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Seeks liberal technical school
Being of a very scientific bent, I'd like to go to college at a technical school. However, every one of these school I read about seems very traditional, with sororities, fraternities, and lots of drinking. They never talk about how liberal the student body is or how much activism there is on campus. Do you know of any quirky, liberal technical schools with character, preferably somewhere in or around the northeast?
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I might also suggest Carnegie Mellon. It's on the forefront of technology, and the campus is diverse enough to have a variety of options. MIT, too, because it attracts the best and the brightest, can have a bit of an alternative edge to it.
I don't know much about it, but with a name like Harvey Mudd, that college has got to be somewhat original.
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I thought about going to a tech school for a while. As it turned out, though, while I'm majoring in computer science, a tech school wasn't the right kind of school for me at all. Maybe you should look at a small liberal arts college.
**begin shameless plug**
If you like a lot of character, Oberlin College has character coming out its ears. I ought to know, I live here. There are varying degrees of vegetarians/vegans, organizations for just about EVERYTHING, and if it doesn't exist, you can start it yourself. It's a very artistic community, yet the math and science-like departments are extremely good as well. It's in the midwest, but it's on the eastern side of the midwest, so it's not TOO bad. Check out [Link](Mouse over link to see full location) if you're interested in more info.
**end shameless plug**
So yeah. Don't limit yourself to technical schools. Most of the REALLY crazy people are artists, so a liberal arts school might be a better fit for you.
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Come to Montreal, Canada, see beautiful Concordia.
Good engineering (aerospace and computer, particularly), commerce, communications (technical and theory), digital image and sound, and mathematics programs.
Concordia's approach includes accessibility to working types and people for whom English is a second language, so you'll see a mish-mash of ages and origins around here, and plenty of evening classes.
Plenty of activism: student-run free vegan food project, Art Matters festival, (very) active Mid-east debate (with occasional... confrontations...), recycling, literacy projects, media literacy screenings, Peace Studies minor, bilingualism, three competing student newspapers, bike recycling, anarchists, missionaries... take your pick, it's all there. Montreal is probably among the most liberal cities in North America and Concordia is a pretty liberal school, even in Montreal.
Tuition is pretty comparable to state universities in the US, and you'll get to pay it in Canadian dollars (=76 cents US). Cost of living's pretty reasonable too.
Web site:
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
See also The Link, student newspaper at Concordia:
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
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Well I don't know about it's polictical/activist atmosphere, but Pennsylvania College of Technology doesn't have fraternities or sororities (to my knowledge). It's a satellite school of Penn State. Check out their website at www.pct.edu.
Just because a college has Greeks (fraternities & sororities) doesn't mean it's not liberal and activist though. In college, you have the ability to carve out your own niche along with others. For example, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA (www.cmu.edu) has fraternities and sororities...but they do not dominate the school's persona. CMU is still very liberal, very artsy, and well...very 'nerdy' (a compliment of course!) in spite of the Greeks. There are even some Greeks that are techy...like Alpha Sigma Kappa which is a sorority for women in technology studies (there website is here: [Link](Mouse over link to see full location) ).
Just about any college offers a myraid of opportunities to do you own thing. Good luck in your quest!
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Liberal technical schools? Kind of an oxymoron, that, hate to say it, but generally speaking technical people withdraw into their own little worlds, most of them aren't activists :) If you want liberal, go to a decent sized university with a good sized technical <i>program</i>, not a specific technical school. You'll have more options and opportunities there anyway... many times technical employers look for people with good writing and public speaking skills, which might be harder for you if you go to a school with no english majors to attract good writing professors.
That said... I'd just ask for a list of campus organizations. There should be one easily available, and you can use it to look for student groups. Look for political associations, gay-straight alliances, safe spaces, speak out for *, etc. All of these signify a more liberal campus.
Also check out the campus web site and see if any of said groups have a website they maintain. This would signify that the group not only exists, but actually does stuff.
Different colleges are really not all that different. More diversity comes with size, yes, but any school you go to will have its little sub-sections and groups.
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