<p>I just came back from a visit to Dartmouth and I really liked it. I have heard that Dartmouth is stereotypically one of the more conservative Ivys. To what extent is this true/false?</p>
<p>Personally, I'm very liberal, and probably want a school where the majority of the students are as well. That does not mean, however, that I want a politically homogenous school without any real debate.</p>
<p>Does Dartmouth meet this criteria?</p>
<p>It's true that Dartmouth is one of the most conservative of the ivies, but that doesn't mean that it's hard core conservative. From what I heard the student body seems to be 50/50 liberal/conservative. Yes, it's one of the most conservative ivies because look at the others. Brown (liberal) Columbia (liberal) Cornell (supposedly not extremely liberal, but still liberal) Harvard (liberal) Yale (liberal) Princeton (not sure) Penn (not sure, probably a similar political climate to Dartmouth's). But let's look at what's important. If you are liberal and attend Dartmouth, you will by no means be spat upon because of it because A. A nice percentage of the students are liberal B. Dartmouth isn't the kind of place where the political climate can get to you in a bad way. I hope I answered your question.</p>
<p>I think you'll find that Dartmouth has a great deal of liberal students, despite its conservative reputation. It has made great strides since the sexist, "Old Boy," preppy atmosphere of the 50's and even until the 70's. For instance, the student president-elect is openly homosexual, which I believe is a pretty revolutionary step compared to ALL of the Ivy's</p>
<p>I would probably put the political breakdown, just based on my own observations, at maybe 50% liberal, 35% moderate/libertarian, 10% conservative, and 5% other (Marxism, apathy, etc.). </p>
<p>I would say Dartmouth meets your criteria pretty well. As a moderate (formerly more conservative), I have rarely if ever felt uncomfortable here. I generally read both the Review (conservative) and the Free Press (liberal), as well as the Independent (at least on the rare occasions it's published).</p>
<p>When i visited dartmouth, i got the feeling that it was one of the few truly political schools in the ivy league. there was a notable lack of the bleeding heart mentality that seems to be so ingrained in many of the other ivies. i think someone on CC somewhere put it correctly when he or she said that dartmouth's student body is concerned less with the type of nebulous academia that's so popular at other institutions and leans more towards figuring out how they, as students, fit into the world as they conceive it. in that way, i think you'll find that politically, dartmouth is far more pragmatic, on both sides of the isle, than the other ivies. </p>
<p>in my opinion, pragmatism in political ideology and true debate over political differences breeds some of the most tenacious, rugged, and fierce intellectualism there is. i don't think that speculating about a concept on a campus where the opposition to the concept, let alone demands for a means of actualizing it, are null helps individuals grow intellectually. </p>
<p>so what does all of that mean? it means that dartmouth is a school with an active and vocal base of both liberalism and conservatism. like many instiutions of higher learning, especially the more elite ones, dartmouth seemed to have a large number of very smart and articulate liberals. You can google the Dartmouth Free Press and read articles online, there are some really well thought-out essays in there. at the same time, the Dartmouth Review is an excellent independent conservative newspaper. i forgot exactly what it was, but i was told when i was there that a major national publication once picked up on a story first scooped by the DR, just to give you an idea about what a great paper it is, and the intellectual firepower that backs it. You should check out the Review's website too and read articles. the breed of conservatism at Dartmouth is an extremely smart kind and the conservative student body is very able to articulate and debate with its liberal counterpart.</p>
<p>So in a nutshell, Dartmouth is a place without as many of the hopeless liberals or close-minded conservatives. It is, in my opinion, one of the truly political schools left in the ivy league, where most of the schools tend to settle for easy concensus rather than true debate. It is a school of pragmatic yet visionary liberals and intellectual yet staunch conservatives.</p>
<p>Oh, as a disclaimer, I'm not a student or an alum. I'm going to be at Dartmouth in the fall as a freshman, and i've visited the whole ivy league, and while i think what i said is valid and valuable, i don't speak from the extensive experience that some of the other posters on this forum will surely have.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your help. It sounds like Dartmouth is what I'm looking for!</p>
<p>One thing that Dartmouth students in general believe in is environmental concerns. We are very close to nature, but not in a crunchy way. Just look at the Dartmouth Outing Club. That means the environmental issues are discussed by both sides of the political spectrum (maybe not so much in the DR, but in general) which is unusual.</p>
<p>In erms of actual voting, according to the D polls Dartmouth has been 75-85% democrat in the presidential elections.</p>
<p>Dartmouth is extremely liberal--that is, relative to anything anyone would have experienced prior to packing-up for college. As a college, Dartmouth is moderate-liberal with a small but vibrant conservative minority.</p>
<p>Few wear their politics on their sleeve...there are, for most, more important matters on campus than political ideology and that, I believe, is the Dartmouth difference. </p>
<p>For those who need to be continually congratulated on their political views, there are better choices: Brown, Swarthmore, Berkeley Wheaton, BYU, Liberty.</p>
<p>As a parent, I find it interesting and refreshing that the current student body president, who is an 06, created some stir when he was elected, for being a conservative Christian and the incoming president, as someone mentioned, is openly homosexual. I think that says a lot for the variety of opinion, and the fact that political process is actually vibrant - real politics. I agree with FountainSiren that the students I have met don't seem to wear their politics on their sleeves, although they can get into a political debate given the right incentives! I really think that it is a healthy balance of perspectives, with a good dose of respect and willingness to hear and debate the other side.</p>
<p>I do agree that Dartmouth is very open - even to conservatives. In fact the hyper liberals and hyper conservatives are best friends since they enjoy arguing so much! Pretty funny, I know the president of the Dartmouth Review's best man a few years back was a liberal leader on campus.</p>