HBCUs: Howard or Spelman?

<p>Ok so no car in D.C. :( That is ashame considering that i'll have a 2 year old car just wasting away in my parents driveway for four years. But if cars get broken into that often I definitely shouldn't bring a car to D.C.
Shrinkrap was your car broken into on campus? Or did you live off campus?</p>

<p>Another question...If by chance I was a dean scholar at Spelman which is possible because of my high SAT score...then I'd only have to pay room & board. About $10,000 a year. I'd still have the $10,000 in scholarships I've already accumulated. My parents would pay for board. Therefore I'd only graduate with $25,000 in debt. Do you guys think it would be worth it then to attend Spelman since it is my first choice? It might be even less that $25,000 depending on if I was an RA during my upperclassmen years which would cover the cost of my room, or if I decide to live off campus during the last two years with friends.</p>

<p>I think so. $25,000 isnt alot of debt. Especially compared to your future projected income should you join biglaw.</p>

<p>$25k is manageable for most people.</p>

<p>Wait until you have hard numbers to compare. But, considering that you will still have law school to pay for, I would give serious consideration to graduating debt-free from Howard over $25,000 in debt from Spellman. That's a lot of money.</p>

<p>But, again. Cross that bridge when you get to it!</p>

<p>On cars: shrinkrap was at Howard in a totally different era. There's probably reasonably secure parking around, but the question is where would you drive the car? And where would you park it when you get there? If it's just going to sit in the parking lot at Howard because taking the subway is so much easier than hassling with the car, then you have to ask yourself if you really want it. My daughter sent hers home despite the fact she's got a garage behind her house. They rent the garage out to some dude who needed to store his car over the summer ($100 a month for the care to just sit there).</p>

<p>Law school is expensive, but like Ronris said with the projected income after graduating law school I feel like that wouldn't be too much to handle if I don't try to jump straight into any type of "lavish" lifestyle. Just keep it modest for around 5 years after graduating. Plus I plan on working during law school. My dad was a full time police officer during law school and that helped alot. Plus he made around $15,000 more each summer as a summer associate on top of his full time night job as an officer.</p>

<p>About the car...last time I visited D.C. I was with a friend who lives there. He had to drive his car to some type of "car stop" and then we got on the metro from there. It took like a 20 minute drive. So I'm not really sure if I'd have to go places that would require me to do this. I'd also like to drive home sometimes. It is very far away, but I have a flying issue. I fly every once in awhile but due to really bad allergies it causes me to basically go temporarily deaf and in ALOT of pain once the plane reaches its maximum peak in the air. The first time this happened I was actually going to D.C. and the flight attendant didn't understand what was happening. She thought my ears were just popping but it's about 10x worse. I experienced popping on shorter flights but I was screaming for them to let me off the plane because the pain was unbearable. I can handle the short flights but D.C. isn't a short one.
I guess another reason is that I'm from a metropolitan area where cars are a must. I attend a prep school that takes 30 minutes to drive too. Even if I went to the nearest public school it would take 20 minutes. It took me an hour to get to one of the nearby malls. I live in a "real" city. It's pretty large it's just that everything is spread out. So I'm use to driving. We don't even really have public transportation. No train at all. No taxi's unless you call awhile ahead. If you want to ride the bus you'd have to get in a car and drive for about 15 minutes to get to a bus stop because residential is very separate from commercial areas. I'm so accustomed to using a car that I'd really just rather drive than walk to a metro stop especially in the winter.</p>

<p>Shrinkrap was your car broken into on campus? Or did you live off campus?</p>

<p>Interesteddad is right; That was more than 20 years ago. I belleive there was a bit of resentment toward Howard students, (and maybe gentrification?) No subway came close. There was a lottery system for spaces if I remember correctly, and I never got one. I was parking "off campus" in some abandoned lot. By the time I had a car ( might not have been until medical school), I was probably living "off campus", but back then my dorm was "off campus" too ( meridian....interesteddad...what's the name of the park across from meridian? Is that dorm still there?).</p>

<p>Meridian Hill Park, although it went thru a period of its life known as *Malcolm X Park *. The park is being completely renovated and is supposed to open up again I think some time this summer. Four blocks west of there is the Adams Morgan area which is the booming nightlife district for 20-somethings in the city. Gazillions of restaurants and bars, live music, ethnic restaurants, etc.</p>

<p>There is still a large Howard dorm right on Meridian Hill Park. Looks like it's probably for upperclassmen. I think the freshman dorms are on the campus proper.</p>

<p>Howard runs its own shuttle vans all around the dorms, buildings, subway station, etc.</p>

<p>The whole area from there north has apparently seen a huge influx of South American immigrants since the 1990s, so you have a large historic African American community, a signficant Latin American community, and young post-college kids and home buyers in their 30s because you can rent a nice place three or four to a row house for under $1000 each which is pretty much impossible near Capitol Hill or Georgetown. It makes for real melting pot neighborhood which in turn makes it pretty vibrant. Property values have gone crazy. Renovated old brick town houses sell from $300,000 to $1 million as real estate prices have probably outpaced the neighborhood a bit because it's easy to see where this section of town is headed over the next ten years.</p>

