<p>Y'all come back. LOL. </p>
<p>The funniest part is that there have been 11,000 hits on this thread and only 120 posts. I think that sets a record.</p>
<p>
The funniest part is that there have been 11,000 hits on this thread and only 120 posts. I think that sets a record.
Even funnier is that over a dozen of them are yours, including your first ever post on CC.</p>
<p>You've been very busy the eight days you've been here! :'(</p>
<p>A better question is why are a bunch of parents bickering about polotics on a college forum that is ment for high school/college aged students. It's pretty pathetic that you're even looking at this website in the first place. </p>
<p>Don't you have a job?!?...It's time to grow up :)</p>
<p>There as many or more adults on here at various threads as there are students. As for a job, I am very gainfullly employed, and have retired from one career and into another. Its not "pathetic" for parents of college kids, particularly experienced parents who have been through the difficult and capricious process of college admissions to be here helping others or making suggestions. As for the banter between ProudDad and me, its all in good fun and jest. He is obviously in academia, which also humors me. I also wanted to respond to his swipes at conservatives. I am quite sure he is mature enough to handle it. As for you, Michigan, that may be an open question.</p>
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You're obviously easily amused. I was swearing off this foolishness but you've taken my name in vain: I have no attachment to academia other than I'm currently paying for college tuition for two children and have one still in high-school. I also have a BS from one of those prestigious top U's you all genuflect to as a bastion of conservatism, but that skin is over thirty-years old now.
That much we knew without pointing it out. My "swipes" may be much harder to find, unless you count Fox Noise among them. </p>
<p>Michigan Warrior, it's important for the objectivity of this site that experienced parents refute bias when and where they see it here. As a parent who has seen two children successfully make the transition from high-school to college, I shudder to think what would have happened had either of my children relied on this site for their college search. The fact is, neither ever viewed this site and the schools they eventually chose are notably under-represented here, which I take as a tribute to the sensibility of the students at those schools. Questions like "what's the easiest prestige school to gain admission to with a 3.0 GPA and 1200 SATs" abound here. Or it's those with 2400 SATs asking strangers to "chance" them at HYPS. Very little discussion revolves around actual fit for a student's interests and aspirations. </p>
<p>I'm not saying that nothing here is of value but it is the Internet and anyone can profess to expertise they don't have. You can check my posts to see I only post to add information on schools I'm familiar with either because my kids go or went there, or we visited, or I live there. I am convinced SAT scores are overrated as determinators of how well kids will do in schools and I rail against the treatment schools get here when they decide either to refuse to look at SAT/ACT scores, or make them optional, as if that makes them second-class or safety material only. My kids are National Merit Scholarship recipients who chose to attend schools where SATs are either not used or optional for admissions. They also chose schools highly ranked for their tolerance of all forms of sexual preference and lifestyles even though they themselves are heterosexuals who don't drink, smoke, do drugs, pierce their bodies, wear Birkenstocks, or have tattoos. And they didn't hang out here accepting every word as gospel. </p>
<p>Best I can tell, this site often foments anxiety through constant comparison of stats while offering marginal utility to those who really need help in selecting a college. And yet kids come here by the thousands looking for just such help. It often takes a parent to sift through this quagmire to come up with anything useful, from a parental or a student perspective, or to temper a discussion that doesn't take into account the realities of the situation, and that's what makes their posts here often relevant. Like most things, you won't appreciate active parental involvement until you're a parent. I'm not talking about helicopter parents, but those who are active, concerned, and altruistic and judicious in their participation——without concern for personal aggrandizement.</p>
<p>Personally I think a prospective student would be far better off checking out actual students at the schools they're interested in, either through the school's referrals or sites like Live Journal. Just beware, nothing on the Internet is guaranteed to be accurate or objective, and sound-bites get the most coverage even if they are not indicators of the reality. The best advice is to see for yourself with your own eyes. Unless you just want a conservative right-wing perspective and then feel free to read and post here. ;)</p>
<p>Proud Dad: I may be easily amused but perhaps you are easily offended. My bantering was not meant as anything but jest, so just relax. No offense intended. I am a "compassionate conservative." No pun intended.</p>
