<p>Hi I’m in my Junior year and will apply as an international student. I’ve always wanted to attend a college where I can make friends from around the world.
I really like Bowdoin, because of its strong academic (it has every major I want!), unbelievable dining, nice professors, and I really like snow so the “bad weather” is not so bad for me.
However, I recently heard that there is not much interracially interaction among students. Is that really true? Do Whites only hang out with Whites, and Asians only with Asians?
Any replies from current students will be appreciated ^~^</p>
<p>To piggyback on this, do African American students tend to stick together in a way that they self segregate, in a way that they support one another but branch out with other kids…or not at all (meaning they don’t really associate with one another)?</p>
<p>Also, are their programs regarding culture, etc. that are open to all students who are interested?</p>
<p>T</p>
<p>Well yeah, these things do exist. But not all African Americans are sticking only African Americans. At least I know in many other schools, racially-mixed groups are common in social scenes.
I just want to know if Bowdoin is strictly “segregated”. Any one little counterexample would be an assurance :)</p>
<p>J</p>
<p>I think the experience will depend upon the individual. However, for minorities and internationals, it is harder to find your own racial/ethnic clique in a liberal arts college than a large university. The small size forces people of different backgrounds to live together and to interact more with one another. For instance, I know that at some universities that have a large population of students from one country, e.g., China, students hang out with their countrymen and do not significantly improve their English language skills, let alone develop an understanding of American, or other cultures. On the other hand, international and minority students who are a small number in absolute terms, are not anonymous to their classmates, and they commonly make friends outside their own culture and race. I have seen Chinese and Japanese students greatly enhance their linguistic skills and cultural appreciation through living with American roomates, and vice versa. My son who recently graduated from Bowdoin had friends who were White, Asian, Black, American, Hispanic, Foreign, Straight, Gay, Liberal, Conservative, Christian, Jewish, etcs. He is an extraverted person; however, the close community and common Bowdoin experiences do bind people together. Differences can be respected and even appreciated, not just tolerated.</p>
<p>I would suggest visiting Bowdoin or any other LAC you may be interested in to see whether you would fit in. In general, if there is reasonable diversity in a college, diversity itself is respected and even though you may not find too many people very similar to you (which actually may be a good thing), you will feel welcome as an individual. In a world that is becoming increasingly flat, with more people working in companies or countries where they are a minority (and this also holds for Whites working in a global economy), learning to respect other cultures as well as your own, and being able to function effectively as a minority person in a different environment is a valuable asset.</p>
<p>I love pmyen’s point about appreciation vs tolerance. ‘Tolerance’ always seems to have some residual judgment attached to it.</p>
<p>OP- my D is going to attend a 4 day diversity program at Bowdoin this week. I will have her post her observations on his thread when she gets back.</p>
<p>“I recently heard that there is not much interracially interaction among students.” </p>
<p>It seems like such an odd observation to me. I’d be interested who/what the source was.</p>
<p>It’s from a current Bowdoin student, posted on a website.</p>
<p>You need to be careful about what you read posted on the web (even here at CC). Often you will get posts from the disgruntled or opinionated minority.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot, Honeybee63 ^_^</p>
<p>J</p>
<p>J, I don’t know how far away you are from the US but if you can manage a visit next fall, this is the diversity program: [Explore</a> Bowdoin 2013 (Bowdoin - Admissions)](<a href=“Explore Bowdoin | Bowdoin College”>Explore Bowdoin | Bowdoin College)
Of course this is the info for 2013 but they run the program for 2 weekends every year, and it is all expense paid 
- not sure if Bowdoin accepts internationals (some programs don’t and some diversity weekends do if you can get yourself to the states) but you might want to look into it! Anyway we’ll report on the campus culture after D gets back this Sunday…</p>
<p>To answer your question, Bowdoin culture, in general, is not racist. Bowdoin culture is individualistic. But if you carry in certain baggage with you, and cannot let go of it, people may see you as “that person carrying a lot of baggage” and keep their distance.</p>
<p>Because extra baggage incurs additional fees.</p>
<p>Which is why I purchased S’s December flight home on Southwest - no extra baggage fees!</p>
<p>S’s public, urban, low-income HS was 50% non-white. He finds Bowdoin to be very white and not very diverse. However, he’s mentioned with amusement that others from more segregated backgrounds find it very diverse, the most diversity they’ve ever experienced!</p>
<p>OP, I posted my D’s observations about Bowdoin on a thread that taben1112 started. You can go there to read so I’m not duplicating my posts…GL :)!</p>