<p>DS is a junior and a strong Christian, currently attending a private Christian high school. He has very good test scores, class rank, and GPA. He has great ECs, some of which involve the church (others are debate, FBLA, football). His dream is to attend an Ivy League school. He has a real love of learning, loves to be challenged, wants to be intellectually stimulated, etc. I know he can find these things at other schools, and we are pursuing looking at them also.</p>
<p>The question is, would a Christian student with conservative values even “fit in” at an Ivy League school (HPY)? Also, would adcoms give him serious consideration, coming from a small, midwestern Christian high school?</p>
<p>There will be people of all backgrounds at almost any college. He may not fit in with the majority of students, but there will absolutely be people similar to himself at Ivy-League universities. Admissions officers will give him serious consideration as long as everything is in order; don’t worry too much about the high school</p>
<p>I’m a Muslim (junior in high schoo), and I’ve heard of so many cases of Muslims succeeding at Ivy League schools such as Cornell, Dartmouth, UPenn, and Princeton. In fact, all the schools that I just listed each have a Muslim Student Organization. Muslims are probably the most conservative group around, and if they can “fit in” and excel, then I’m sure your son can as well.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how divers Harvard, Yale, and Columbia are, but I know that Princeton, UPenn, Dartmouth, Brown, and Cornell are quite diverse. Your son will be able to find his niche, his group of people that he’s comfortable with. You shouldn’t worry about it, and as long as he has met the application requirements, then your son should receive as much consideration as any other applicant would receive.</p>
<p>I am not sure where you got the idea that the ivy league schools attract mostly non Christians. Ivy league schools attract a great number of Christians. It just so happens that while the Jewish population might be only about 4% in the US, at the ivy league schools many have Jewish populations of close to 30%. This is because many from Jewish backgrounds (pardon the stereotype) are from families that encourage academic achievement.</p>
<p>There are lots of Christians in the ivy league. For serious consideration at HYP, your son should be very top of class have SATs above 2250 and excellent EC. Parochial schools represent about 3% of ivy admits. That’s as opposed to close to 35% from private schools which house far fewer American kids.</p>
<p>Obviously he can attend and I am sure they won’t hold the Christian thing against him. Will he fit in? I dont know. Depends how Conservative he is. If he is just deeply religious and not like the Radical Right in the South, he’ll be OK. If he’s one of those Radical Righters…HYP probably will not be right for him. But any idea that HYP does not consider anyone of a certain religion/race is COMPLETELY false. Oh yeah suze… I think her son’s qualifications are up to snuff.</p>
<p>I think it depends how conservative you are.</p>
<p>Is he very tolerant of things like homosexuality, scientific theories that oppose christian doctrine, promiscuity…etc.? I think it’s best to determine fit, rather than chase prestige. If he’s concerned about no being around enough deeply-religious peers</p>
<p>In my own personal opinion, I wouldn’t recommend Brown… or Columbia. Princeton (strong conservative southern presence), Cornell (well, it’s huge, so chances are he will find anyone he needs to) and I’m not sure about UPenn, Harvard, Yale, or Dartmouth… Maybe Yale, but I wouldn’t say Harvard… I think Harvard is very liberal. There was a book written by a Harvard grad about this (Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class). He was a conservative Christian and felt like it was an extremely amoral and liberally-biased place. But I would say Princeton and Cornell would be your best bet, with the former being a safer choice.</p>
<p>“Douthat skewers the political and sexual shenanigans of his classmates and provides a thoughtful analysis of the prevailing liberal politics of the campus.”</p>
<p>In terms of admissions, you make want to make sure that he gets very high scores on AP and SAT II tests because I believe colleges tend to regard parochial schools as less academically challenging. So, if he gets an A in his biology class, make sure he gets a 5 on the AP test.</p>
<p>While I doubt there is any bias against “strong Christians” in Ivy League admissions, your concern with “fit” may be justified.</p>
<p>With his strong Christian schooling, your S may be shocked at some of the topics that are freely discussed and even published in the daily newspapers at most (if not all) of the Ivy League schools.</p>
<p>“His dream is to attend an Ivy League school.”</p>
<p>It sounds like you know that this is not a good move. Especially for a HS junior it is time to start considering and visiting other schools. There are plenty of very good schools which fit your son’s goals. Some might even be better choices where a Christian conservative be more comfortable.</p>
<p>Actually, I went on that site. I scratch that… I think there is a chance he may not fit in if he is really Conservative, even if he just stays to himself and doesn’t preach. Not to say he wont be accepted to school, but I would look at other school’s like edad suggested.</p>
<p>I’m pretty liberal (currently agnostic), but I was raised Christian, so I have both perspectives here. I think that religion shouldn’t limit who you interact with or learn from. I understand the desire to have people who are like you around, but I also know I’d hate being surrounded by “yes men” who agree with everything I believe or say. Different perspectives can teach you a lot about human nature. I’m good friends with several people who privately believe I’m going to hell, but it doesn’t mean we can’t have civilized conversations or can’t be near each other. If your son is really concerned about fitting in, he should shoot an email to the one of the Christian student groups on the campus when he visits. He should see if he can arrange to talk to someone who’s a pretty conservative Christian in one of those groups about their experiences with fitting in and adjusting to life at that university.</p>