<p>I'm reading the book Colleges That Change Lives <a href="http://www.ctcl.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.ctcl.com/</a> and i have the problem of liking every single one in the book. here is the list:</p>
<p>Agnes Scott College
Allegheny College
Antioch College
Austin College
Beloit College
Birmingham-Southern College
Centre College
Clark University
College of Wooster
Cornell College
Denison University
Earlham College
Eckerd College
Emory & Henry College
The Evergreen State College
Goucher College
Guilford College
Hampshire College
Hendrix College
Hiram College
Hope College
Juniata College
Kalamazoo College
Knox College
Lawrence University
Lynchburg College
Marlboro College
McDaniel College
Millsaps College
New College of Florida
Ohio Wesleyan University
Reed College
Rhodes College
Southwestern University
St. John's College
St. Olaf College
Ursinus College
Wabash College
Wheaton College
Whitman College</p>
<p>so then i figured i need some way to narrow down this list, so i need to introduce some more factors. </p>
<p>i am very liberal, and am wondering whether i might have a more enjoyable experience at college if i can be in a liberal setting. so maybe it would be helpful if someone could sort these in tiers of liberal-ness. (note: im not saying i couldnt love my time at conservative college X, just that i might enjoy liberal college Y even more)</p>
<p>other factors im interested is how outdoorsy/beautiful the location is, how selective it is, and how intellectual it is. </p>
<p>if your wondering, my current favs are st. johns (sante fe), hampshire, marlboro, and new college. from what i can tell, all happen to be liberal, intellectual, outdoorsy, and selective.</p>
<p>Reed College. You sound like a perfect fit. I am looking at it myself.</p>
<p>Reed is very liberal. very very liberal. that being said, you will probably fit in at a school that suits your political leaning. i live in South Carolina, and tend to lean to the left, and trust me, I hate it here.</p>
<p>Reed also has a very beautiful campus and is located in my favorite city in the United States. A lot of mountains are just an hour or so outside of Portland (I believe), so it definetely will have outdoor programs.</p>
<p>Reed is very selective and very very intellectual. Students go there to learn, not to get grades.</p>
<p>Also Whitman would suit you well.</p>
<p>And thanks for that list and website.</p>
<p>everything about Reed i initially liked, but it just seemed like so much work. I might still apply, but was hoping for a more relaxed learning experience. also Whitman sounded great, but i'd have a hard time getting in. (along with Reed and probably New)</p>
<p>super liberal:
hampshire
New College of Florida
Reed College
The Evergreen State College
Marlboro College
Beloit College
Lawrence University</p>
<p>conservative:
Wheaton College</p>
<p>dont know yet:
Agnes Scott College
Allegheny College
Antioch College
Austin College
Birmingham-Southern College
Centre College
Clark University
College of Wooster
Denison University
Earlham College
Eckerd College
Emory & Henry College
Goucher College
Guilford College
Hendrix College
Hiram College
Hope College
Juniata College
Kalamazoo College
Knox College
Lynchburg College
McDaniel College
Millsaps College
Ohio Wesleyan University
Rhodes College
Southwestern University
St. John's College
St. Olaf College
Ursinus College
Wabash College
Whitman College</p>
<p>About Ohio Wesleyan: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:WesleyanPolitical.JPG%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:WesleyanPolitical.JPG</a></p>
<p>In one of the Transcript (the OWU newspaper) articles three yrs ago, the poll indicated that 80% of the students voted for Kerry. So, I'd put it in "Very liberal".</p>
<p>Wheaton College is the opposite of liberal. It is a strictly Christian college, so it's very much conservative politically and compared to a public college very, very conservative in lifestyle. As a matter of fact, its lifestyle can't even be compared to a public college. </p>
<p>Have you visited the website of each of these colleges? Usually, that will knock at least a few off the list.</p>
<p>Eckerd College is rather un-political.</p>
<p>I think you would love Vassar College.</p>
<p>Conservative: Wabash
Moderate: Denison, St. Olaf, Allegheny, Lynchburg College
Liberal: Wooster, Antioch College
Very liberal: Earlham, Ohio Wesleyan</p>
<p>Very liberal:
hampshire
New College of Florida
Reed College
The Evergreen State College
Marlboro College
Beloit College
Lawrence University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Earlham College</p>
<p>Liberal:
College of Wooster
Antioch College
Whitman College
St. John's College
Guilford College</p>
<p>Moderate:
Denison University
St. Olaf College
Allegheny College
Lynchburg College</p>
<p>conservative:
Wheaton College
Wabash College</p>
<p>dont know yet:
Austin College
Birmingham-Southern College
Centre College
Clark University
Eckerd College
Emory & Henry College
Goucher College
Hendrix College
Hiram College
Hope College
Juniata College
Kalamazoo College
Knox College
McDaniel College
Millsaps College
Rhodes College
Southwestern University
Ursinus College</p>
<p>I would also put Rhodes, Southwestern, and Centre under conservative.</p>
<p>Clark is moderate
Goucher is liberal
Hope is conservative</p>
<p>I'd suggest expanding your horizons and going to a school with intellectual diversity which is far more important than racial diversity</p>
<p>I wouldn't limit yourself to this list. There are lots of LACs that "change lives" that aren;t in this book...they just happen to be better known</p>
<p>true.
