Political Ratings of Colleges

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey I'm a HS soph. just starting the college search, and because I think I'll probably major in political science, it is VERY important that the campus and porfessors accept my conservative views and ideas. I've heard nightmare stories of kids taking tests where one of the questions is "Explain why George Bush is a war criminal" So I'm asking anyone in the know to rate these schools and others people add to the list.</p>

<p>Harvard
Stanford
Princeton
Yale
UChicago
WashU
UWash
Tex-Austin
UCLA
Berkeley
UCSD
UVirginia
MIT
Cornell
Mich-Ann Arbor
Georgetown
Dartmouth</p>

<p>please use this format: (1-10 scale, 1 = extremely conservative, 10 = extremely liberal)</p>

<p>Please rank in seperate categories of Students, Professors, and Political Science department, depending on how much you know.</p>

2

<p>most insitutions of higher education have a liberal leaning, especially top 25 schools.</p>

<p>ivies are among the most liberal schools in the nation</p>

<p>a recent study among stanford and cornell, among other top schools, show that out of every 200 students they asked registered, only 6 were registered republicans, 184 registered democrats and 10 registered independent.</p>

<p>it has also been stated that at some schools, especially UCLA, UCSD, and berkeley, the professors try to punch their political view into some of their lectures.</p>

<p>this is what ive personally seen/have been told at certain campuses.</p>

<p>Very Liberal:
Harvard (10)
Stanford (9)
Yale (8)
UChicago (7)
UCLA (8)
Berkeley (9)
UCSD (7)
MIT (9)
Cornell (7)
Georgetown (8)
Dartmouth (9)
WashU (8)</p>

<p>Split but liberal leaning
Princeton (6)
Mich-Ann Arbor (6)
UVirginia (5)</p>

<p>I dont know about these schools
UWash
Tex-Austin</p>

3

<p>I would say Georgetown hovers around a 5, leaning a little liberal. Both College Republicans and Democrats are active on campus. Usually speakers on campus are more middle of the road, leaning liberal. However conservatives(like me) definitely are welcome and don't have problems expressing themselves.</p>

4

<p>
[quote]
I've heard nightmare stories of kids taking tests where one of the questions is "Explain why George Bush is a war criminal".

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I think your sources of information are trying to scare you. It is illegal for a professor to impose his/her political beliefs in the classroom, and they can be reported for this action.</p>

5

<p>Michigan and Chicago are actually very liberal...and Georgetown is significantly conservative. Also, Harvard is not THAT liberal. But by and large, most top universities are reasonably liberal. </p>

<p>Harvard 8
Stanford 8
Princeton 6
Yale 7
UChicago 8
WashU 6
UWash 8
Tex-Austin 8
UCLA 8
Berkeley 8
UCSD 8
UVirginia 6
MIT 8
Cornell 8
Mich-Ann Arbor 8
Georgetown 6
Dartmouth 7</p>

6

<p>UCLA(7)
Berkeley(8)
UCSD (5)
Georgetown (6)</p>

<p>Of those on your list, the above are the ones I have visited and experienced their political atmosphere.</p>

<p>I would say that UCSD is rather apolitical; of course, I spent only one day there, but it wasn't has active politically as other schools and it was mostly neutral.</p>

<p>Georgetown leans liberal, but not too much. The College Republicans hold their own on the campus and are not facing demise or anything.</p>

<p>UCLA is definitley political and leans liberal. Bruin Republicans though are well-organized. </p>

<p>And now, Berkeley...my home for the next four years.</p>

<p>Berkeley is liberal; that can be attributed to the Free Speech Movement in the 60s which exploded onto the campus. It is political, no doubt. You will be bombarded with anti-Bush, anti-Capitalist, anti-Conservative, anti's whatever. Nonetheless, this is a matter of fact. College Republicans are the largest club on campus (The Asian American Association doesn't count; but technically, AAA does have a larger membership that College Republicans). Students themselves do not identify themselves as extremely liberal or conservative. Polls and surveys indicate that Berkeley is not as liberal in the past and the student body is mostly moderate.</p>

<p>In terms of professors writing "Why GWB is a war criminal?" professors at all the aforementioned universities may or may not like Bush but they maintain a professionalism that prevents them from being too one-sided. After all, professors are scholars and those I've met at least are willing to hear both sides of the argument regardless of their own political views.</p>

<p>--
Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA is quite conservative and if you're looking for a conservative student body, WLU does offer that. It is something to consider.</p>

7

<p>Dartmouth isn't as liberal as the above posters make it out to be - I'm pretty conservative, and I met several other conservative people at the admitted students weekend (I'm going next year). It is more liberal than conservative though.</p>

<p>That being said, I loved Rice, and found it to be a bit more conservative that Dartmouth, at least student-body wise (not so much the profs, i think). If it wasn't so far from home, I'd be going there. I think its one of the more conservative among top schools (it ranks mid-teens, though i don't think it has the public reputation it deserves). You should consider it.</p>

8

<p>You will find a sizable group of College Republicans at any university.
Most have special conservative newspapers too.</p>

<p>Faculty are overwhelmingly liberal at any secular university, so choices are limited unless you want something like Bob Jones, BYU, Wheaton...</p>

<p>Georgetown, Princeton, and Dartmouth are probably your best bets if you want a more significant conservative presence. The more traditional the school, the more conservative (generally).</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
Dartmouth isn't as liberal as the above posters make it out to be - I'm pretty conservative, and I met several other conservative people at the admitted students weekend (I'm going next year).

