This is based on campuses conservative kids I know have happily attended.
Belmont?
Perhaps Duke, Vanderbilt, and Wake Forest?
College of Charleston.
All are very social.
Conservative means different things to different people, from politically conservative to “country club style vs. Birkenstocks” to “tea-totalers vs partiers”.
I note if a college that is more Colonial than Gothic, but still pretty classic feeling, is acceptable, way more of those colleges will fit that requirement. Also kinda depends on what counts as a major city.
Like Susquehanna has a very nice classic campus, and it less than an hour (up a lovely river valley) from Harrisburg. They also have a really cool study abroad program.
But if that doesn’t work, Gettysburg also has a very nice campus, and actually also is only about an hour from Harrisburg (albeit not along the river valley), but it is under 1.5 hours from Baltimore, and not much more to DC. In fact I think Gettysburg really functions as a Greater DC area school.
Thank you all for the replies and suggestions so far. Really appreciate it and am adding a lot of these to my list to consider!
Any thoughts/experiences with the following being conservative-friendly?
William & Mary
Indiana University - Bloomington
Washington University in St. Louis
Notre Dame
Thanks!!!
ETA: Since a few people have asked for clarity about what I mean by “conservative”, I’ll say I’m somewhat of a moderate conservative (there are some Democratic/liberal policies I agree with, like same-sex marriage, legalization of marijuana, etc) but for the most part, I agree more with Republican policies and am against most of the far-left/woke stuff that seems to dominate most college campuses. I have no problem talking to people with different viewpoints than me, but I’m looking for a college where I can expect respectful, interesting discussions rather than me saying a conservative viewpoint and being doxxed/ostracized just for bringing up an alternate opinion. A college with a culture of genuine intellectual discourse rather than people being afraid to step outside the far-left narrative.
I think most college students are apolitical on campus - so you’re seeking something that most avoid - but you’ll find reasonable kids of various beliefs at all these schools. Some may “lean” left in the student body, like IU - but it still meets what you describe.
At very few schools, especially if you’re not proselytizing is this a risk at all…you’re assuming an environment that really isn’t:
"and being doxxed/ostracized just for bringing up an alternate opinion. "
William and Mary would be more Democratic leaning, but has a very active College Republican group. There are many viewpoints on campus, and most debate seems to be respectful.
I am not as optimistic as many on this thread about political openness on American college campuses. The professoriate is almost unanimously liberal and even far-left progressive, and the latter group, especially, is generally not open to the airing of right-of-center views.
That being said, if you want a conservative-friendly college, some are going to be more amenable than others. For example, I would favor larger schools and would stay away from small liberal arts colleges. You don’t want to go to Oberlin, or Bates/Bowdoin, etc. You need a place that’s big enough that your student can find his/her people and have at least one or two professors who allow themselves to espouse conservative opinions from time to time.
I think Indiana University in Bloomington would be conservative friendly. A good friend’s son and wife graduated from there 3 years ago and they are definitely on the more conservative end of the spectrum. They loved it.
Several of us commented on your previous thread (about the 5C’s), but you never returned to respond to us or follow up on the questions raised. As a rule, you’ll get more out of this platform if you interact with the people who take the time to help you out.
It definitely depends on your major. Business school is the most apathetic to politics, same goes for STEM / pre-med, music school etc. but if you are majoring in government or political science, expect a much more politically-charged environment.
Classrooms are just like the workplace, where talking about politics is generally frowned upon (unless its literally a political class). I bet you could be a bio-chem major at Berkeley and not hear about politics at all in the classroom or labs.
Finally, and this will be an unpopular take, but outside of class, 95% of kids only care about having a life - meeting friends, going to house parties, having weekend road trips etc. In 2024 and amongst Gen Z, it is viewed as un-cool to debate politics as a daily conversational topic. This applies even to left-leaning students in blue cities - those who are outspoken about politics often find themselves in a clique because everyone else does not want to be engaged in politics as a day-to-day affair.
As someone at IU right now, I think you’ll fit in just fine. With almost half the student body coming from out of state, I think you’ll find it one of the most magical places to spend your 4 years of college at