<p>"How can colleges have over a 100% of their students receiving Pell Grants? The link shows some colleges with over 1000% of students receiving Pells. Either there is some sort of weird bureaucratic way of figuring this or the mice the bio labs are on scholarship."</p>
<p>No mystery. Mortenson explains it in the notes. The Pell % is based on the entering fall enrollment (which would make it very accurate for the top 300 colleges and unis. of course.) But Pell Grant status changes throughout the year, with some qualifying in spring who hadn't qualifed in the fall, and some entering in the winter or spring quarters. You find this most commonly at community colleges, automotive institutes, or the lower ranking state colleges.</p>
<p>Please stress to your college students that they need to be careful no matter where they go. City colleges will usually have students who become very aware rather quickly due to their setting. But, as others have said, crimes, assaults, theft, vandalism etc. can happen anywhere, even on your small-town bucolic country campus.</p>
<p>Students need to work WITH the security system of their campus. DON'T prop open dorm doors; DON'T leave your door/car unlocked; DON'T walk alone across ANY campus at 4:00AM, call for an escort. Most importantly, DON'T drink to excess - your impaired judgement means you won't be making good decisions re: personal safety.</p>
<p>Baltimore has a lot to offer, however, it also has the distinction of the highest per capita murder rate in the country. I don't recall the exact facts, but it's upwards of 8 times that of NYC and like 4 times that of Philadelphia. It's become the major drug distribution point along the I-95 corridor and law enforcement hasn't yet figured out how to deal with it.</p>
<p>What's really alarming is, the violence that was pretty isolated in a small area of the city appears to be expanding. Recent stats show significant leaps in violent crimes throughout the city and in the surrounding county. The Towson Town Center, an upscale mall just over the city limits, has been the scene of several violent crimes lately, to include a recent murder.</p>
<p>Absolutely, Irishbird. One of the most brutal murders involving colleges, was that of the professors at Dartmouth. A rare occurence in that community, I'm sure, but it's 100% if it happens to you.</p>
<p>Optimizerdad, you probably don't live in the part of Hyde Park we did. We were very much on the fringes. My S was a Labrat, and the house where his classes were held was in a very nice neighborhood, and many of his friends lived in some lovely areas there. And we walked around Hyde Park as well. Just got some mail today from the Seminary Bookstore--we still own shares; we practically lived there as we lived in a tiny, dumpy apartment those days.</p>
<p>(You'll notice that the Harvard number 9.8% is higher than that usually reported, and reported in Mortenson - 6.8%; that's because the only way they could jimmy up the number was to add in the night extension school. The 6.8% is in fact the comparable number.)</p>
<p>You'll probably also find this of interest:</p>
<p>As per a previous discussion, 69% of all African Americans who dropped out of college did so because of high loan debt and unwillingness to take on more debt.</p>
<p>Smith really isn't the point (actually, Occidental's are higher, but not listed), except that they have proven (as Amherst is now proving as well) that a school can indeed attract (and retain) a highly qualified student body from the bottom third of the U.S. population economically speak, and give them the most demanding curriculum, and have them succeed, if the school chooses to do so (and will put time, energy, and money into the effort.) When the other schools don't, it is isn't because they can't, but because they won't. I think that's sad, not so much for those who miss out (nothing new there), but for those attending.</p>
<p>What really pi**es me off is the schools can, won't, but still talk like they do. Utter BS.</p>
<p>Then I see schools like UCLA, Berkeley and to a lesser extent USC do a good job, and these schools are the schools that are called undiversified. Amazing.</p>
<p>my favorite is big H proclaiming full ride to any family <$40k income. Of course, how much marketing and outreach does H perform in inner-cities and other ecomonically-depressed areas so they can attract applications from those kids so they can rub elbows with the scions? Not much, according to the Pell grant data......</p>
<p>My D will be going to Kenyon next year - as most of you know, it is a very rural campus and would be considered "safe" in comparison to most urban campuses. However, just a few years ago, as I understand it, a student who was working as a waitress at night was murdered by someone with a prior criminal record who was working at the same restaurant. Crime can happen anywhere, unfortunately.</p>
<p>Forgive me for repeating this, but I love this story: A friend of my son was driving with his family on the country road between Amherst and Williams when a bear appeared by the side of the road. He said "get me out of here!" made a u-turn back to civilization and is now happily (and safely) enrolled at Johns Hopkins. Comfort level is definitely subjective.</p>
<p>wyogal, I thought it interesting to read yolur comment about Yale. So many people seem to want to go there. I was a grad student there years ago. Maybe it has changed alot since then, but it was unbelievably crime-ridden. Virtually EVERYONE i knew had had at least one incident occur. You couldn't walk anywhere (not one block) at night- you had to take the security bus. A fellow student had his jaw broken at ten am when he wouldn't give up the money he had just taken out at the atm. Another girl was held up at knifepoint. I lived on a street one block from the science quad when i heard my first (and only) real gunshot of my life. I remember thinking it would be the worst place to be an undergraduate. It took me a year after i left to be able to walk down the steet in the daytime and not constantly be checking my back to see if anyone was following me. Theft was a real problem, but muggings were common, too. Yes, it is true that things can happen anywhere. But some places are far more dangerous. Being savvy only goes so far.</p>
<p>When I was looking at colleges, my parents told me that I could not consider schools west of the Mississippi. When my son was looking at colleges this past year, I told him he could not consider Yale.</p>
<p>
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Then I see schools like UCLA, Berkeley and to a lesser extent USC do a good job, and these schools are the schools that are called undiversified.
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</p>
<p>In every instance where I have looked up any diversity numbers for California schools, they are much higher than for ANY East Coast schools. I offer no hypothesis other than to suggest that the demographics of the underlying population have to be taken into account. </p>
<p>With the possible exception of South Florida, there is no place on the East Coast that has the levels of immigration seen in California. Additionally, on the East Coast, the private schools have always been viewed as the high-end, upper-crust option over the state schools. My sense is that the stature of the public university systems in California changes the nature of the game.</p>
<p>We moved to CA (Bay Area) from NY (Westchester Co.) in 1997. I was dragged west, kicking and screaming, but it has turned out to be a fantastic move. Among other things, my sons (Caucasians of northern european heritage) immediately became part of a 30% minority in school. Everything here is far more culturally rich and diverse, and their growing experiences have been as part of an international amalgam. Should they attend a UC school, I'm sure they'll be part of an ongoing tossed salad, and I'm confident it will be a good thing for them.</p>