<p>I am deciding between these 4 schools for next year… All have pros and cons so I am just looking for some opinions on these schools. I am going to major in some area of business. School spirit, academic reputation, and things to do on/ or off campus are all important to me.</p>
<p>Bucknell, did you expect a different answer?</p>
<p>Richmond has several advantages in light of your desires. Altho not immediately in the city, Richmond trumps Lewisburg in terms of metro vs. rural, if that is important. One of the few campuses you’ll find that trump Bucknell’s. Superior athletics if that plays to you. And a very unique business program, that is very different than anything the others might have. Tulane’s upside is that being in NOLA and having literally lost all of her students a few years back, they are still in the “marketing” and selling mode. Easier to wheel and deal, much better FA.</p>
<p>I will add my two cents from a different point of view.</p>
<p>Before my two sons’ college admission period, I have done quite a research on a lot of schools. One thing that I got out of that research is there is such a thing as a culture factor. To make the long story short, I steered my sons away from southern schools. Caveat: I don’t include Miami in the Southern School category. However, I don’t know about that school well at all, so I won’t comment on it.</p>
<p>I know this is a very broad statement and probably does not apply to all schools. However, given that for every single good southern school there are several other good schools in the East, West, and Midwestern with similar academic, educational, and professional opportunities, why should they bother? For my S1, Duke is the only elite school he did not bother to consider seriously for that reason: because the rest of the top 10 schools are in areas where he will fit better. For my S2 (at Bucknell), he never considered applying to anything below the Mason Dixon line. </p>
<p>We are a multi ethnic, multi regilion, multi national, and multi racial family from North East. that was a factor. </p>
<p>Now, many of you immediately may jump and accuse me of being bigoted in my own way. Guilty as charged. But it was our choice regarding what is the most hospitable environment for kids at the age of 17 or 18 who are just starting out on their own. </p>
<p>By the way, I can certainly understand why people with different cultural profile will not want to go to Berkeley. I respect that preference and choice.</p>
<p>Our son applied to Bucknell, Richmond, and Miami. Although Miami is a terrific school, in terms of academics I don’t think it is on par with either Bucknell or Richmond - our son considered it one of his “safer” schools and was admitted EA with a significant merit aid package.
He really wrestled between Bucknell and Richmond for ED2 - he took the time and energy to visit each school several times, sit in on classes, go to basketball games, hang out with current students, etc. For a myriad of reasons along with gut instinct, he knew Bucknell was the right choice for him. He confidently signed the ED contract, sent in his application to Bucknell and was accepted in February.
My advice to you is if at all practicable try revisit these schools again this month - picture yourself living at each of them for 4 years - do the kids seem happy? are the class sizes small? how is the food? does it seem like a pressure cooker environment or a healthy balance of academics and fun? Pay close attention to your instinct because it will steer you in the right direction every time. It doesn’t really matter what anyone on CC thinks - we are all individuals with our own preferences and priorities. Good luck - what an exciting time in your life!</p>
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While I’ll leave the name-calling to others, or perhaps just you, your verdict would seem to be one thing you nailed. Were I the chairman of your research committee, you’d get “F” for findings and self-perceived “enlightenment” and attribute your findings to naivete, ignorance perhaps. Hopefully and presumably not stupidity. As one CT counselor noted of people mimicking your prejudice, “many NE people are among the world’s worst and most provincial because they don’t know they are and they think the world ends at the Hudson River.” Still, knowing yourself as you seem to, and perhaps your children’s consequent limitations of nature and nurture, it might be best that they did not venture into the wilderness beyond the Mason-Dixon or the Rio Ohio. Very frightening and primitive folks. :eek: 
Racism and narrow mindedness can come from many directions and cuts.</p>
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[quote]
For my S1, Duke is the only elite school he did not bother to consider seriously for that reason: because the rest of the top 10 schools are in areas where he will fit better. For my S2 (at Bucknell), he never considered applying to anything below the Mason Dixon line.[\quote]</p>
<p>To be fair to places like Duke and UNC: I’m a Bucknell alumus, and am at Duke for my PhD. Durham and Chapel Hill (and Carrboro) are ‘southern’ cities only by virtue of their geography. It is a rare day when I meet someone who was actually born in the Carolinas. The vast majority of people I meet, whether working at restaurants, in and around town, etc, are transplanted northerners, usually from New York, Boston, or other large city. There’s a Whole Foods and farmer’s market within spitting distance of Duke’s campus, for heaven’s sake! ;)</p>
<p>I’m sorry to say, because I really like Lewisburg, but I get the sense that the religious conservatives and others who live in and around Lewisburg, Selinsgrove, Northumberland, Sunbury, etc. are <em>far</em> more intolerant than anyone I’ve met in the cities around Duke. That said, if you drive thirty minutes into the rural areas around Raleigh-Durham, all bets are off.</p>
<p><em>Off-topic fact</em>: I was a TA as a BU senior, and I remember a few displaced Tulane kids who were at Bucknell.</p>
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Drive 30 minutes into rural PA around Lewisburg, you’ll be wondering same thing. As you rightly note. Remember the story of “Bicycle Pete” the mountain man? Try going to the Walmart in Lewisburg on Sunday afternoon for cultural adjustment. Want some similar candidates in upstate NY? Maine? VT? </p>
