<p>MaineLonghorn…you are SO right. Just scrolled back and read your post. Too many people in Maine think there is no reason to leave the state and yet haven’t explored much of the state, either. I am a non Mainer and have seen more of Maine than any of my H’s family. So I made sure my D’s got out of state, out of the country, on a regular basis. I was frowned upon…</p>
<p>Rice is pretty fifty/fifty liberal/conservative. That’s pretty conservative, since at most schools, any sort of conservative students are in a very small minority. Rice is centered pretty well, whereas at a lot of northern schools it isn’t about being right or left, it’s about how far left you are. On the other hand, Rice is comparably politically apathetic.</p>
<p>i have a question - don’t most schools have summer school?</p>
<p>we are on a college visit, and i assumed there would be summer school kids here, nut we haven’t seen many people at all.</p>
<p>and clemson was on our list to visit this summer. but maybe ot if they don’t have kids there in the summer. : /</p>
<p>Most large universities, especially state schools have summer session (though it might not look as busy as the rest of the year) Virtually no small liberal arts type schools do. My D is staying at her school for the summer doing an internship. We recently visited on a Saturday. The admissions office was giving tours, but the bookstore wasn’t even open! No students except for a sprinkling of upperclassmen who live off campus. Another thing to be aware of, many larger schools use the campus during the summer for camps - perhaps 800 high school soccer players this week, 700 musicians next week, 400 kids from under-represented areas in your state the next. The kids you see on summer tours may not be university students…</p>
<p>Good points, dragonmom!
Our local LAC is a revolving door in the summer: soccer one month, ballet camp the following 2 weeks, drama intensives next, etc.</p>
<p>S2 is going to both sessions of summer sch at his southern big state u.<br>
Second session started last week. Evenso, the number of students on campus is drastically reduced. There is generally only one dorm open for SS. Most students sub-lease apartments in nearby complexes for summer sessions. S2 lives in an rental house two blocks fr. campus. He rides his bike to class and then rides straight back home so wouldn’t be seen walking around campus. The bookstores, student rec. center, library, etc. are all open.
Summer is Orientation time at our big state schools. They usually have about six orientation sessions per summer so there may be hordes of pre-frosh and parents wandering about in June/July.</p>
<p>DebbieS7-- I, too, live near Furman, and while I agree that many students are conservative (I’d describe them as “conventional”), most of the faculty I know are very liberal. Many of my s’s friends will be attending USC and none are religious, conservative or interested in frats. My s had a lot of preconcieved ideas, too, about southern schools but as he started to look around, he found a lot more options.</p>
<p>Packmom - my dad lives in the Columbia, SC suburbs. What is Columbia’s nickname? “The City Built on Hell.” What separates Columbia from Hell? A screen door. If you like hot and humid, Univ of South Carolina is the place for you!</p>
<p>Clemson was beautiful, and up in the mountains. But there was a heat wave, and it was 95, sunny and humid. Luckily, they have lots of big shady trees and air conditioned buildings. I have several Clemson relatives, and they do bleed orange!</p>
<p>and luckily Clemson gets out in April so I won’t have to deal with the intense heat haha</p>
<p>I don’t think most people would consider Clemson “in the mountains.” The foothills or the Piedmont, perhaps. But that “heat wave” (90+ temps) will pretty much last through the summer, with a few “breaks” in the mid-80s.</p>
<p>Yes Pierre0913. but you will be there in August… forewarned is forearmed.</p>
<p>Furman mom of two - FWIW-DD and DS would NOT agree that kids at Furman are politically conservative. During the 2008 election, they felt in the minority since they were NOT Obama voters. From a religious perspective, Furman does tend to have large numbers of students who attend church on Sundays-my kids ( as Episcopalians) felt strange since they were not in the large groups attending Baptist churches in the area. Ditto the Greenville resident about the liberal make-up of Fuman faculty. When President Bush spoke at 08 commencement, there was a large number of faculty who appeared in a silent protest at the event.</p>