This might be a weird question but I’ll ask it anyways:
I’m a rising senior looking for a liberal arts college that has high focus/a strong department in math and sciences (particularly computational/mathematical biology or neuroscience). I’m mainly looking for something that’s pretty selective (15-30% acceptance rate) and kinda nerdy. My GPA is 3.9 and SAT is 2220 (lets just say it’ll be a 2300 in the fall). Please don’t ask about more of my stats if possible because it’s not really important in this situation. Also, tuition shouldn’t be a large factor either because 1) top private liberal arts colleges basically have the same price tag, and 2) liberal arts colleges are generally somewhat generous in their financial aid packages.
Academics aside, I want to be able to live for 4 years as a social conservative without feeling a lot of pressure from highly liberal peers. I’ve seen from a lot of forums that most liberal arts colleges are radically liberal and very active. When I say liberal, some examples are weird parties and events (naked dances?), a majority of bathrooms being gender-neutral, a lot of anti-conservative ideas, and that kind of stuff. I’m highly politically apathetic so I don’t care much about political debates and stuff, but I wanted to make that I’m not pressured socially for 4 years.
Two colleges that I was thinking about were Swarthmore and Oberlin, but after some reading, I’m not sure if I’ll be happy with them. Any suggestions?
Have you looked at Claremont McKenna? About 1/3 of students consider themselves to be conservatives and the faculty is pretty politically diverse as well. You also get to take advantage of all of the fantastic resources in the Claremont Consortium. Some of my closest friends are social conservatives and have enjoyed their experience so far.
@BatesParents2019 Hamilton is less liberal? I had thought that almost all colleges in NY were crazy liberal! Also, is Washington & Lee only for undergraduates?
@Carotid Thanks for the advice! Actually, I have Harvey Mudd, one of the schools in the Claremont Consortium on my list.
Thanks for the fast responses. I might sound picky, but going to a “conservative” school isn’t the only way to escape pressure I think. I think it’s important to be exposed to people of other views, but I just don’t want a super active liberal group to always be on my case!
“Also, tuition shouldn’t be a large factor either because 1) top private liberal arts colleges basically have the same price tag, and 2) liberal arts colleges are generally somewhat generous in their financial aid packages.”
Please have “The Talk” with your parents now and be sure you know what the budget is. Cost is often a much larger factor for parents in April than students anticipated it would be in the fall, and students who don’t have a financial safety they are happy to attend are up the creek without the proverbial paddle. Even colleges with generous need-based aid may surprise you with your EFC, and packages can vary a good deal from one school to the next.
Hamilton is not as left as Oberlin, Wesleyan and similar schools. It has a middle tone.
Washington & Lee is primarily an undergraduate institution but it does have a law school. I have been with my son. It is the conservative, provincial South. The campus is quite beautiful.
Unless you are a card carrying John Birch member, I think Colgate, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, Hamilton and Bucknell will give you what you want. If you want to turn the dial more to the right then W&L.
Just a word of advice, high stats doesn’t mean you get in these schools. You need to have a full resume of things that makes you interesting.
Except for Bucknell, the schools I mentioned can be as low as 15% acceptance during regular decision.
@BatesParents2019 I know high stats don’t mean much haha. I have pretty decent ECs and course selection that I don’t really want to list out if not necessary. Most of those schools look more like they’re in the low 20s actually. I’m looking for a high match to low reach anyways. I already have schools like Davidson and Harvey Mudd which are somewhat more moderate!
If you are conservative in a personal behavior sense but not politically active, you may find that the non-political social scene makes more of an impact than daily campus life. For example, if every weekend brings rowdy parties where alcohol flows freely, that may be annoying if that does not interest you and there is not much else to do at a rural isolated school.
@ucbalumnus Does that mean that an urban school has a less politically active setting? I always thought that a rural setting would be much more peaceful in regards to political activism…please correct me if I’m wrong
Some of the schools with political activism that have been named above are small rural schools.
A rural school, particularly a small one, may require paying more attention to social fit, since a student at a large urban school is more likely to find other students with common social interests, and has access to the city for activities outside of those on or near campus.
Furman University (in SC) and Samford (in AL) seem to lean conservative and your stats may garner significant merit aid. As you will learn from reading the merit scholarship threads, going down the rankings in selectivity will increase the possibility you’ll qualify for merit aid.
Oberlin is the exact opposite of what you are looking for.
And not all colleges in NY are crazy liberal (HWS for example, though it is less selective than you want). It will be a challenge to find a highly selective college that leans socially conservative but admits less than 30%. In my opinion there are some good suggestions above, such as @batesparents2019 's suggestions. The key for you is to visit, so you should get busy on that IMO.
^^ Swarthmore is also the exact opposite of what you’re looking for. I kind of giggled when I saw Swat and Oberlin at the end of your original post. Swat, at least, is about as liberal as you can get.
For your information, Swarthmore and Oberlin are highly liberal. Washington & Lee and Claremont McKenna might be more suited for your taste. I’m not sure about Harvey Mudd though.
Um, so what you are asking for is schools like Davidson, Washington and Lee, and Claremont McKenna (although steer clear of Pitzer if you do end up attending CMC; the campuses truly form a consortium).
I do think, however, you would be fine at schools like Amherst, Williams, and Middlebury, and you would definitely find yourself at home at Colgate and Trinity College. Lafayette and Bucknell should be fine too.
While many students at LACs will have “anti-conservative” ideas, there are very very few colleges where the majority of bathrooms are gender neutral, or more than one party with a naked dance (do undie runs qualify?). By the way, one of my coworkers is a student at Hamilton and the parties she describes are the fairly standard ones.
I think OP and the other posters might be defining social conservative differently. As I’m reading the OP, even highly liberal schools like Wesleyan or Macalester College sounds like they might work so long as they aren’t as “extreme” as a school like Reed or Oberlin.