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That’s fine and I somewhat agree … but there is also data out there about schools. ND is high on Mini’s entitlement index (<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/11033-rich-kid-schools-4.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/11033-rich-kid-schools-4.html</a> … see posts #57 & #58) … and these schools <em>TEND</em> to be more white than typical, more upper middle class than typical, and more preppy than typical. So a description of ND that fits that profile is not surprising … that description was given by someone who was there … so, to me it was not surprising. FYI, ND came out #2 on the entitlement index … this student’s perception matched the data … I have not been there but have numerous data points that would certainly give me reason to think the description might be true.</p>
<p>Last spring we made the rounds of east coast urban schools. I had a similar reaction to 4 schools … the campus culture seems to be dominated by upper middle class suburban white kids … and on the entitlement index the schools were all in the top 6 of the research universities. There were two schools which seemed much more racially diverse and the students seemed much more varied and both were in the bottom 5 of the research universities entitlement index. Is it random all 6 experiences collerolate to the data? I really doubt it.</p>
<p>I am consistent on this board … I am a HUGE fan of both “fit” and of campus visits. To me schools have very different personalities and feels … and these personalities are not good or bad but they certainly are different … and visits are the best way to gage (guess?) this. Barring the ability to visit using available data is the best source for trying to gage how a student might fit in at a school.</p>