Reed College---Ultra Left Wing ????

Applying to College
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<p>My son is very intellectual</p>

<p>SAT scores</p>

<p>800 CR
800 writing
700 math</p>

<p>ACT 34</p>

<p>unweighted gpa 3.6 or 3.7</p>

<p>weighted 4.3</p>

<p>He loves learning, reads a lot of eclectic books for fun, and has zero interest in sports.</p>

<p>Reed seems like the kind of intellectual environment he might like, and I like the idea of him going to a small school, rather than a big state university with 500 kids in a lecture hall, but my fear is that Reed might be "crazy" left wing. I don't mind left wing. I was once a liberal, in my own college days. And let's face it, probably 90% of the profs at most colleges are liberal.</p>

<p>I just don't want him going to a blatantly anti-american/hippie/PC/third world loving type school. I don't want him occupying the Dean's office, for example, because the school
hired a non-union janitor, which I understand actually happened recently at a school.
For example, when I see kids on this sight saying that the culture and architecture of Italy is no better than that of Chad, or that communism is a good system, it just wasn't implemented well, and where such thinking is considered sophisticated and nuanced, I get worried. </p>

<p>My son is a liberal, but is not a protestor, and doesn't really care about environmental awareness, and things like that. I don't want to send him to a left wind indoctrination camp.</p>

<p>Are my impressions/fears about Reed misplaced? </p>

<p>Also, he doesn't do drugs, and I doubt he has even had a beer yet (he is 17 1/2).</p>

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<p>Major lulz all around @ this dad for trying to live and think for his son</p>

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<p>That’s exactly right !!!. And I don’t think that is a bad thing. I only wish that my parents had given me more guidance when I was applying to college.</p>

<p>I don’t think 17 year old kids who have ever worked a day in their life and have been almost quasi-brainwashed by the PC of the public schools, have all the answers.</p>

<p>I don’t either, but if I see a possible concern about a particular school, I want to address it.</p>

<p>No different than if I learned that a school was ultra-right wing.</p>

<p>That is what parents do.</p>

<p>Ultimately, my son will decide what school he wants to go to, if only for the simple reason, that I wouldn’t want to be blamed if I made him go to school X, and it turned out badly for him.</p>

<p>He has never even heard of Reed College. I am not thinking for him. I feel it is my job to give him ALTERNATIVES to explore, that he has not considered, but I also need to give him accurate impresssions about what a school is like. Reed is one such alternative I have recently uncovered. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t want him going to a school, for example, where all the kids care about is wearing designer clothes, and where the girls wear pearls to class. He would feel out of place there as well.</p>

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<p>I’ve seen this complaint about public schools quite often, and exclusively from conservatives. Can you please elaborate on this? Do you feel that our public education is flawed because we don’t allow prayer in public schools? Do you not like how teachers are not allowed to rant about opposing political philosophies in front of their students? Do you not like how ethnic or religious minorities are protected from bullying?</p>

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<p>So let me see, on an earlier post I thought you were criticizing a parent for not wanting her liberal son at a predominantly cobservative southern school. You argued that being open to and around alternative viewpoints was a good thing, that kids change (implying too young to call themselves liberal). But you fear your kid might end up in the Deans office defending the right of unions? But what if he changed, and he wanted to?</p>

<p>Btw, if your son shares your views on the world, think he would not like Reed.</p>

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<p>Reed sounds like a good match for your son. As a school its really all about teaching independent thinking and analysis and has a huge emphasis on reading the classics. Sort of like a small version of the University of Chicago. Its a school for thinkers.</p>

<p>I suggest you let him decide what he wants to do about the janitors of the world. Presumably he has enough character to make individual decisions, given that he’s a liberal and you are obviously not. If he is smart enough to get into Reed he can make up his own mind. Otherwise you’d better convince him to go to Wofford or Hillsdale or something similarly conservative.</p>

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<p>Before we begin, I’ll briefly address your last comment: your son will not be coerced into drug use if he goes to Reed, although he very well might experiment with it. Reedies are very nice people.</p>

