<p>My older daughter has always provided some" diversity" in the private schools she has attended by being lowish income- blue collar. This was enough for her ( along with her god given talents ) to recieve generous financial aid for which we are very appreciative.</p>
<p>My younger daughter however, is not content with attending schools with economic diversity, she wants racial diversity as well & a lot of it.
But..- she also has lots of other requirements-
affordable ( well those are my requirements),
she will need learning support services and she wants an urban or at least big suburban area.</p>
<p>The schools we have seen that fit our financial requirements and that provide the setting she wants- with at least some classes in her interest ( marine biology) are not diverse, and even if the school is slightly diverse, the area is not.</p>
<p>Our state is not that racially diverse, which makes it more difficult- we do have more Asians and Hispanic students every year, but it still seems like a lower percentage of African American students than some areas.</p>
<p>I'd like to start this thread getting ideas about schools and areas that are culturally diverse. </p>
<p>I had high hopes for Western Wa Univ , as some of her friends already go there, and like it, but when I went to the local Mexican place and everyone who came in was Caucasian and everyone who was working there , was Caucasian, I knew that our visit was not going to be as successful as I wanted.</p>
<p>She is taking a year off- so we have a little more time for this-thank goodness.</p>
<p>My d. was named a Distinguished Global Citizen Scholar at Western. She isn't going. Interesting - there are actually quite a few Mexican migrants who work in the asparagus and berry fields in the Bellingham area, but they are rarely to be found in town. </p>
<p>UW of course has a sizeable Japanese and Chinese population, some Hispanics, though almost no African Americans outside of the sports teams. You would find this basic makeup at most of the California state universities. </p>
<p>Would she go east? Marine biology plus diverse might mean some place like University of Miami?</p>
<p>She did consider Eckerd, but someone apparently made a comment to her about the culture of the campus- not sure what that was - possibly drug related.
I think she will have a broader perspective after she takes a year off, ( I hope), so that a comment by a friend who may not even have been to the school, doesn't mean she crosses it off her list.</p>
<p>She is very interested in Occidental, but from what I have heard, it has racial diversity but not economic diversity, which may make more of a difference than she thinks.
We are also going to see if some of the other California schools may work, but the more diverse ones that are interested in OOS students, also seem to be BIG!</p>
<p>Actually, Occidental (last time I looked - about 3 years ago), had 29% of its students on Pell Grants, which would make it one of the most economically diverse private liberal arts colleges around. Do they have marine biology?</p>
<p>I think she wants to stay on west coast in a preferably sunny area, but I will mention Rutgers- but which one?</p>
<p>Rhode Island might be a good choice- I used to know the man in disability services- I wonder if he is still there?
( Oh it doesn't look like he is still there- staff is all women & I don't even remember his name- I am awful with names)</p>
<p>I know she wants to be in a big city, but I worry that a big city will have too many distractions- then again I know she doesn't want to be at a school where 40's parties are the weekend entertainment ( and I don't mean swing dancing)</p>
<p>If she does want to look east coast, UNC-Wilmington (University</a> of North Carolina Wilmington) has a respected marine biology program. I can speak to good weather, but I am not sure about diversity. The general area has a fairly high percentage of African-Americans and Hispanic--but I'm not sure about the campus itself.</p>