<p>Hi. I'm also debating between two schools, but my case is different from Lady T's. Morehouse College has always been my dream school, because of the fact that it empowers young African American males to be leaders in their respective communities. It also offers a substantial amount of traditional learning that no other school can offer me. However, I have the academic promise of attending an Ivy League institution, such as Stanford University. I've always had the desire to live in California and the Stanford campus is beautiful. According to the College Board, Stanford has received a ranking of 97 in quality of living, which is quite impressive. </p>

<p>The Stanford environment provides a large interactive community with students of all backgrounds and ethnicities. I'm deciding to go on the medical track. Stanford is ranked number 10 in the top tier of the best pre-med and medical schools in the country, while Morehouse, along with Howard, are in the lowest tier. However, coming from a pre-dominantly black high school where academic achievement amongst African American males is low, I would be thrilled to be surrounded with a whole campus of black males who have some of the same academic interests that I do.</p>

<p>With myself coming from an economically disadvantaged household, with my mother being a single provider for 4 children, another factor that comes into play is which school will I more likely get a full ride from? Morehouse or Stanford? Here are some of my stats:
3.7 GPA
current rank: 2/423
Student Ambassador
NAACP Member
Columbia University S-PREP for Physicians and Surgeons participant
Boys Volleyball & Track
Freshman & Sophomore President
Debate team
President of Epsilon Chi Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, Inc.
ARISTA Honor Society
2 completed APs with 2 more independent study APs
100+ service hours
Featured in Who's Who Amongst American High School Students</p>

<p>I'm torn in between Stanford University & Morehouse College. Any help?</p>

<p>Soulbrotha, you may want to post a separate inquiry for your question to get feedback on your question - your particular question won't be apparent from the title of the thread. My opinion? Admission to Stanford is tough and my guess is that they will reserve merit aid for the very top tier students. You may qualify, but Morehouse has a lot of merit aid available and a medical school. They're totally different schools so your choice depends on what you're looking for.</p>

<p>Howard v. Spelman? I'm the parent of a Spelman student and I'm torn. My D likes Spelman, has established excellent relationships with her professors and has made a lot of very good friends. However, I think Atlanta has less to offer than DC. You can't beat the Smithsonian, free concerts, etc. in DC. The U Street revitalization also is amazing. I also think it's easier to get around in DC. Both schools are in "challenging" neighborhoods. As a parent, I feel some comfort knowing that Spelman is a gated campus, so I feel that my D is very secure on the campus. You may want to check into the housing situation at Howard.</p>

<p>You realize you misspoke? Stanford is not a member of the Ivy League. Also, the positive comments in your post reveal that you favor Stanford. Incidentally, the Morehouse alumni I know all complain about the minimal financial aid they received from the school. Perhaps this situation has improved in recent years.</p>

<p>
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Both schools are in "challenging" neighborhoods. As a parent, I feel some comfort knowing that Spelman is a gated campus, so I feel that my D is very secure on the campus. You may want to check into the housing situation at Howard.

[/quote]
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<p>The neighborhoods around Howard University are improving at such a rapid rate that it's very hard to characterize crime in the area. They were as bad as bad could be for crime in the 1980s. Overrun by the crack epidemic. That has changed so rapidly just in the last couple of years that its breathtaking. You want to use some street smarts, but my daughter and her friends walk the neighborhood daily, today. The neighborhoods are safe enough that women walk alone in the daytime. My daughter feels safe walking after dark as long as there are two or more people walking in a group. They aren't stupid. They stick to well-travelled streets and pay attention to their surroundings.</p>

<p>I follow the neighborhood blogs pretty closely. As a parent, I wouldn't be any more concerned about Howard's safety in 2008 going forward than I would be at any urban campus -- Penn, etc. </p>

<p>The only really violent crime in the neighborhood seems to occur between people who know each other and have a beef with each other, i.e. drug dealers stepping on each other's turf or whatever. Premeditated. </p>

<p>Day to day, the only thing that really pops up in the very active neighborhood blogs are the occasional street robbery of convenience -- follow someone from the train station, etc. Most of these could probably be prevented with a loud police whistle or alarm to attract some attention. These are not criminals looking to attract attention.</p>

<p>Im going to UAPB in the Fall! So far I heard its a good school, not too expensive and all my friends go there!</p>

<p>You do have a tough decision....one that my daughter was faced with nearly four years ago. She decided on Spelman, and has enjoyed every minute of it! It's definitely been tough financially because they give very few full scholarships, but each year she has applied for and received additional funds which has really helped. She did, however, have one huge advantage: We live in metro Atlanta, and she was able to move back home after Freshman year to help further defray the costs. I would normally say listen to your heart, but in these financial times you have to listen to your pocket first. My wife and I have never regreeted the decision to support her at Spelman, and I think that years from now we will feel that it was worth the sacrifice....best wishes to you, and maybe we'll see you i Atlanta!!!!</p>