<p>Let me quote a few choice passages from your original post.</p>

<p>“I just don’t want him going to a blatantly anti-american/hippie/PC/third world loving type school.” Well! I wouldn’t call Reed anti-American, but… there are certainly numerous “hippies” on campus, and I’m sure there is a degree of political correctness, although I can’t imagine why you would dislike that. What really gets me, though, is “third world loving.” I just can’t get over it! Not only is it decidedly condescending and bordering on racist, but it’s also supremely closed-minded; do you think it’s a BAD THING to want a global perspective?</p>

<p>“I don’t want him occupying the Dean’s office, for example, because the school hired a non-union janitor.” I’ll defer to the wise words of doonerak on this one.</p>

<p>“when I see kids on this sight (sic) saying that the culture and architecture of Italy is no better than that of Chad, or that communism is a good system, it just wasn’t implemented well, and where such thinking is considered sophisticated and nuanced, I get worried.” Aha! More condescending Euro/Ameri-centrism! Lovely. Let’s start with the “culture and architecture” comment. Who, pray, are you, to decree that Chad is inferior culturally to Italy? That Italy is “better”? Are you aware, I wonder, that archeologists have discovered evidence that there have been human ancestors in Chad for millions of years? Did you know that Chad is home to more than 200 ethnic and linguistic groups, which give it a rich and varied cultural heritage? Did you conclude their inferiority simply because of their economic and political status? Charming.</p>

<p>Next, I’d like to just briefly point out that Reedies are well-known for their shirts that bear the motto “Atheism, Communism, Free Love.” So that about answers that question. Let’s move on.</p>

<p>“My son is a liberal, but is not a protestor…. I don’t want to send him to a left wind (sic) indoctrination camp.” Left wing indoctrination camp! Wonderful! Reed is a left wing indoctrination camp. There are just so many things wrong with that. Left wing? Perhaps. Indoctrination? Hardly. Camp? What?</p>

<p>Listen. Reed has a very particular culture. Primarily, this culture is a dedication to scholarship and learning, but along with that comes a desire for open-mindedness and greater understanding of the world as a whole. It is a unique and, I believe, exceptional college environment, and has produced countless wonderful people and thinkers.</p>

<p>In simpler terms: Yes, Reed is politically liberal. Yes, if your son goes there, he will (gasp!) be exposed to other cultures. And no, that is not a bad thing. I have to say, though, if your son is like you, there is probably a good chance he might feel out of place at Reed. Take that for what it’s worth.</p>

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<p>Lol @ you thinking your kid is going to an indoctrination camp.</p>

<p>Buddy, please keep your son away from any remotely respectable school and send him to some religiously affiliated school like TCU. Newsflash: NOBODY wants someone like that around anyway. HE will be the burden, not the other way around.</p>

<p>Post didn’t break any rules, don’t report.</p>

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<p>That is indeed what some parents do. It is exactly the opposite of what good parents do.</p>

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<p>Not to put too fine a point on it, but I’d take one Sistine Chapel vs. all 200 ethnic and linguistic groups of Chad, not one of which has had any notable influence whatsoever on the development of human thought and concommitant insight into the core human questions of beauty and eternity. Your post, quoted here, is precisely the example of the type of “all cultures are equal, even Sharia culture cut of the genitals of teen girls, etc.” that is the politically correct culture that Reed no doubt exemplifies and that is quite worthy of rejection and derision.</p>

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<p>+1 to annasdad yet again!!!</p>

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The bottom line?</p>

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<p>The mere way you phrase your question shows that you have the typical liberal stereotype of conservatives being neanderthals.</p>

<p>I personally agree that there should be no prayer in the schools. I am jewish, and would point out to christians that if their kids happened to go to school in Brooklyn or New York City, that their kids would then have to recite jewish prayers. I read the New York Times every day. I know you guys like to portray conservatives as southern small town hicks, but that is a stereotype you yourselves have created. </p>

