Northeastern - How liberal is it? Forum

[Torque]

I'm very conservative, yet I also want to remain and study in the boston area (confliction - I know). Northeastern has given me $25k a year. It seems like a solid LS yet it also came across as very liberal when I visited (twice). I'm curious how, if at all, the liberalness of the school would affect my education, or whether I would even enjoy going there despite it's obvious liberal slant.

I'm also waitlisted at BU. If accepted I'm really inclined to go there, even if I get no money and incur more debt, so I'd also appreciate any advice in that regard, as well as how Northeastern compares to BU in terms of practicing law in the boston area. Basically, I have a niche area of law that I already have years of experience in (plus it really interests me), and I plan to go into that field in either a solo or small practice.

[rad lulz]

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[rickgrimes69]

You should avoid Northeastern, but not because it leans left - almost all law schools are pretty liberal. You shouldn't go there because only 40% of their class finds work as a lawyer. BU is substantially better for Boston, but it isn't worth anything near sticker.

[stillwater]

NE is a dump. Avoid it like the plague or koala chlamydia

[hephaestus]

25k a year is not nearly enough for such a bad school. Retake the LSAT or don't go to law school.

[sublime]

..

[Tom Joad]

Thinking about paying to go to Northeastern? Not a fiscal conservative, I see.

[WokeUpInACar]

Thinking about paying to go to Northeastern? Not a fiscal conservative, I see.

[kalvano]

I love these threads. Regardless of how bad a choice Northeastern may be, the political leanings of a law school have zero to do with whether or not you should choose that law school unless there are plenty of options to pick from.

Besides, who cares? If you're so lacking in confidence over your political beliefs that being exposed to other ideas will upset you, then perhaps you need to evaluate more than your school choice.

[linquest]

I'm curious how, if at all, the liberalness of the school would affect my education, or whether I would even enjoy going there despite it's obvious liberal slant.

Northeastern is almost as liberal as schools like Regent or Ave Maria are conservative, except we're not religion-based. You'll feel the liberal slant most strongly in the first year LSSC program-some students didn't agree philosophically with the first year social justice project they were assigned to.

There were enough conservatives to have a decent-sized Federalist Society when I was there though. Some said they felt ganged-up on in seminar discussions when they expressed conservative viewpoints. I experienced that a couple times myself--I'm definitely a liberal, but not an across-the-board on all issues one; NUSL was probably the only time in my life where most people around considered me a moderate Whether you would enjoy it depends on how much you like being a vocal minority or devil's advocate-it can be entertaining.

[linquest]

Forgot to mention, NUSL has made a concerted effort to beef up it's business law offerings/faculty the last couple years. Some profs have opined that there are a lot more students interested in BigLaw (though honestly, that may be a function of how freaking expensive law school is) and in-house counsel than in the past. So I wouldn't be surprised if the faculty/students aren't as overwhelmingly radical lately as the school used to be.

[nickb285]

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[Theopliske8711]

I'm pretty sure you'll survive in any school with regard to the politics. You'll find your own clique, join some conservative/federalist society or group and you'll fit right into your political bubble...

That said, are you afraid of having your ideas questioned or something? If your comfortable with your values and ideas, having a bunch of liberals/cons around you should not be an issue...

[NoodleyOne]

I hear Liberty is still accepting applications.

[kaiser]

WTF is with all of the threads where people try to make sure everyone in law school will agree with their politics?

PROTIP: If you're choosing a law school based on whether the professors will pat you on the head for regurgitating your favorite pundit's slogan, you're doing it wrong and should not go to law school.

I don't think thats the issue. He never said he is looking for a conservative approach law school that will pat him on the head for having conservative views. He was asking whether this particular school is so liberal as to essentially shun and ostracize those with differing views. Its just another way of asking whether fair and open debate and discourse is encouraged/fostered, or whether you will only be exposed to one side of various debates.