if you are looking for a liberal or super liberal or even moderate schools, people would generate a long list of schools. especially if you consider location.</p>
<p>I don't think I'd put Lawrence in the "very" liberal category, but like most northern liberal arts colleges it skews liberal.</p>
<p>Frankly I hesitate to add opinion to this thread at all because we haven't defined what "liberal" or "conservative" or even "moderate" mean here. Politically? Culturally? Socially?</p>
<p>FWIW, Kalamazoo skews liberal too, or so its admissions officers and students told me when we visited.</p>
<p>I would agree that it is a mistake to suggest that Lawrence is super liberal -- certainly not on the same scale as Antioch, Warren Wilson, New College, Oberlin, or Earlham.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would first focus on what kind of intellectual experience you hope to have. Then, I would focus on the political leanings of your fellow students and the location of the college. That being said, if you desire an intellectually intense atmosphere, then I would first look at Reed, Chicago, Marlboro, New College and St. John's. To expose my bias, if I were to personally do my search at this point, those schools (along with Kalamazoo) would be on the top of my list to look at more closely.</p>
<p>Good luck. Pope's book is a good place to start.</p>
<p>You should visit websites, of course. That is a great book and I loved showing it to my mom, who was sort of hung up on prestige and all those things Pope bashes in his introduction.</p>
<p>You should know that at St. John's you don't choose your own classes. Your life at college is planned out for you. (Not sure how politically correct you are, but they read something like 2 books authored by black men, 1 book authored by a woman, and everything else by dead white males. So that's something to consider.) Not that the education you'd get would not be AMAZING, and if that's the sort of experience you're into, go for it...</p>
<p>Basically, check out websites.</p>
<p>im aware that this list doesnt encompass every school that might be good for me, although this list has the highest concentration of best fit schools then any other. im also aware that intellectual and political diversity is important, and i would be missing out on part of the experience if i surrounded myself with only hippies, although id rather hippies then conservatives. as far as what type of "liberal" we are talking about, i doubt that you would be able to specify social vs. fiscal and all that for each of these. although maybe something like warren wilson would be fiscally liberal whereas something like hampshire more socially liberal. but thats too nitpicky since most peoples political tendencies infiltrate all of their beliefs the same. the list is just a tool, not a guide, that i am using to guage a somewhat superficial characteristic of these colleges. as for st. johns, it is my top choice at the moment and i know about its program. it bums me though that you cant study abroad at all, get internships, or anything like that.</p>
<p>Very liberal:
hampshire
New College of Florida
Reed College
The Evergreen State College
Marlboro College
Beloit College
Ohio Wesleyan University
Earlham College
Antioch College</p>
<p>Liberal:
College of Wooster
Whitman College
St. John's College
Guilford College
Goucher College
Lawrence University
Kalamazoo College</p>
<p>Moderate:
Denison University
St. Olaf College
Allegheny College
Lynchburg College
Clark University</p>
<p>conservative:
Wheaton College
Wabash College
Rhodes College
Southwestern University
Centre College
Hope College</p>
<p>dont know yet:
Austin College
Birmingham-Southern College
Eckerd College
Emory & Henry College
Hendrix College
Hiram College
Juniata College
Knox College
McDaniel College
Millsaps College
Ursinus College</p>
<p>to put a little perspective in place, my high school is about 95% liberal, and yet i feel way out in left field sometimes. i feel like the vast majority are politically apathetic and simply conform to the sway of the majority. the second you hold a belief too far left to be supported by the majority, you might as well be fascist.</p>
