<p>It seems that with just about every college I read about eventually I learn that there is little true integration on campus. Blacks, whites and Asians tend to cluster amongst themselves: in dormitories, at meals, in fraternities, at social gatherings. And at some of the colleges I visited this was strikingly in evidence.</p>
<p>My hunch is that the military academies might be an exception, but it's just a hunch.</p>
<p>I'm sure that there are some colleges where these things don't happen. At which colleges do students tend to spread themselves out somewhat randomly with no consideration of race?</p>
<p>I would say none. As unhelpful as this sounds, I don’t think there’s a single school in which everyone gets along. Clicks WILL form, its just human nature.</p>
<p>But as a more general answer, avoid schools with a large frat scene, and pick ones in larger metropolitans that have no “campus”. NYU immediately comes to mind.</p>
<p>People are always going to gravitate towards people who they can relate to. When you’re going to schools where you may not know many people finding someone who can speak the same language as you/hold the same values as you then it makes the transitions easier. I’d agree large greek schools have a larger divide in general, with hisotrically african american fraternities, asian fraterities, and houses which are very homogenious with their member choices. Possibly schools with large amounts of abroad students may be best. And small campuses.</p>
<p>^ Not true in my case (and for many other Asian-Ams I know).</p>
<p>Basically, people will associate or group together w/ what’s most familiar/comfortable for them (whether that is by ethnicity, religion, socio-economic background, geography, etc.) - it’s human nature.</p>
<p>The best bet for an integrated student body is at a small LAC - where the minority students don’t have enough nos. to really socialize, form associations, etc. on their own.</p>
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<p>Keep in mind that many Asian students cluster themselves more on ethnic lines (i.e. - Viets hanging out w/ other Viets and so on).</p>
<p>Along those lines, students of African immigrants (if there is a large enough group) will also tend to cluster themselves off from African-Americans.</p>
<p>On the other extreme, you have the “whitewashed” Asians who pretty much only associate w/ whites.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that when we talk about “integration” it usually involves minorities doing the integrating (hence, the token Asian friend, etc.).</p>
<p>It is much more rare for a white person to “integrate” in the other direction.</p>
<p>While I probably won’t gravitate toward any particular race, I will say right now that I will probably hang out with people familiar to me - that is, from a certain socioeconomic status. It can be irritating to have a friend who can never go out because s/he doesn’t have any money, and it is definitely irritating to not be able to do anything with a friend because of a lack of money (in my case). So, I’ll admit I’ll probably join the “let’s do cool stuff for free” clique, whomever it may include.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses so far. This is amazing to me. I really thought that there would be lots of colleges mentioned where integration is a reality. So far only one graduate school and one hunch about Rice University.</p>
<p>Let’s see if anyone else has anything on this.</p>
<p>BTW… Rice is ranked #2 for “Best Quality of Life” and #15 in “Most Happiest Students.” If you are about to begin the application process, I recommend you apply to Rice (they also have great financial aid… ranked #1 in 2007 by Kiplinger’s magazine as a “Best Value Private College”)</p>
<p>From my experience, blacks, whites, hispanics and a small part of the Asian population of NYU (almost always the Americanized ones) are very well-integrated. However, many of the other Asian students tend to stick together. Maybe it’s just language familiarity or something, but they definitely isolate themselves from the rest of the students, whether it’s in the dining halls or walking down University Place to class.</p>
<p>So is that diversity to you, breaking it down by how many “whites” and “blacks” you know? I’m sorry but that just sounds horrible to me. It’s still judging people by the color of their skin.</p>
<p>What smallCollgesFTW said is definitely the way to measure if your group of buds is racially diverse. There are different types of diversity, and racial diversity is one of them.</p>
<p>It’s not up to the school to “racially integrate” their student body. What are they supposed to do anyways? It has been and always will be up to the students themselves.</p>
<p>Osucowboys: That’s not what I said nor what I implied. I don’t care what ethnicity my friends are of. My assertion is based simply on observation in the dining halls and around “campus”. And when observing groups fellow students, most of whom, at a large school like NYU, are complete strangers to you, why is it “horrible” to draw a simple conclusion based on what I see? First impressions of people are visual, and if I’m simply passing these people on the street, the first thing I process is their appearance. Race is a part of one’s appearance, and anyone who says they “don’t see race” is lying through their teeth. Observing race is okay. Judging race, however, is not okay. It’s not like I’m saying that having mixed versus isolated groups is good or bad. I don’t see how my observations are “judging”.</p>