This isn’t going to impact my decision that much ultimately, I was just a little bit curious.
Most of the schools I am looking at are very obstinately liberal (it’s Amherst and Scripps type schools), which I know are very different from Tulane, but I just really really like Tulane. I am looking into Political Science and I have had volunteer positions and internships with democratic campaigns throughout high school (so I’m very political).
I honestly don’t care if I go to a school that’s even like 80-20 conservative to democrat, but my mom is even more democratic than me and she is very against me going to Tulane because she thinks it’s really conservative. I’ve had a lot of trouble finding information on the internet about whether Tulane is a right or left leaning school, so I was just wondering if you guys feel that it’s a politically blue or red type of school.
@marijke - Tulane, like most colleges, is more Liberal. Although LA is a more conservative state, New Orleans itself is much more liberal (like most cities). I can comfortably say that although our campus is more liberal, we definitely have students who have different viewpoints/beliefs/opinions about politics.
In my opinion… if your mom is wanting you to go to a school that is majority liberal, then Tulane satisfies this requirement. At the same time, if you are looking for a campus that encourages different beliefs/political opinions, then Tulane will provide you with the ‘political diversity’ that you (as a Political Science major) would look for.
In short: we are a ‘blue’ campus (like most), in a blue city, living in a red state.
I think most of the top schools including Tulane are liberal as being described by the Media. But, you can not go wrong by choosing Tulane. My son went to Tulane and got a degree from there. We are Christian family and my son joined Christian group at Tulane. So, when he was there, he said “the school is very balance in terms of political view.”
I would like to chime in some more: Tulane has also The Tulane College Democrats. Take a look at this link and call them up find out their school activities, the job prospects after graduation, finding internships, etc. https://www2.tulane.edu/liberal-arts/political-science/studentgroups.cfm
Tulane’s student body and faculty will be plenty “blue” enough for you or your mother. If you are trying to find the school where everyone thinks exactly as you and you can go through four years without challenge, without controversy, without thought; well that school probably does not exist. Nor should it.
I agree completely with @vistajay. While Tulane leans more liberal from what I heard, you should ultimately want an environment where you can interact and learn from different political perspectives, ESPECIALLY if you are going into Poli Sci.
I actually wrote my Why Tulane? essay on the fact that I wanted to go to Tulane because I grew up in a staunchly liberal house where any opinion other than “Go HRC!” or “Obama is our savior” was treated as heresy. It’s a pull for me that I would end up in a place where people disagree with me, but the rest of my family is really not on board.
Anyway, thank you all so much for your feedback! It was really thorough and helpful. I’m hoping I end up at Tulane next year.