<p>As for you putting two kids, with another on the way, through college, congratulations. I have one in college, one about to go to college and another yet behind them. </p>
<p>I went to a school off the radar screen for undergrad (though a superb school) but a prominently mentioned top school for graduate work. My spouse went to a top LAC. But therein lies the utility of MANY books on the market including that ubiquitous so called conservative book you lampooned earlier. It helps kids and parents get some perspective beyond the stale tours, the flashy marketing brochures and the biased opinions of kids in high school based on "prestige and rankings." The goal of this site, it seems to me, if it is utilized effectively is to provide a quasi public forum to air experiences and opinions in a broad perspective and help people....all people...find that list of schools for them to focus upon with their applications. </p>
<p>We are absolutely on the same page concerning your remarks to Michigan on the usefulness of CC to most kids, its fixation on sat scores and rankings etc. I fully agree that fit is much more important than rankings. </p>
<p>But to suggest, unless you were just joking, that CC is a right wing conservative perspective web site is silly. Most posts here I have seen are anything but. But if you intended humor and tweeking, then I accept it as such.</p>
<p>We are not about personal aggrandizement, but neither are we altruistic. College admissions is very much a personal matter for the family: the students needs and desires, the parents needs and desires and ability to afford, and the siblings needs and desires. </p>
<p>I dont care if your kids wear birkenstocks or not. Or really where they attended college or why. I just hope they had superior experiences to help them develop into positive and productive people of integrity, which is all parents can really hope for. </p>
<p>My kids dont use CC for the most part. They are in fact sort of repulsed by the "Chance me for HYP" kind of people anyway, as superficial. </p>
<p>My kids are very special too, Proud Dad, each in their own way with their own gifts. We are tolerant people who dont go around humiliating others, particularly for things they cannot help, though we may disagree with lifestyle. We are very anti-drug and anti-alcohol abuse. Tolerance and kindness are not owned by liberals or conservatives exclusively. </p>
<p>I do agree that the internet is a very sketchy resource and the best advice is to do the research yourself and go see the college for yourself. I was on a tour of UVa three years ago and about half of the people in the group (which was large) were infatuated with it, about half thought it wasnt their cup of tea. So there you go. That is a common experience at most schools. </p>
<p>I am a helicopter parent on SOME issues but not on others. Its really hard to let go of them at times and in this crazy world of ours with all sorts of bizarre things going on and peculiar people out there, its important to stay in touch with them and with reality.</p>
<p>New College is SUPER liberal</p>
<p>
Proud Dad: I may be easily amused but perhaps you are easily offended. My bantering was not meant as anything but jest, so just relax.
Sorry, I must have left of the wink: ;) I wasn't offended, just playing. Never had anyone accuse me of being in "academia" before! And as for the school I attended, I actually started out at what is now a top-10 private U. and transferred to a top public U after a year-and-a-half. The top-10 was by default and done without application when I didn't get in to the school I really wanted. I simply walked in to my first college in May with my H-S transcript in-hand and they welcomed me. Things are different today. Forty years ago nearly anyone from a prep school expected to go to a top school. My #1 child had the same experience in their first year and transferred to the school they really wanted after one year. It's experiences like this that make some of our opinions useful to kids today. Been there, done that, so to speak. Learn from our mistakes. </p>
<p>As for my final conservative crack, I DID use a "wink" on that one, and it was for alGores's benefit! :)</p>
<p>Okay. I hear ya. My D got waitlisted like a bunch of kids at WashU last year and broke her heart. She was not pleased. They suggested strongly she should reapply for this year, but she has settled in and is going to stick where she is.</p>
<p>I was ex military when I finally attended university, and while my HS transcript was like a minefield they took me in. I proved myself and graduated with high honors. Worked several years and then to graduate school. It is so different today and largely very unfair, if you ask me. But then again, our society is what has made this "top school" neurosis so pervasive. In the end, it truly doesnt matter so long as you do well in school and then get right to work after graduation.</p>
<p>My relationship to alGore is of course also a wink. He cracks me up.</p>
<p>I worked in DC for 6 years.</p>
<p>Be well.</p>
<p>
Stranger than fiction: WashU was where my oldest went after being waiting-listed at the first-choice school, and then transferred to the first-choice as a sophomore. Tell your daughter she isn't missing anything!</p>
<p>I'm disappointed you're not really related to algore. ;) I am, however, still a Proud Dad.</p>
