Hello. I'm seeking opinions of, and anecdotal info about, Hillsdale College and Liberty University

[Anonymous]

The thing about growing up is balancing "making a choice" with "not closing any doors."

Liberty opens exactly one door, and that is "other Liberty grads."

Liberty closes MANY MANY more doors than the one that it opens.

BYU is a fine choice, as are Hillsdale and SMU. If you want to keep your doors open, choose one of those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is going to take you seriously with a degree from any of those except maybe BYU (which actually is to some degree reputable). I would not trust the basic skills and knowledge of an applicant with a BA from Liberty...

Yours is the type of response I specifically mentioned I wasn't looking for. Clearly reading compression isn't your forte, which doesn't speak well for wherever you went to school.

My mom did mention I would get responses like yours. I owe her a batch of cookies now

Sounds like you owe us the cookies. The only one with an attitude problem was you.

The rest of us gave answers that reflected how those schools are perceived.

[Anonymous]

Of the ones you listed, BYU is the best school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is going to take you seriously with a degree from any of those except maybe BYU (which actually is to some degree reputable). I would not trust the basic skills and knowledge of an applicant with a BA from Liberty...

Yours is the type of response I specifically mentioned I wasn't looking for. Clearly reading compression isn't your forte, which doesn't speak well for wherever you went to school.

My mom did mention I would get responses like yours. I owe her a batch of cookies now

How did PP explicitly violate your request? PP is sharing real-world perception of those schools which will impact law school admission and job prospects. You will need thicker skin if you're going to attend an "alternative" school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To me, Liberty will always be associated with under-qualified folks who were pushed into the Bush administration and then washed out. Of the schools on your list, Hillsdale and BYU are the only ones I'd take seriously as a hiring manager.

SMU is fairly mainstream. I'd fire you as a hiring manager if I knew you were discriminating against students or graduates of that school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is going to take you seriously with a degree from any of those except maybe BYU (which actually is to some degree reputable). I would not trust the basic skills and knowledge of an applicant with a BA from Liberty...

Yours is the type of response I specifically mentioned I wasn't looking for. Clearly reading compression isn't your forte, which doesn't speak well for wherever you went to school.

My mom did mention I would get responses like yours. I owe her a batch of cookies now

Your response was inappropriate. Sorry to tell you but there are many who wouldn't trust the basic skills of a Liberty grad. No one says that about Brigham Young or SMU. Hillsdale,probably doesn't register at all.

+1. I’ve never heard of Hillsdale. I live in Oregon, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me, Liberty will always be associated with under-qualified folks who were pushed into the Bush administration and then washed out. Of the schools on your list, Hillsdale and BYU are the only ones I'd take seriously as a hiring manager.

SMU is fairly mainstream. I'd fire you as a hiring manager if I knew you were discriminating against students or graduates of that school.

I agree; SMU is sort of like Baylor or TCU — I probably would assume I don’t have much in common with its graduates, but wouldn’t dock them in hiring. Liberty is like Oral Roberts or Bob Jones — I’d Assume its graduates didn’t learn evolution in biology class and evaluate accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me, Liberty will always be associated with under-qualified folks who were pushed into the Bush administration and then washed out. Of the schools on your list, Hillsdale and BYU are the only ones I'd take seriously as a hiring manager.

SMU is fairly mainstream. I'd fire you as a hiring manager if I knew you were discriminating against students or graduates of that school.

I agree; SMU is sort of like Baylor or TCU — I probably would assume I don’t have much in common with its graduates, but wouldn’t dock them in hiring. Liberty is like Oral Roberts or Bob Jones — I’d Assume its graduates didn’t learn evolution in biology class and evaluate accordingly.

Oops, Oral Roberts DOES teach evolution. I guess that bumps them ahead of Liberty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me, Liberty will always be associated with under-qualified folks who were pushed into the Bush administration and then washed out. Of the schools on your list, Hillsdale and BYU are the only ones I'd take seriously as a hiring manager.

SMU is fairly mainstream. I'd fire you as a hiring manager if I knew you were discriminating against students or graduates of that school.

PP here. You're right. SMU is mainstream and I know successful grads. Liberty is still an immediate no go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me, Liberty will always be associated with under-qualified folks who were pushed into the Bush administration and then washed out. Of the schools on your list, Hillsdale and BYU are the only ones I'd take seriously as a hiring manager.

