<p>@invader </p>
<p>It was the same in my school. There was the notorious black table. LOL </p>
<p>And I agree. Usually only the smart black kids had friends of all races. Eh. I guess I to need really do research on what school would be best for me in terms of how much tolerance there is for people of my race.
Another college factor.</p>
<p>Might anyone have ideas for super tolerant colleges that are still prestigious?</p>
<p>I long for acceptance. </p>
<p>Many of the friends I made in high-school (we’re no longer friends) treated me as a pet. I despise this.</p>
<p>@alexisss your embarassingly disparaging remarks in post #7 show that you feel like you are better than the other students at your school…have you re read your posts on this thread? Maybe you should. Its sad that you put others down in your school… call them ghetto(what does that really mean?? ), idiotic, etc… so as I said in my last post, the same elitism that you are complaining of, you yourself exhibit those same behaviors…</p>
<p>My apologies for coming across in this manner. I do not believe in sugar coating observations. And I use the term “ghetto” to generally describe the lackadaisical manner in which they behave. And yes, they were loud. Unbearable. </p>
<p>I only respect those who afford me the same courtesy. I cannot see the elitism in my stance.</p>
<p>@alexisss</p>
<p>Most of the top schools and colleges in general are pretty tolerant and liberal. For one I have friends at every Ivy(mostly asian) and I have had the chance to visit all but Dartmouth and Brown(known to be one of the most liberal schools in the country) and can tell you I see people of all different races and the students I have met there are extremely welcoming and down to earth. You are going to find some ignorant and snobbish people everywhere but they are vastly the minority. If you are looking for acceptance from the average college you will find it and especially consider where the college is located. All of the ivies with maybe the exception of Dartmouth(since I have never been to NH) are all in fairly liberal areas and cities. Since I am from NJ and have a good amount of friends at Princeton I have been on campus countless times and not only is the campus absolutely gorgeous but it is filled with smart, motivated, and welcoming people from all over much like the rest of the town. You should check out of the surrounding areas of the colleges you are interested especially if they are in a more rural area.</p>
<p>You also suggested students at HBCUs only talk about music and fashion, which isnt true , at least when I was there, and that only “smart” black kids had friends of other races. How are defining smart.? You seem to make generalizations that aren’t becoming of someone with so much potential. Perhaps how you appear to others js not your concern.</p>
<p>Nonetheless , I appreciate your concerns. My daughter just graduated Duke, had a very diverse group of friends, more black friends than she’d had in the past, but most of her friends were not black. Overall, a mixed experience.</p>
<p>@invader </p>
<p>I appreciate your insight! I shall continue with my original plans in terms of where I am applying. Perhaps I’ll join the black communities there? I need to be around like-minded blacks. And as long as people who delight in black jokes are the minority, I should be fine.
Thank you for the help. :-D</p>
<p>@shrinkwrap
Ah. This is simply what I’ve gathered from many black people on CC. If the hbcus aren’t like this, that’s fine. All the better, in fact.
As for the latter of your statement, I was referring to high-school. And by “smart,” I mean in terms of GPA, ranking and how one carries oneself. This isn’t a generalization. The black kids were divided into the educated and those who were anti-intellectual. Sad, but true. (Only one kid was an exception, he was not very intelligent, but strove to fit in with the Caucasian kids.)
The same phenomenon occurred amongst white children, but the hatred seen among us black kids wasn’t present.
All in all, many white kids were evil towards me because I was black with higher grades than them, and the majority of the black kids hated me, too. Pretty interesting dynamics. </p>
<p>So when I heard that the same kind of black people were present at hbcus, I was deeply perturbed. </p>
<p>Excuse my rashness.</p>
<p>It’s kind of funny when folks (and I probably can poke some fun at myself) get so deep into what is a “better education” and prestige and about 5 years into your work experience you find out that NOBODY CARES and your co-workers or even your team is made of graduates from the following schools:</p>
<p>Georgia Tech
North Carolina A&T
SUNY at Buffalo
Michigan State University
Carnegie Mellon
West Virginia University
Howard University</p>
<p>…with your technical manager hailing from University of Wyoming. That is the way it is at many large corporations, especially in fields like computer science or software engineering where there are usually more jobs than grads can fill them. With experienced professionals, the only discussions about college are about drunken times and maybe past school projects…NEVER PRESTIGE.</p>
<p>Very true.</p>
<p>"As for the latter of your statement, I was referring to high-school. And by “smart,” I mean in terms of GPA, ranking and how one carries oneself. This isn’t a generalization. "</p>
<p>Well that helps, but smart means something very different to me, and it’s hard to say what value the things you are describing have outside of high school. And you are not in high school anymore. </p>
<p>Not a GREAT example, but my son was known as “the smartest dumb person” most of his friends new. It seems because of who he hung out with, how he carried himself*, and his GPA, teachers and students didn’t know he was “smart” (as defined by SAT and potential to learn quickly). The reasons why are complicated, which I guess is my point. He was pretty disruptive, and that is one of the reasons his teachers separated him, but they also suspected he cheated off his friends, when in fact it was the other way around.</p>
<ul>
<li>He was also the “whitest black kid”, but since he was also the ONLY black kid, hard to know what they meant by that. I believe it reflected his interests, like soccer and snowboarding, but he “carried himself” more like what you might be accustomed to.</li>
</ul>
<p>Most importantly, I believe he harboured some ideas that broke my heart. We really wanted him to go to a school with black kids that would give him a different worldview than he was getting from who knows where. He did not attend, but was very impressed by what he saw at Morehouse.</p>
<p>PS I think there should be a campaign against using the word “ghetto” like there is against using the word “gay”.</p>
<p>I’m fervently hoping that the majority of high-school shenanigans isn’t carried over to college. :-\ I wish to be rid of high-school memories. Lol. </p>
<p>Was there a reason he didn’t attend?
