<p>Intriguing thread.</p>
<p>I would listen and think about the point made concerning the narrow focus of many participants on CollegeConfidential. Minority students should not fall into the misguided notion of "Ivy League at any cost." Like an earlier poster said, most college students, including high achieving ones, attend a public university in their home states. Variety is a wonderful thing. I feel strongly that minority students make a mistake when they are blinded by an obsession with MIT, but won't consider WPI, for example.</p>
<p>One more thing. A lot of middle-class or otherwise high achieving black applicants choose Spelman College (the women at least), a school whose reputation for excellence is not subject to dispute.</p>