<p>Well....send me a PM and let me know about WashU. First, we liked St. Louis. Second, the campus was gorgeous. Third the admissions people were extremely friendly and encouraging....my daughter is a concert violist. Fourth, they had programs she had a strong interest in, like PNP. Fifth, you could dig into double majors right away. On the down side, we saw weather, some frenetic kids running around... a little over stressed and fast talking....which really isnt necessary in college if you ask me. </p>
<p>I also think that there is a lot of over fixation for some kids at many schools. And they get there and perhaps its not as "cool" or "fun" as they thought...the honeymoon is short. Reality sets in. The grind. etc. But I suppose it depends on what your objectives are in college and in life and how important "the name" is to you. I told my daughter that graduate school matters MUCH more in the end than undergraduate. At least in the professional world. The major function of undergraduate is to learn to grow up. To explore. To get some direction in your life. And get beyond sophomoric relationships and behavior. </p>
<p>As for my relatives, if I told you, you might get an idea for a new television show. Something like the Adams family or Munsters. lol.</p>
<p>thanks guys</p>
<p>I just began looking for colleges to visit with my son. Searching for colleges that are conversative, not religious in nature. Thanks for all the information albeit it took me a while to filter through the childish barbs. Come on now adults, keep to the subject and help us na</p>
<p>Wheaton in IL is conservative and Christian. They have a policy of expelling gay students and students who believe that God accepts gays.</p>
<p>Barbmcg, I would look at colleges in the South. For example, Washington and Lee.</p>
<p>dzleprechaun: Your comments re Chicago are themselves "ridiculous," to use your term. Chicago is without question politically liberal. Just ask Barack. That overarching political bent coexists with a world reknowned econ department, which is empirical and apolitical. Empirical reserch that ends up refuting old liberal political dogma is not politically "conservative". Your "arguments," such as they are, illustrate the point. To an economist " a significant increase in the minimum wage" is analyzed in light of its macro economic effects, which are empirically deleterious. It leads to job loss. "Rent control" is equally harmful in economic terms in that it actually reduces the available housing supply. In the econ department (or the law school, which also sometimes dabbles in the so-called Chicago school of economics), you better "be prepared to defend yourself" if you are arguing in favor of these economically discredited policies. Empirical economics does not equal political conservatism. Facts arent political. Sit down at Jimmy's one night and eavesdrop. The university overall is incredibly liberal. For you I recommend ordering a Bud.</p>
<p>wow 10 pages</p>
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</p>
<p>Sorry, I just have to take issue with this. The "Chicago school" associated with the University of Chicago econ department and some other parts of the school like the law school is not principally "empirical," nor can it fairly be called "apolitical." It's strongly associated with libertarianism, deregulation, monetarism (v. Keynesianism), neo-classical theoretical assumptions, and a profoundly counterfactual (not empirically based) "rational choice" (or "rat choice") approach that posits persons as perfectly informed, perfectly rational, entirely self-interested utility-maximizing actors. To the extent the Chicago school is empirical at all, the empiricism is largely limited to empirical studies designed to illustrate and confirm these essentially neo-classical theories, not to build new theories from the ground up from direct empirical observations as competing approaches, like behavioral economics, attempt to do.</p>
<p>Nor is it "apolitical" or value-neutral. Strongly value-driven and politically fraught assumptions about human nature are built deeply into the neo-classical and rat choice theories that lie at the heart of the Chicago school. Consequently, it should come as no surprise that almost all the most famous figures associated with Chicago economics---Hayek, Friedman, Coase, Becker, Stigler, Posner, Lucas---are viewed as "conservatives" not only within the field of economics, but also in conventional political circles, where their ideas have been most influential with conservative political movements.</p>
<p>That said, I quite agree that notwithstanding the conservative bent of its economics department and the law-and-economics wing of its law school, the University of Chicago as a whole and its Hyde Park neighborhood are decidedly liberal.</p>
<p>Liberal - Antioch University.</p>
<p>Anyone that tries to argue will be shot.</p>
<p>I'd say that Brandeis and UC Berkeley are the most liberal.</p>
<p>Notre Dame, and USC strike me as the most convservative.</p>
<p>Biola University is also quite conservative, but it is unique for a religious school in that it rates VERY HIGH in social activism having spawned several nearly revolutionary movements (i.e. The Invisible Children) which is typically a liberal quality.</p>