Diversifying

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
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<p>Hi Everyone. This is my first post in the Cornell Forum. </p>

<p>I was very happy to receive good news from Cornell two weeks ago. Given that I received bad news from other schools (including my first choice Northwestern), and the fantastic financial aid package from Cornell, I'll be attending. I plan to visit tomorrow to make my final decision, before sending my deposit. It is very unlikely that I will get off the waitlist for NU, but I will always have the highest respect for the school. </p>

<p>As you might have guessed from the title of this thread, I really wanted to seek a more diverse group of friends. My HS (a magnet school) is 70% Asian, and so it is very difficult to make friends who are not Asian. It seems that it is a "safety mechanism," where the minority, in this case the white students, reject any connection with the majority in order to protect their own identity. I bet the same thing happens with all minority groups (e.g. Chinese or Indians) when they are faced with a majority group that is different from them. Hence the common phenomenon of "asians sticking together." I experienced the opposite: "whites sticking together." Being Asian myself, I am rejected by the whites, who brand me as being "different" from them. </p>

<p>I know that the Internet (especially this forum) is not the best representation of the real world or the actual campus, but I have the feeling that the particular school that I was accepted to (Engineering) may also be 70% Asian. I simply do not want a repeat of HS. I want to make friends who are of a different background that I am, and unfortunately, this has been very difficult in HS. While I like Engineering, I am considering changing my major (if that is possible) because of the common stereotype of "Hmm, he is asian, and of course he wants to be a Doctor or an Engineer." Perhaps I should not let the opinions of others get to me. </p>

<p>Of course, the major concern is, at Cornell, how difficult is to make friends with people who are different from me? I really want to know a lot of people who are NOT the same as me, and I certainly don't want to only stick together to other Asians. </p>

<p>Good Day.</p>

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<p>I’ve never been to Cornell so I can’t tell you how easy it will be for you to find a diverse group of friends (though I’m sure it shouldn’t be a problem), but what I will tell you is don’t change your major just because you are afraid of a stereotype. Do what you love and let people think what they want.</p>

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<p>The diversity of your friends is totally up to you. No matter what school you attend there will always be ethnic groups who stick together. As a student at Cornell I can say my group of friends is extremely diverse. The cool part about this place is that there’s always someone who enjoys the same things as you and friendship sprouts instantly. If you want a diverse group of friends you can find that easily. Just talk to people in your dorm and in dining halls and it all works out.</p>

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<p>My S is in the engineering school and there is definitely a lot of diversity there. We are white. Asians (ALL countries seem to be represented, not one specific group), lots of females, African-Americans, Hispanics, it’s all there. </p>

<p>You will live with people from all the colleges. My S is in a suite and has black and Asian friends. It seems most people in his dorm are white. He will be taking classes in the Hotel school and ILR school in the fall, so there are great opportunities to meet many different types of people. The engineering school curriculum will force you to try lots of different classes in the other colleges. My S also joined a fraternity and the brotherhood is very diverse, as well. </p>

<p>Don’t worry, the stereotypical engineering student is there, but there are many, many other people for you to be friends with. With almost 14,000 undergraduates, the sky’s the limit.</p>

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<p>The diversity at Cornell is great, one of the reasons why I chose Cornell over Berkeley. I too went to a very Asian HS and it was refreshing to see more ethnic diversity at Cornell.</p>

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<p>Seriously? You are going to alter your major and do something you don’t like for the rest of your life because of some stereotype? I know it’s become almost embarrassing to be a high-achieving Asian but what’s the alternative? To do drugs, get in jail, and drop out of college? That’s definitely not an Asian stereotype but I’m don’t think that’s something you want. If you like engineering, then become the best engineer possible and screw what other people think.</p>

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<p>Hi Everyone, thanks for the consolation. I am glad that Cornell offers the opportunity to find friends with other groups. </p>

<p>However, I’m not quite sure how I can go about doing so. Given that I come from such an Asian-dominated school, I might not have the experience necessary in order to communicate with people different from me. </p>

<p>Of course, I am open to being friends with other people, but they may not want to be open to being friends with me. In HS, that is what often happened. I would be talking to, say a white student, and they would simply say “hey, don’t you need to get to class” in a manner that is insinuating “I don’t want to talk to you.”</p>

<p>I bet the dorm-rooms and dinner time will be an excellent opportunity to bond with different people, as will sports (I’d like to try fencing, for example). </p>

<p>Some comments on websites are a cause for concern:
“Depends on where you are on campus. If you’re near the chemistry/biology/physics/engineering buildings, you’ll see lots of asians. If you’re near the track, you’ll see mostly whites and blacks.”</p>

<p>Cornell has a lot of diverse students, both ethnically and religiously. but they tend to stick together so having a diverse group of friends can be difficult."</p>

<p>My comment: This is what I DON’T want to happen. During my visit at Cornell last week, I witnessed a group of Korean students sticking together, speaking in Korean. That is something that I don’t want to do when I am there. </p>

<p>“Although Cornell University has students of many religions, nations, and a wide spectrum of political beliefs,it appears that some groups remain isolated from each other. The overall identity as a “Cornellian” does foster an environment in which students feel comfortable around one another, but it does not fully integrate the variety of cultures/backgrounds that reside there. In particular differences in economic background, and the divide between the have and have nots, is evident in the Greek community. As a fraternity member it is easy to see how “wealthier” fraternities alienate those below them, which greatly effects the social scene of the campus.”</p>

<p>“Sadly, the MAJORITY of the school can be divided into two groups: stuck-up, jappy rich kids and Asians. The former spends all their time copying notes/homework and partying, while the latter group keeps to themselves entirely. It sucks.”</p>