SMU is fairly mainstream. I'd fire you as a hiring manager if I knew you were discriminating against students or graduates of that school.

I agree; SMU is sort of like Baylor or TCU — I probably would assume I don’t have much in common with its graduates, but wouldn’t dock them in hiring. Liberty is like Oral Roberts or Bob Jones — I’d Assume its graduates didn’t learn evolution in biology class and evaluate accordingly.

Oops, Oral Roberts DOES teach evolution. I guess that bumps them ahead of Liberty.

I would never hire a graduate from a school that teaches creation science. I can’t figure out how these places get or stay accredited. Is it a pay-to-play deal?

[Anonymous]

OP, you're being very sensitive about the honest answers that you asked for.

The fact is that, of the schools you've mentioned, only BYU and SMU are credible. Hillsdale is off-the-map in many respects -- not necessarily "bad" on any level at all, but unlikely to be viewed as credible by most employers and graduate institutions.

Liberty is an entirely different, and worse, story. Any degree of any kind in anything from Liberty not merely damaging but affirmatively harmful, period, unless you are entering into one of three remote-sect ministries. That's just a fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're being very sensitive about the honest answers that you asked for.

The fact is that, of the schools you've mentioned, only BYU and SMU are credible. Hillsdale is off-the-map in many respects -- not necessarily "bad" on any level at all, but unlikely to be viewed as credible by most employers and graduate institutions.

Liberty is an entirely different, and worse, story. Any degree of any kind in anything from Liberty not merely damaging but affirmatively harmful, period, unless you are entering into one of three remote-sect ministries. That's just a fact.

No dog in this fight, but I don't agree with your comment about Hillsdale. It seems like a serious, established college with a conservative bent, and I wouldn't look on a graduate any differently than one who went to St. John's or any number of other small SLACs with a commitment to a core curriculum. In fact, I'd probably assume the graduate had a better academic foundation than someone who majored in gender studies at, say, Hampshire or Brown.

Liberty is a different story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm trying to narrow down my short list for college, and both Liberty and Hillsdale are both on it. I was also considering BYU, Norwich, and SMU as well. I'm leaning towards Liberty for two reasons: I already qualify for a debate scholarship that will cover most of it, and it's fairly close to home, at least compared to my other options.

I'm also interested in Hillsdale, but distance and cost is a factor. I'm also not crazy about the idea of very cold winters. I'd qualify for some financial aid, but I would have to look for grants and take loans also. My parents both think I should consider Hillsdale as my first choice, but I'm leaning towards Liberty.

I'm interested in majoring in History, and will likely go to law school after undergrad.

My mom warned me beforehand about posting this question here, so I'll leave you with this: we're a conservative family. I'm a conservative libertarian. I'm not interested in discussing politics or hearing about how I'm an awful person, or that my choices of schools don't fit your worldview. I'm simply looking for anyone who has any sort of useful, firsthand or family-level experiences or knowledge about these schools. That being said, thank you all for your time.

You don't have to go to a "conservative" school if you are a conservative. The "SJW" crowd at most schools are concentrated in the liberal arts and various extra curricular groups that can be mostly avoided if need be. You may as well get used to the fact that, in the real world, you will have to learn how to deal with people who seem to have annoying political views. At a "conservative" school, you will just be in an echo chamber, which will make it harder for you in the long-run.

Just go to your local, halfway decent state university and major in History. SJWs tend to come from privileged backgrounds and go to more prestigious schools, so you are unlikely to have a problem with them at East Joe Blow State University, where it's mostly lower-middle/working class students who are busy working their way through school.

And virtually any no-name state school is far more reputable than Liberty.

[Anonymous]

I'm a Christian and a minister. Even in my field, a degree from Liberty University isn't worth the price of the paper it was printed on. Sorry, OP. I would take that one off your list.

[Anonymous]

Putting aside all the politics, ask yourself what differentiates an online Liberty graduate from one of the for-profits like Phoenix, Kaplan, Strayer, or Devry? And then ask what the difference is between a Liberty online grad from a residential college alumni. There are a lot of colleges that will gladly accept a student in the 50-60th percentile that are conservative and religiously-based. If you are in the 90+ percentile in terms of grades and test scores, think carefully about the doors and resources that conservative faculty (and there are a lot) can open for you at more selective colleges. The major conservative foundations and institutions invest heavily in identifying smart conservative students in the Ivies, funding their campus organizations, and connecting them to great jobs.