck in your search.</p>