I was quite impressed with their valediction this year. I watched his speech on utube. Very excellent. </p>
<p>Meh. I don’t know. I’ve used the word myself to describe ignorant people. Perhaps a better word would suffice to convey my meaning.</p>
<p>In my school it was often associated just with blacks.
Or used when identifying that which was, well, unconventional.</p>
<p>Personally I’m more against the n-word.</p>
<p>"Was there a reason he didn’t attend? "</p>
<p>Well, for one thing, they do not have an engineering major.</p>
<p>I think most aspects of the human experience are just way too complicated to try to summarize with a single word. </p>
<p><a href=“http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/2609/when-a-ghetto-is-not-a-ghetto/[/url]”>http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/2609/when-a-ghetto-is-not-a-ghetto/</a></p>
<p>It’s complicated. “Deal with it!” (smile)</p>
<p>I’m glad he has a favorable view! </p>
<p>I’ll be sure to read that article.</p>
<p>My (white) child participated in a summer program several years ago that was located on an HBCU. What I noticed was a sense of community and pride. There were excellent research facilities and educational opportunities for students who wished to access them, and the professors I met were congenial and distinguished.
It would make sense that a small group of minority students would stick together, but when that group is the majority, there would be no need to do this. Friendships would be based on other qualities- which happens eventually anyway. So it would be expected that students would form cliques and groups.
As the Jones article stated, the Ivy’s have had a long time to develop their endowments and prestige. They are able to select from the top of a competitive applicant pool. Outside the Ivy’s many other excellent colleges have a wider range of students- from the best and studious to the partiers- and they come from all backgrounds, but much of any college is what you make of it.
IMHO, college won’t get you away from any kind of person. More likely you will be in contact with a much larger range of personalities at any school. Challenging people are everywhere and so are good friends. If the prestige of an Ivy is important to you, then by all means apply there, as well as any other schools that interest you- but I think the consensus on this board is that you have to visit a school to get a feel for it.
There are threads here where visiting schools changed a student’s perspectives. Some fell in love with their “safety” school. I had heard about HBCU’s before, but now, when someone speaks of that school, I have a real experience to relate to, and I think, that is the best way to see if any college is right for you.</p>
<p>Thank you for your input.
I guess it’s not good to simply take another’s word for it; you need firsthand experience. </p>
<p>I was trying to find a mostly black school without the kind of people who made high-school hellish, but there’ll always be the same types of people everywhere. :-\ I’ll just stick with the prestigious schools, I guess. Maybe I’ll meet awesome black people there!</p>
<p>I’m glad you had a positive view. Gosh, I feel so shallow ignoring hbcus because of their lack of prestige. ╮(╯_╰)╭</p>
<p>Alexis, I don’t think you are being shallow- the Ivy’s are prestigious schools and many people apply to them. It’s realistic to choose the college for the qualities you are looking for. However, there are many schools besides the Ivy’s that are highly regarded as well- some are referred to as "public Ivy’s and so on, as well as </p>
<p>[Black</a> Ivy League - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Ivy_League]Black”>Black Ivy League - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>because of the quality and reputations of the schools. </p>
<p>While students can aspire to attend an Ivy, it’s not advisable to only consider Ivy’s. Way more qualified applicants apply than get in, and with the low acceptance rates, every one of them is a reach for even the best students. This is also true for other top schools including the top HBCU’s. It would be wise to add some schools where you are very likely to get admitted to. I don’t like the term “safety” but it has been defined as a school you are likely to get in to, will be happy at, and can afford. </p>
<p>Personally I like to see a student find a college in a holistic way… by making an academic match, and then getting a feel for the college… size, location, cost, and so on. Also consider the honors programs at some of the schools. Make a list of the colleges that seem to fit you-reaches, matches, and “safety’s”.Include the Ivy’s you are interested in, the HBCU’s and any others- your local state colleges and then visit them.</p>
<p>I agree with Pennylane about looking at colleges beyond the ivies, even if you don’t consider HBCU’s. My niece was 2nd in a class of 500+, was the editor of the foreign language publication, president of this, leader of that, near-perfect SAT scores, you name it. Everyone assumed she’d be a shoo-in. But not one of the ivies chose her. It’s not an uncommon problem. </p>
<p>But luckily she had some backup schools and choose a great little school where she thrived. Not having an ivy hasn’t hurt her in the least professionally. She never felt that she was going unchallenged academically or missing out in any way. There’s a saying about not putting all your eggs in one basket. It exists for a reason.</p>
<p>Oh, of course! I have a list of twenty schools at this point. My dream is one of the Ivies, though.</p>
<p>I know the chances of me actually making it in are very slim. I’m quite prepared for any rejection.</p>
<p>If you can goto an Ivy and not be $120K in debt…DO IT.</p>
<p>Shoooooo, I wanted to do my grad work at Columbia (who has online graduate engineering programs) BUT Columbia (like other Ivies) do not have that “back door” way to get into grad school for those who did not light up their undergrad program. Columbia does not guarantee admission even after completing their graduate certificate programs, so I had to pass on it.</p>