<p>This isn’t about being “fair” suggesting there’s something “wrong” with these places or that it’s not “fair” calling redneck only in the South. Try hanging out in northcentral Phila or some of the jungles in NYC. Let’s get real here, and a whole lot less ignorant, snobbishly judgemental, and looking down the proverbial nose. Like Lewisburg, Allentown are so superior and highbrow. Oh brother.</p>
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<p>Sorry that you are resorting to such inflammatory, raw accusation of high order. I did not use any disrespectful language, and I was merely pointing out the cultural fit. The kind of diversity that will suit my kids well is LESS likely to be found in certain regions than others, and I opted to support an idea of them going to schools where they will feel more at ease. Nothing is for certain, but one can increase the odds of finding a better fit. Nobody questions the issue of “fit” when it comes to college selection. Making an exception for the culture issue is dishonest and disingenuous. </p>
<p>Somehow, you decided to project the worst kind of motive on my statement. You don’t know me well, and you feel entitled to portray me in a worst possible manner based on my desire to see my kids in an environment that is statistically better suited for them. I will not dignify your accusation by coming up with a litany of “I have been there, I have relatives there, or some of my best friends are…” type statements. I will not even share objective statistics of all sorts. Suffices to say, that my concern was not just based on what you think is horrible personal prejudice. </p>
<p>I would like to remind you of the statement you posted in another thread.</p>
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<p>When I read it, I cringed - A LOT, but I allowed that your observation may have some validity on paper, on a statistical level, and I decided shouldn’t produce knee jerk reaction. I was actually surprised that nobody commented on it.</p>
<p>You are either totally prejudice free or you can allow for some validity for compiled statistical data even though it may not apply everywhere, and there is ample room for individual differences and exceptions. You can’t pick and choose where you apply your lofty ideas and where not.</p>
<p>This is exactly how my conclusion was based. On a statistical level, there is a difference, even though it may not apply to everyone and everywhere, and the odds are better that my kids will do better in a different environment. </p>
<p>Why is it such a high crime? Is it more so than your statement about drug dealing minorities and Hispanics and THEIR OFF SPRINGS (mind you, off springs - they haven’t done anything, and you are already including them in the category of potential criminals). </p>
<p>I will conclude my participation in this thread with the following statement. I knew that my position will be controversial. But I decided to share the input, because this might be relevant to the student. We don’t live in a world free of prejudice and bias, which is so well demonstrated even by you as above, while you are accusing me of the worst. So, yes, culture is a factor, and yes, the statistics does matter.</p>
<p>PS: your argument would have had a more resonance if you stated your opinions on a less inflammatory manner full of accusation of what you assumed to be my worst prejudice. Perhaps going forward you will be better at persuading others when you use less red hot language. Heck, you may even have persuaded me to think differently if you hadn’t resorted to such behavior.</p>
<p>It is about choices. What’s important to you:</p>
<p>Big or small school; big or small town; good or bad weather; lots of greeks or not; kids from lots of different places or from mostly just a few places, etc. etc. etc.</p>
<p>Fyi, Tulane isn’t much of a southern good old boy school. 35% of the students are from the northeast with a substantial Jewish enrollment. More like Emory than Ole Miss.</p>
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I’m flattered but not convinced I or anyone could have persuaded in light of your “research.” But if my behavior serves to excuse, you’re welcome. As we both agree, you’ve made the correct choice for yours. Your view of the South, Midwest, others would not be well received by those locals. Good luck. </p>
<p>I’m sure there are many Allentown/Bethlehem residents who join you in your “cringing” and wishing the truth about the population trends were otherwise. They are painful. But wishful thinking doesn’t change the scenario. It is what it is. By definition, truth means we all have to acknowledge that “is.”</p>
<p>“The kind of diversity that will suit my kids well is LESS likely to be found in certain regions than others, and I opted to support an idea of them going to schools where they will feel more at ease. Nothing is for certain, but one can increase the odds of finding a better fit. Nobody questions the issue of “fit” when it comes to college selection. Making an exception for the culture issue is dishonest and disingenuous.”</p>
<p>Absolutely. And as a diligent, caring parent, you are doing the very best for them to make sure they are in the best possible situation for them. We can’t always help them find that place that ends up to be just perfect for our kids, but we sure can steer them towards where they’d have the best odds of being happy and comfortable.</p>
<p>If I was a minority, I’d be pretty dang careful where I sent my kids. I don’t think I’d want them to be the 1-2% of anything, if it could be avoided. I’ve been the 1-5% in my occupation for 27 years, and though I wouldn’t want to do a different job, I sure wish there was a better balance so I didn’t feel like such an oddity and wasn’t treated differently often, with people having assumptions and misconceptions about me. I lived in the south for many years, married to a southerner, and I would be especially careful as a minority sending my kids to college there. We lived in a major town, and our neighbor (Japanese) couldn’t go anywhere without people staring at her like she was a freak. No matter where you live, it’s just better if you’re not in the tiny minority, not that you have to hang out with anyone in particular.</p>
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