<p>Do some people think that non-Christians are from another planet, or that Christians have a lock on moral and values?</p>
<p>That is what the OP’s question implies</p>
<p>As well, I would bet most “christian” schools would be a lot more closed minded about others than most “mainstream” colleges</p>
<p>Thanks for all your responses. You have given us alot to consider before we pursue the Ivy League application process. I don’t think DS would be considered a radical-righter, but he is definitely an outspoken evangelical Christian. He really just wants to get into a school that is intellectually stimulating and will give him the best opportunities for law school.</p>
<p>Crims13 - thanks, that’s an eye opener! It’s funny because one of DS’s ECs is a group that speaks to high schoolers about abstinance! Now you see why I’m concerned!</p>
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** I take it you mean Harvard Law School.</p>
<p>Conservative Christians do not typically find Ivy league schools to be very welcoming, in spite of the clap trap about “diversity”. The faculty tends to be stongly secular and to a somewhat lesser extent, the same could be said about the students. While nationally, some 25% of the population could be characterized as “conservative Christian”, that percentage is much much smaller at Ivy League schools, and you will often find students at such schools making broadside attacks and presumptuous statements about conservative Christians. Finally, while admissions committees may not consciously discriminate against conservative Christians, the kind of activities exalted by admissions committees and those which conservative Christians are likely to engaged in may not be the same.</p>
<p>I think that UVa, Vanderbilt and (to a lesser extent) Duke, have, as a function of location, something more of a critical mass of conservative Christian students, although the faculty/administration/students at those schools have many of the same attitudes found in the Ivy League. There may be just enough conservative Christians at those schools to keep people from shooting their mouths off under the presumption that no one in their audience is a conservative Christian who is likely to be offended.</p>
<p>If he’s “evangelical” I really can’t see how going to a Christian college where the majority are like-minded would offer many opportunities for him to witness. </p>
<p>If he intends to be “in his classmate’s faces” with his religion, he could probably expect problems at most any college he chooses, outside of a professed Christian college. </p>
<p>But, if he shares his faith by living it and not shouting it, he should do just fine where ever he chooses to go and might actually make grow more from the experience if he chooses somewhere other than what he is used to.</p>
<p>***???</p>
<p>I’m a Christian headed to Harvard in the fall, and I’m determined to stay strong in my faith while I’m there. From what I’ve heard from the alums of my high school (small, private, Christian institution), its tough at any college to continue to keep up a good Christian lifestyle, but I know people that have done it, and hope to do so myself. Your son sounds very motivated to be both academically successful and spiritually consistent; I wouldn’t worry so much about sending him off to an Ivy League school haha.</p>
<p>I’d say I’m very culturally conservative, though neither Christian nor particularly religious, and am at Cornell. I’d be far more concerned about finding a ‘stimulating intellectual atmosphere’ here than the Christian presence. A few hours spent in a library is far more rewarding than a year’s worth of lunch conversations.</p>
<p>As for how depraved any given campus is ;), I have to wonder whether it varies all that much from school to school, though there must be outliers. </p>
<p>A worthless anecdote: the other day in my writing seminar, we were discussing Shakespeare’s, The Tempest, particularly Act IV, where the father repeatedly asks his son-in-law to-be to hold off from sex before the marriage is consummated. I was speaking to two other girls, NY J.A.P.s for what it’s worth, and both were pretty derisive of abstinence before marriage (perhaps to make them feel more secure about their own views). Very gauche. But I don’t see why Columbia or Harvard would be much different.</p>
<p>Regardless of your religious beliefs, it is worth noting that in the US numerous studies have shown a strong negative correlation between religious beliefs and level of education. The US is unusual in having a high level of education and a highly religious population.</p>