[/quote]
you and your pretty conservative friends are going to be in for a surprise during freshman indoctrination week. The idea of Dartmouth being conservative is way, way out of date. Or any other elite Northeastern college, for that matter.</p>

10

<p>Beware of Cornell...If you're conservative...you'll be lynched...lmao...i wanna go there...im liberal...so ye...lol...but im a junior/rising senior....but thats the skool for me, definately not for a PS major at Cornell!!! NO! Stay away! haha UChicago is also very liberal</p>

11

<p>Is the history major at Cornell very politicized?</p>

12

<p>I didn't say I thought Dartmouth was a conservative school, but there is a decently sized conservative population (i.e., the OP wont feel like he (she?) is the only one), and I do definitely think its MORE conservative when compared to some of the other schools on the list.</p>

13

<p>I think Columbia is pretty conservative. I remember a whole bunch of people gathered in the main courtyard with signs a couple years back about how much they appreciated Bush's foreign policy.</p>

14

<p>youve got to be kidding about columbia, right? anyways I just want to know if i major in poli sci are any of these schools gonna "cramp my style" so to speak, or try and make a communist. If the profs are objective, then i can deal w/ the students. I just dont want classes taught by Ward Churchill if you know what I mean. Also to the one poster, that actually was a question, and I don't think anyone can deny there are a sizable amount of profs trying to impress their philosophy on students.</p>

15

<p>Any of you non-lefties who are concerned about the political situation at specific schools, in specific departments, should check out "Choosing the Right College," put out by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). It's outstanding, and was just updated. You can get it from Amazon, at Borders, just about anywhere. It tells you which departments to avoid, which professors to seek out as mentors and teachers, and gives advice on how to get a great education at the elite schools, despite the fact that most of the faculty will be "of the Left," and to varying degrees, politicized.</p>

16

<p>
[quote]
youve got to be kidding about columbia, right?

[/quote]

lol. Columbia gets a higher rating from conservatives than you might think because of its curriculum, which still focuses on Western Civilization.</p>

17

<p>Check out "Students for Academic Freedom." This website documents all of the liberal atrocities (:D) that happen in today's educational environment.</p>

18

<p>
[quote]
Columbia gets a higher rating from conservatives than you might think because of its curriculum, which still focuses on Western Civilization.

[/quote]
This is very true. The ISI Guide, which I mentioned above, suggests that they hold Columbia in the highest regard among the Ivies, for the reason sac mentions. They have some serious problems in specific departments, but hey, MIT has Noam Chomskey. You can't judge a college just on the basis of its loudmouthed crackpots. ANY elite northeastern college is going to have an overwhelmingly liberal POV, however, students and faculty alike (faculty generally much more so than the students, however.) But that's life. Deal with the campus environment, or attend a southern or religious school. BTW, I saw an Ann Coulter interview the other night. She was commenting on how college Republicans actually learn to debate and argue, because they constantly have to defend their POV on campus. College lefties never have to learn those skills....so they scream curses and throw food. Not a direct quote, but close.</p>

19

<p>Well if you judge campuses by employee donations to Bush or Kerry campaigns, then Dartmouth and Princeton were the most liberal and Wash U and Vanderbilt the most conservative:</p>

<p>Giving To 2004 Presidential Campaigns From Employees at U.S. News & World Report’s Top-Ranked National Universities</p>

<p>Listed by USN&WR’s 2004 School Rankings </p>

<p>Kerry/Bush Dollar Ratio
Kerry/Bush Dollar %<br>
Number of Donations </p>

<p>Harvard
25 to 1
97% to 3%
406 to 13</p>

<p>Princeton
302 to 1
99.7% to 0.3
114 to 1</p>

<p>Yale
20 to 1
95% to 5%
150 to 3</p>

<p>Penn
32 to 1
97% to 3%
93 to 5</p>

<p>Duke
9 to 1
90% to 10%
98 to 7</p>

<p>MIT
43 to 1
98% to 2%
121 to 2</p>

<p>Stanford
6 to 1
86% to 14%
257 to 28</p>

<p>CIT
30 to 1
97% to 3%
22 to 2</p>

<p>Columbia
8 to 1
89% to 11%
197 to 14</p>

<p>Dartmouth
Infinity
100% to 0%
39 to 0</p>

<p>Northwestern
11 to 1
92% to 8%
100 to 6</p>

<p>Washington U.
2 to 1
65% to 35%
56 to 14</p>

<p>Brown
7 to 1
88% to 12%
43 to 4</p>

<p>Cornell
29 to 1
97% to 3%
142 to 7</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins
7 to 1
88% to 12%
125 to 19</p>

<p>Chicago
3 to 1
73% to 27%
77 to 15</p>

<p>Rice
3 to 1
72% to 28%
21 to 6</p>

<p>Notre Dame
3 to 1
75% to 25%
18 to 8</p>

<p>Vanderbilt
2 to 1
64% to 36%
76 to 26</p>

<p>Emory
9 to 1
90% to 10%
80 to 5</p>

<p>Univ. of California
21 to 1
95% to 5%
694 to 28</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon
29 to 1
97% to 3%
55 to 3</p>

<p>Michigan
10 to 1
91% to 9%
159 to 7</p>

<p>UVA
7 to 1
88% to 12%
72 to 10</p>

<p>Georgetown
15 to 1
94% to 6%
132 to 6</p>

<p><a href="https://www.leadershipinstitute.org/04RESOURCES/Flynn-BlueCampuses.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://www.leadershipinstitute.org/04RESOURCES/Flynn-BlueCampuses.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

20

<p>What's that supposed to imply? That the employees on campus lean left?</p>