Can I Go To A Small Conservative Catholic College For Undergrad And Still Get Into Harvard Law

As an undergraduate, I attended both MIT and Williams (I transferred to Williams after two years at MIT), and I took courses at Harvard and under-cross registration with Wellesley College (while at MIT). I would say the overall quality of education is probably similar between a top liberal arts school like Williams and Wellesley, and the Ivies.However, to reiterate some of the other comments, class size is a big difference. An art history course I took at Harvard contained well over 200 students, and the only "faculty" contact came from grad student teaching fellows. The professor was a really big name in the field, but was really difficult to access. My experience at MIT was similar--most classes were on the large size and the professors were hard to reach despite their advertised office hours, so most interactions came from the TAs.Meanwhile, at Williams, one of my largest classes was Biochemistry, with 65 students, and before the very first day of class, the professor had already memorized everyone's name and face and was calling on students by name. I can't imagine this ever happening at any larger schools. We had no TAs, and interaction with professors was strongly encouraged. I took a tutorial-style course my senior year where it was just myself, 4 other students, and the professor. This style of teaching is modelled after what they offer at Oxford and Cambridge.However, I do agree with Robert that the smaller schools do not give you the option to take graduate level courses--but if you plan to go to grad school anyways, it is not a big issue. Research opportunities still exist at small schools, and I found that to be an invaluable part of my education that prepared me well for grad school.

It depends on your definition of “conservative”…If you are talking about Midwest mom-and-apple-pie socially conservative, I don’t think you’re going to find that strongly represented at any of the Ivy Leagues.If you are talking about Rockefellar I’m-a-capitalist-bitch-and-I-masturbate-to-Ayn-Rand conservative, then you can probably find enough of them at any of the Ivy Leagues to not be too lonely, but conventional wisdom says Dartmouth is the place you’ll feel most at home.Dartmouth is after all located in the “Live Free or Die” state, although these days it’s mostly just a state for Massachusetts residents who want tax breaks.And on that note, let me add one particular irony:If you go to an Ivy League, you’re not supposed to promote capitalism too much, even though capitalism very much thrives on the heels of most Ivy League graduates, and is very much alive in the most liberal parts of the country. For instance, the peeps in Silicon Valley are the biggest capitalists in America, but they get a free pass because they are “disrupting” old institutions and making the world a better place. The great robber barons of the 19th Century like Carnegie, Rockefellar and of course Stanford understood this principle as well — blatant capitalism with a little bit of “I care for the little guy” PR goes a long way. So rest assured that you will find plenty of true capitalists in the Ivy Leagues who are capitalist on the inside, even if they’re wearing a free Karl Marx t-shirt on the outside. A lot of the professors may be true socialists, but keep in mind these are the people who chose a low-paying faculty job over a high-paying Wall Street job. They are there to maintain the charade that the Ivy Leagues are harmless hippie socialist institutions rather than a system to maintain the status quo of America’s 1%.But nowhere in New England are you likely to find traditional American social conservatism anymore. The descendants of the Puritans who remained conservative pretty much all moved west, as far as I know. The only social conservatives I’ve ever seen in New England are children of Catholic immigrants, who still tend to vote blue for Democrats.If you’re a social conservative and you want an Ivy League education, you’re going to have to suck it up and be a bit of an outcast for four years to get your education. Ditto if you want to go to any of the prestigious schools on the West Coast (Stanford, Berkeley, etc.)

It all depends on your preferences.Vanderbilt is considered the “Harvard” of the South, focuses on having a diverse student body, and stays fairly true to its Methodist roots. Upon graduation, students are encouraged to work in the South and seek to better the lives of those less fortunate than them. Beginning the freshman year, students spend weekends (when there is not a home game) doing service projects in the Nashville area. They are most noted for their medical school and Peabody College, a bastion of educational degrees, most recognized for those dealing with special education, or children, or adults, with emotional instability. Vanderbilt also has a very good School of Theology, one no longer affiliated with any denomination, but leans Methodist, based on service as a part of the learning experience. Basic starting price is around $68,000 a year. It is difficult to get into, if your are from Tennessee, especially the Nashville area, unless you are good a some sport. Over 50% (including me) attend on scholarship. I never knew just how much I received, but I know that they wrote me a check on graduation day for oney I had not used.Notre Dame is the place to go if you are Catholic and love football. My experience has been that those who graduate from there probably attended Catholic schools, are quite conservative, religiously speaking, but lack the depth of thinking built while attending more diverse and comprehensive institutions. Being affiliated with Catholicism, the institution also focuses on service, and all students take theology classes. Costing close to $70,000 a year, base, it is highly selective,with the average SAT score tipping close to 1500. It is also quite small, as major universities go, less than 10,000.Cornell, on the other hand, is also noted for its medical school. Like the other two, it is very expensive, starting with a $52,000 a year tuition. Like Notre Dame, the location is like a deep freeze. It is a place I would look to for graduate school. Save money by going to a state university for your undergrad work.It really does not matter what anyone else thinks. To get the most out of your college experience, you should go to the institution you most like, or that features a degree in which you are most interested. All three of these are “liberal” in that they teach a broad span of courses devoid of a specific leaning, politically, like Washington and Lee, or Hillsdale, for example.

“Prestige” is such a nebulous concept. I went to Princeton for college and Harvard for an MA (“AM”, per them). I’d have loved to have had the resources to go to Oxford or Cambridge at the time, but didn’t — financial aid did come through for my American college and grad school. My college roommate did an MPhil at Oxford before heading back Stateside for law school (Harvard Law). I crashed with him a couple times, beautiful campus.If you’re at a party where you just want to name-drop, I imagine Oxbridge is better if it’s for an undergrad school. If you’re at a party where it’s a slightly more sophisticated crowd that understands that British schools are very forgiving about their graduate admissions standards, then the top Ivies are probably more impressive.If you’re at a party where people ACTUALLY know their stuff about these schools, it’s more just a box-tick — okay, you’ve got a decent degree, you’re probably not dumb — or a mark against you if you won’t shut up about it. And what matters more is what do you do, what do you know, and are you good company.Bottom line: if you’re smart enough to get into both, look at the program and how it suits you and your interests & abilities.