In the thread about Admitted Students Days I asked if anyone had feedback regarding their experience with diversity weekends or programs targeting multiracial students? It was suggested that I start a new thread about the topic.
I’m not looking for a debate but more about whether or not your multiracial student felt that the diversity event(s) at different schools were beneficial.
Most students will find these beneficial. Depending on the program, you may find all kinds of students in attendance,-- multi-racial, Asian, students with families from other countries that don’t identify with any American racial group, even majority race students may attend due to being first gen or lgbt.
@nw2this are you speaking in generalities or from personal experience?
From personal experience, yeah it was really interesting and fun. It allows you to engage with peers from your age group to learn about the culture and overall gain new experience. If you’re unsure, just give it a try once or twice to see how the group/event function like.
My friend’s daughter got an additional scholarship for attending.
My two children attended multicultural events and found them extremely beneficial. I always encourage my students to attend them if invited.
Some benefits I saw first-hand:
Pre-admission stage included application waivers, hosted weekends, and payments of travel. More importantly the admission staff can put a name to a face when evaluating the candidate’s application for admission. I strongly believe my DD was accepted to her college which was a big reach for her based on this event. She was told by her regional rep to attend the diversity weekend because their Hispanic admission rep was new and my DD was told to make sure she interacted with him. We later learned that the Hispanic rep really advocated for my DD before the admissions committee citing his interactions with her and that he felt she had the potential to succeed despite being in the lower 25% of the admitted class. (as an aside she just graduated magna cum laude from the college so he was right).
Post admission stage-It allowed my children to get to know students, faculty and resources for them in a much smaller setting. Each child became close to a staff member through this event so that when they had melt-downs or challenges in college they knew who to turn to for help. Plus they learned of organizations where to volunteer for Hispanic outreach so that they could pay it forward. The events really helped my children adjust to college life so that they were not intimidated when school started.
Look up a website called “Get Me To College” under the high school student tab. Also look at I’m first.org for student stories about their experiences at these events.
@lkg4answers I forgot to mention that there is a Hispanic forum here on CC and you might post your question there. Plus I know some people have written about their experiences at those kind of events. Also if you can’t afford to attend, ask the college if they have funds available. I always ask for my students and usually the college has the money to pay for travel.
@itsv and @twoinanddone My kids are mixed race - Caucasian, Asian and a non-Hispanic minority. They aren’t first generation and don’t qualify for financial aid. Are most of these programs targeted towards first gen URM with financial need?
@lkg4answers My children are not first gen and we make a dollar too much for financial aid. Some programs are targeted at all multi-cultural, others first gen, etc. In my experience, colleges target their events at a population they are trying to attract. My DD was a mechanic engineering major where there are not many women in that major so she got some invites where they were targeting that population. My son in 2009 was targeted by some Midwest colleges because they were trying to attract boys who were non-science majors from California.
Try not to over think these events. They are part recruiting, part outreach and really no negative associated unless a student is going to miss a lot of school to attend.
My friend’s child (and mine) are Chinese but raised in white households in the suburbs so all the educational benefits available. Mine doesn’t identify as a minority, but that’s just her.
My friend’s child tried to convince them she ‘wasn’t really a minority’ when they asked her to attend as she was sure they didn’t want kids who had gone to a majority white high school and lived only about 20 minutes from the school. She went for the money, but I think found a new group of friends to start the school year with and learned a lot about college life. I think she might have received a credit for attending too (it was 2-3 weeks, not just a weekend). The definition of URM is up to the school and the program. If your children identify as a minority, they should apply.
Remember Obama is only 1/2 black, but that’s how he identified himself.
My child attended a few of these - she identifies with 2 urm groups so different than not identifying with any, but that is how I know about the of diversity attendees. Also one local program had some programming for parents so I got a good look at participants and parents.