Its very different to say "I want to go to a school that respects and engages my viewpoints" than it is to say "I want to go to a school that is completely in line with my viewpoints"

[CaptainLeela]

Welcome to TLS

[nickb285]

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[untar614]

I don't think thats the issue. He never said he is looking for a conservative approach law school that will pat him on the head for having conservative views. He was asking whether this particular school is so liberal as to essentially shun and ostracize those with differing views. Its just another way of asking whether fair and open debate and discourse is encouraged/fostered, or whether you will only be exposed to one side of various debates.

Its very different to say "I want to go to a school that respects and engages my viewpoints" than it is to say "I want to go to a school that is completely in line with my viewpoints"

yeah, it shouldn't be an issue if that's the question. I wouldn't rush to judgement, but given his word choice, this may be the case:

That said, are you afraid your ideas questioned or something? If your comfortable with your values and ideas, having a bunch of liberals/cons around you should not be an issue...

There are liberals and conservatives at every school in the entire country. Shit, there are probably liberals at Regent, and I know there are conservatives at Berkeley. Just about any school, and certainly any worth going to, will "encourage/foster open debate and discourse," so long as you have something worth saying. The only people who worry about whether a school is "too liberal" are the kinds of people who wrote shitty papers and got shitty grades and blamed the "liberal ivy tower elite" because their Wikipedia-sourced poli sci term paper about why abortion is bad sucked. And then when they ramble on about their personal politics in class and people get sick of it, they whine that the liberal establishment doesn't "respect and engage their viewpoints." Ironically, these tend to be the same people who accuse the poor of not taking personal responsibility.

tl;dr--Worrying about the percentage of people at a particular school who vote the way you do is stupid, and if you do it it's probably because you suck at life.

hahaha, i enjoyed that. And yes, the tldr is solid.

[Theopliske8711]

I don't think thats the issue. He never said he is looking for a conservative approach law school that will pat him on the head for having conservative views. He was asking whether this particular school is so liberal as to essentially shun and ostracize those with differing views. Its just another way of asking whether fair and open debate and discourse is encouraged/fostered, or whether you will only be exposed to one side of various debates.

Its very different to say "I want to go to a school that respects and engages my viewpoints" than it is to say "I want to go to a school that is completely in line with my viewpoints"

There are liberals and conservatives at every school in the entire country. Shit, there are probably liberals at Regent, and I know there are conservatives at Berkeley. Just about any school, and certainly any worth going to, will "encourage/foster open debate and discourse," so long as you have something worth saying. The only people who worry about whether a school is "too liberal" are the kinds of people who wrote shitty papers and got shitty grades and blamed the "liberal ivy tower elite" because their Wikipedia-sourced poli sci term paper about why abortion is bad sucked. And then when they ramble on about their personal politics in class and people get sick of it, they whine that the liberal establishment doesn't "respect and engage their viewpoints." Ironically, these tend to be the same people who accuse the poor of not taking personal responsibility.

tl;dr--Worrying about the percentage of people at a particular school who vote the way you do is stupid, and if you do it it's probably because you suck at life.

Are you channeling Santorum here?

[romothesavior]

If you take on debt for Northeastern, you'll be a liberal in no time. You'll be copping Monsters and ramen at Wally World with your SNAP benefits and begging dat big gubbmint to forgive your mountain of student loan debt and throw you an Obamaphone.

In all seriousness though, choosing a law school based on political leanings of the student body is a terrible idea. It's not like any of these "liberal" schools are running communist re-education facilities to brainwash you into listening to Keith Olbermann. You should be looking at 1) job prospects, and 2) debt load. Clearly you aren't if you're considering dropping a bunch of debt for a dump like Northeastern.

Six figures for a degree that offers its students a ~40% shot at being a lawyer.

[nickb285]

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[Tom Joad]

OP in 10 years: reading Atlas Shrugged aloud to his mates in the soup kitchen.

[nebula666]

Are we talking "rape doesn't cause pregnancy" conservative or?