<p>Your comment about not being allowed to rant against opposing political philosophies also shows the strange way liberals think. Since when is that an issue with conservatives?. You are being disingenuous. As you well know, the problem conservatives have is with the liberal indoctrination of high school students. My son has become a total liberal at age 17. The things that come out of his mouth make me cringe, because he is mouthing standard liberal platititudes that he could only have picked up at school, or in the liberal media. He talks of “hate speech” and “diversity”, and words that are alien to me. It is the liberals who have been pushing their philosophy on students, such as “earth day”, environmentalism, and stuff like that. My friend’s six year old son came home in tears one day, because he had been taught that the world was going to end in the near future because of global warming.</p>

<p>As for the protection of religious and ethnic minorities, since when is that the province of only liberals. I see liberals on this sight having absolutely no problem with asian kids from poor families being put on the back of the line for college admissions, because they are not the “right kind” of minority.</p>

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<p>A lot of what I’ve seen you write makes me, and probably others, feel the same way. Just because you don’t always agree with your son’s views doesn’t mean they’re wrong. Let him make some decisions for himself.</p>

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<p>That’s exactly right. To you, being a conservative republican is “evil”. Conservatives to you are neanderthals. Southern hicks. You might note, in reality, that if you exclude government workers, and people getting government assistance, the majority of the people in this country are conservatives, not liberals, and if you get away from the east coast and the west coast, an overwhelming majority.</p>

<p>I used to be a liberal. What a lot of kids don’t even realize today that they have essentially been subjected to indoctrination in the schools, and in the liberal media, and what they think is enlightened and sophisticated thinking is actually just PC thinking.</p>

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<p>Floridadad, I think it wouldn’t hurt to encourage your son to think about Reed as an option, if he enjoys reading and seeks intellectual rigor, but I think he should probably choose Reed only if academic challenge is his highest priority. FYI, I didn’t use drugs during my years there, nor did I ever feel pressure to (yes, they were offered, but don’t you think that is everywhere?). I don’t remember anyone attacking my values or my views, either, though students and professors expected each other to be able to defend opinions and viewpoints intelligently.</p>

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<p>No</p>

<p>my son is actually a liberal</p>

<p>How he became a liberal is interesting to me, because the only way he could have learned his liberal views are in school, or through the media.</p>

<p>But in any case, I don’t mind him going to a liberal school. 90% of the colleges are liberal. I just don’t want him going to an anti-american type school, and a school where political correctness trumps true inquiry. For example, I don’t think I would like him going to a Grinnell, based upon what I have read about it.</p>

<p>A lot of kids today who think they are engaging in sophisticated and nuanced thinking are simply, to me at least, more like the sheep in Animal Farm, bleating out the liberal line they heard in the media. I think that to deny that many colleges are engaging in left wing political indoctrination is putting your head in the sand. You probably don’t recognize it as such, because you agree with what is being taught. Even some of the college guidebooks I have read contain statements from students saying just about every view at the college is accepted, except of course the conservative view. My point on another post was simply that a liberal would not be very happy if the shoe were on the other foot, and his or her kid were attending high school in Texas or Kansas. I think the above are fair comments, and not “right wing”.</p>

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<p>if it makes you feel any better floridadad55, i’m an 18 year old incoming freshman (not to Reed, another school) who is bordering moderate republican though i see myself more as economically/ fiscally republican (gov’t spending, debt, etc.) and socially liberal (especially when it comes to environment).</p>

<p>keep in mind that most younger people of any generation are more liberal than the previous. so those liberal younglings out there… well you might just be conservative in the future.</p>

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<p>You may want to buy a National Geographic or two. Besides, last time I checked, male circumcision (practiced here) is not much different than female circumcision… Gotta love how people like to think that one backwards religious tradition is superior to another’s backwards religious tradition.</p>

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<p>Or by thinking for himself…</p>

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<p>There is another way. Perhaps he is a kid who listened to and read about the various sides of social and political controversies and then decided for himself which way correct. That’s what smart people do.</p>