<p>“It’s much more diverse than some other places, but the races tend to segregate. Unless you search for personal diversity, it is not going to seek you out.”</p>

<p>I do not want to be bit by the “coalescing bug.” Given my terrible experience in HS (imagine getting separated from potentially great friends just because they are of a different race!), I really dislike any form of sticking together. Other people are there for a reason! Can someone provide some tips to help me maximize my attempt to meet different people? As I’ve said, I don’t have too much of an experience with such a diverse environment like Cornell. </p>

<p>For example, I was setting up my housing application, and I played around with the settings. Some settings made it so that the sample search came up with very asian sounding names. If possible, I think it would be a good experience NOT to find an asian roommate. </p>

<p>To be honest, my middle school was a lot more diverse than my HS. I made easily over 20 white friends in MS, and we got together very well. Funny how things take such a dive in terms of social dynamics in HS.</p>

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<p>As an Asian parent, I too notice what op concerns during our visit and worry that my DD might have hard time fitting in due to her H.S only has few Asian students. and almost all her friends are Caucasian. Thank God for her Extrovert personality, she made tons of friends! and when she came home after the overnight, she say “mom, now i know why people say college is what you make of…” op, don’t worry too much about it. Become friend with my DD and she will introduce you to many non Asian friends :)</p>

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<p>Most people on campus definitely do stick to their groups quite a bit, but entering freshmen are a lot more willing to talk to each other. Take full advantage of that.</p>

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<p>It’s really your choice as to who you hang out with, and who you become friends with. I’m a student of Asian descent and came from a US high school with large Asian population, and I’ve never had any experience with people not wanting to talk with me or interact with me because I’m Asian. I have a mix of friends from different ethnic backgrounds. My best suggestion would be to get out and meet people by joining groups (there are plenty of student interest groups which are not culturally related or focused), as well as meeting people during the first few weeks here, as everyone is super open and really want to meet people.</p>

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<p>I would definitely say that diversity varies among people. some groups of Asian students prefer to stick together, and maybe speak in a language besides English, but I don’t think you’d have any issues if you’re an Asian looking for more diverse friends. there are so many people at Cornell that it’s not like high school where you get set with your cliques and everyone generally knows who hangs out with whom.</p>

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<p>Asian students are about 25% at the College of Engineering, so diversity is not much an issue.</p>

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<p>That sounds great. I was really afraid of the kind of people who would push me away simply because I am asian (but that would be their problem and not mine). Oddly enough, I never had this problem in middle school, and this only developed in HS where the majority is Asian. As I’ve said, I think this is a defense measure by the “minority” groups. </p>

<p>Faustarp, I’m glad that there are fewer cliques involved! Cliques are so terrible and limiting. </p>

<p>Can anyone comment on the quotations in my previous post? I’d like to know if those things are true. </p>

<p>Also, I looked at the organization lists, and there are a million! Significantly (P<0.05) more than my HS. I think I would have a lot of fun in things like CU compost, the outing club, rowing, food. I know for a fact that I will never join an ethnic organization.</p>

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<p>No one has any further comment?</p>

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<p>gg</p>

<p>either its you or the whities in your school really don’t like asians (you can probably blame it on the few, snobbish, competitive, weirdo asians that go around screaming about getting 99/100 on a test momentarily stating that they were going to fail them) - and thats why whities probably don’t like u, cause they associate u with the few snobbish others.</p>

<p>In fact, in my school, everyone gets together, despite whether they are black, hispanic, asian, or any other ethnicity. This is especially interesting, because our school is composed of relatively ~30% Hispanics ~10 Asian ~50% Whites ~10% other.</p>

<p>So either start acting cooler or less Asian. jk</p>

<p>Just be yourself and act BBBBBrisky.</p>

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<p>When people ask about problems like these, there will always be someone-- no matter what school or where-- saying that you will find friends and that the school is great and diverse. I think these comments are absolutely useful. Answers should be blunt, generalized, somewhat cynical, and maybe should even stereotype. Otherwise, you’ll get the same generic answers or anecdotes.</p>

<p>ps. I didn’t read any of the comments.</p>

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<p>NYC specialized high school?</p>

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<p>I meant useless, not useful.</p>

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<p>This is a very big concern for me.</p>

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<p>Hi, Scintillation! I can totally sympathize with your concerns. I’m also Asian pursuing a biology degree at Cornell on the pre-med track and the stereotype of “overachieving” Asian students sometimes haunts me too. However, my HS experience was not as limiting as yours; I had about equal numbers of Caucasian friends as Asian friends, and there was not much of an ethnic divide at school in general. </p>

<p>I think what jad372 said (“the diversity of your friends is totally up to you”) is very true. I fervently hope that at Cornell, you will discover more diversification and acceptance than at your former school. There will always be students who choose to remain in cliques/groups, but there will literally be thousands of other students with differing backgrounds with whom you can befriend as well. Yes, it’s scary that we have to seek out these individuals ourselves sometimes. Personally, I am pretty shy, especially around strangers… but then again I guess that’s half the fun of college. I want to learn to be more assertive! (:</p>

<p>Hmm, I also agree with the other posters in that if <em>you</em> feel you like engineering, try it out, and please do not feel confined by the stereotype. </p>

<p>I’m curious, have you gotten your room assignment yet? I recently received mine (Townhouse D), and I was ecstatic to discover that I have a very diverse group of roommates in my suite. I think that would be a good first step for you to take… start there and work your way out. You should already have their emails, or you could always use facebook.</p>