Suggestion (You asked): Spend a year or two in the real world, away from home if possible, before you start college. Try out some work experience in the field you think you may want (ie. Receptionist at a law firm or Engineering firm or etc to gain some exposure to what's involved in the day to day activities)

Then go into college understanding that the real purpose of a college education is for you to learn how to learn, not what your professors try to ram down your throat, and that what you get from your education is really up to you--not just what you're taught.

Where else would you expect to find the Robert Stadlers of the world besides at the State Science Institute? Most of them are at the universities that are beholden to their government funding agencies. If you want to find a university that is not statist, perhaps you should look for one that does not embody statist values. My university, for instance, gathers many of those who have choose NOT to be Stadlers.

You seem to be strong in your beliefs. Keep that strength of conviction. I run a small retail business and I have realized that I have to pick my battles. Some people are a waste of my time. Always remember:

“Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it. Leave them alone.”

If that fails you can always borrow my toaster.

Unfortunately, our current education system and even culture since the 1960's has been all about making the 4-yr college degree a necessity in life. I disagree with this notion, as it props up the self-importance and the notion that college professors are a necessity. There are many jobs (especially in tech where I'm at) where a university degree is virtually worthless - if offered at all. We will always need good electricians, mechanics, machinists, and many other manual labor positions which are much better served by an apprenticeship model, and I think we have gone too far away from this mentality.

So having worked my way (full time job + full time school + wife + kids) through my entire undergraduate and graduate career, I will tell you that the first thing you need to figure out is what kind of work you enjoy. Next, figure out how much that is worth to you in terms of education and include in that evaluation the costs of obtaining the education and the lifetime earnings of that position. If you aren't paying for your education in <5 years, you are either in the wrong subject or attending the wrong school.

Next, research the aid you can qualify for. This isn't mooching. Pell Grants are a reimbursement on your taxes and the businesses which offer scholarships, etc. get tax write-offs. Take advantage of everything you can find. Many large universities have endowment funds in billions of dollars and can afford to pay down their own hyper-inflated costs.

Last, as the poet says "Get 'er done!". School is a means to an end. Treat it as such. Don't work yourself to death, but prioritize your education over the parties. (I do heartily endorse the semester-ending pizza-study party just before finals week, however!) And don't go spending your money on vacation trips to Europe or Baha and that nonsense while in school. Reward yourself when you walk that aisle with cap on head and braids on your shoulders.

You'll probably have to take a philosophy class or some other taught by some self-important progressive. I did, refused to compromise on my end paper position and though I had an A to that point ended up with a B in the class. My principles were more important to me than assuaging the ego of a university professor who couldn't even bother to put up a logical argument and so resorted to simply grading me down. Realize that such are beneath you as a thinking adult. Move on.

Clarification: The article discusses the hiring of right-leaning professors, not acceptance of students. Both are relevant topics to me.

I went into engineering and nearly avoided this problem;;;
however, carrying AS around campus was problem
enough! . I was in machine design and remain
convinced to this day that I lost a letter grade more
than once because of it. . even in engineering in
the '66-70 interval. . you may want to be cautious
about your self-revelation on campus, Sarah. -- j

p.s. of course, I was flaunting Rand -- one need not
do that to engender friendships, but I wanted to try.
.

I can't be of much help. Things have changed greatly since I was in college. However, son #1 went to a tech school and had no problems in that area. Son #2 couldn't ever keep quiet when something was said that he found to be radically untrue, and was constantly arguing with everyone from professors, to instructors to students. He finally said, "The hell with this" and devoted himself full time to a part time business he had started and was soon making enough money to buy his first house.

College's purpose is not to graduate a person who has fully formed and unchangeable notions. Some disciplines deal in near absolutes like the sciences or mathematics, others deal in abstractions such as literature or philosophy which can continuously change in the light of new facts or ideas. The diversity of race, ethnic, gender, and cultural students is a good thing but not at the expense of diversity in ideas, thinking, or tolerance of opposing views. This last seems to be ovetaking campuses around the country. I didn't graduate with a set of preconceived notions but with the ability to think, to process different ideas; I'm surprised how much I learned in the nearly fifty years since graduation!

Consider your real reasons for entering college. It may simply be to obtain credentials, if so, is the price to pay in insincerity too high?
(I love travel and meeting people. I care about the environment, concerned about carbon, and want to stop racism .. ) If you are here you know the passwords.

Another approach is to avoid any subject in what are called the social sciences, instead go for ' ..the outliers .. engineering and similar professional schools'.
Choice of school, as jbrenner says.

Yes the article focuses on faculty, but if there is an interview to enter as a student, be prepared.

Sarah, in response to Zen's comment, one option is
working while going to school. . I worked as a drafter
while learning engineering and got a chance to interact
with the engineers who were designing the machine
(a railroad tie replacement machine, then) and it taught me
to learn the subject first, and then work for a grade.
I had those priorities set equal, before that. -- j
.

I earned two degrees in geology, primarily back in the 70's. I recommend maintaining a sharp radar of situational awareness especially in regard to the professors. One consistent trend I saw was that, by far and away, the best professors were those that had spent significant time employed in industry.

The best example I recall is the comparison of two different professors of Economic Geology I had. In my senior year I had a professor that had just retired from 40 years in the mining industry. He recommended a textbook on Ore Deposits. A new type each week. Invariably he would bring in his own specimens from world class mines featured in the book saying that when he was there the thinking was such and such as to the genesis of the deposit. Fascinating. I was hooked.

So, in grad school I took another graduate level Economic Geology course. The guy was worthless. Had never been in industry, all academic and limited to a rare type of ore deposit completely unrepresentative of most of the world. He was substituting for the main professor that taught the course that had suddenly gone on sabbatical. I had chosen the original economic guy to be on my thesis committee and now I was also stuck with the substitute guy on my committee. I had many questions regarding ore specimens from my thesis area and made an appointment with him for consultation. I would hand him a specimen from my box and inquire about the alteration or the mineralogy. He would limp wristedly hold the rock and then drop it back into the box without answering. After several specimens the look on my face prompted him to say "I don't have much experience with hydrothermal deposits". That only constitutes about 90% of all economic ore deposits. Worthless.

Long story short, he never gained tenure and was actually fired. So he starts a consulting business for the gold exploration business in Arizona. I ran into him in the halls of the USGS one day. Cordial. He asked me what I was up to. I told him I was staying reasonably busy doing consulting and contracting work for the gold exploration business. Not only that, but I co-owned a gold mine with visible gold in veins at the surface. I had a specimen in my jacket pocket and showed it to him. He looked at it quick and said "nice pyrite". Once again, the look on my face gave him pause. He looked again and said "that's gold isn't it?" Uh, yeah.

I was not worried about competition in the business from him.

"Does anyone have experiences, advice, or comments to share related to this? "
I really think it's a non-issue. The important thing is the truth. All of this stuff in the article about finding merit with leftwing or rightwing "positions" in education is nonsense. "Positions." The very language refers to politics, not science. It's as if the author watched talking heads argue and thought that's how the world really works. Figuring things out and getting things working take hard work. The stuff in the article IMHO is irrelevant to education and research.