<p>btw, i suggested state schools not b/c i dont think privates would be a good match, but b/c state schools tend to weight SAT/ACT scores more heavily than privates, which could give you a boost.</p>
<p>there are a lot of good LACs around that aren't quite so selective, but still offer good programs. i think a lot of these may be known more to local crowds, so maybe you could try to look into these. sometimes these sort of schools give good financial aid and want to improve diversity too. i can't think of any names off the top of my head, but i'm sure other people may have some ideas. you could also try the princeton review web site if you haven't already. they have a counselor-o-matic thing which you shouldn't stick to, but could give you some ideas.</p>
<p>Florida State has a decent biz school and is very diverse.
Also check out Syracuse. It's is very diverse and has a black dean and some nice merit aid.</p>
<p>thanks guys. the counselor-o-matic thingy said i was a match for a lot of schools i am interested in (uva, texas, etc). northstarmom, i've decided to be open to the idea of hbcu's. do you know what the opinion on tennesee state or fisk is?</p>
<p>Chi Red, </p>
<p>You might want to consider USMMA. It might be a stretch now, but you would be a great candidate for its Foundation program where the Alumni Foundation will pay for a year of Prep School for promising individuals. </p>
<p>KP is making a huge effort to improve its diversity and the Director of Admissions, Captain Johnson is an African American who went to West Point. I would encourgage you to talk with him directly.</p>
<p>In terms of business, the KP alums pretty much run the entire maritime industry.</p>
<p>Also, KP was the first academy to admit women.</p>
<p>Good Luck.</p>
<p>PM me if you have other questions.</p>
<p>One thing seems clear----you shouldn't go to UIUC unless all else falls through. I think your reasons for not liking it are pretty major.</p>
<p>You asked if you can get into schools better than UIUC. Maybe, but.... (sorry here comes the parent in me) you really haven't shown yet that you can perform in the classroom as well as you should with those high test scores. Since you just finished junior year and only took regular classes (I assume that means no honors or APs), plus you didn't do well in the one AP (bio) you did take, you need to show colleges, but more importantly YOURSELF, that you can perform at the level selective schools expect. The reason: you'll be surrounded by kids who did take APs.</p>
<p>First semester senior year should be that time. Are you going to take some honors/APs? Honestly, if you aren't, or aren't ready to put in the effort, then I don't think you'll be ready for a school "better" than UIUC. You're obviously very bright...I think colleges will be very interested in first semester grades to see if you challenge yourself and can live up to your potential. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>I think that Tennessee State is now predominantly white. Check the website if you're interested.</p>
<p>I am not up to date on Fisk. Try starting a thread on that.</p>
<p>The most highly regarded HBCUs tend to be: Spelman (top rated of all. One to look at. You may get in even though your grades are low for them. I think it has occasionally been ranked first tier. Check US News' rating), Howard, Florida A&M (though there are currently problems because of the lack of a permanent president), Hampton and Southern, roughly in that order.</p>
<p>Yes, for women, I'd say that Spelman is superior among the HBCUs. Also, look into North Carolina Central University in Durham. The school has secured lots of state funding in recent years and has begun a Biomed center on campus. Moreover, NCCU is attracting highly motivated students with generous financial aid and free laptops. Conservative academic and commentator Mike Adams said that NCCU had the most traditional and best liberal arts core cirriculum in the U of NC system!!! NCCU has course cross-registration with Duke University and U of NC-Chapel Hill.</p>
<p>As for other HBCUs, Fisk University is still thought of fondly, but be prepared to struggle because the school's facilities are very old and worn. Of course, that is the appeal to some potential applicants as it makes the college experience all the more nuturing and rewarding upon graduation.</p>
<p>As was said, Hampton University is solid (as well as having a beautiful campus). Candidly, I don't have a lot of confidence in the contemporary Howard University. Tuskegee University science and engineering programs are said to be quite strenuous.</p>
<p>Based on my work with the US Department of Education, which took me to Hampton, Howard and NCCU many HBCUs have administrators who are not student friendly.</p>
<p>Yes Tsdad, friends have said the same thing. It's a legacy at HBCUs that a lot of administrators and faculty have a sink or swim (or complete indifference) attitude towards students. I suspect that at the public HBCUs this may be changing because of greater scrutinty by legislatures over the operations and $$ of state-supported colleges. High attrition rates and complaints from the student consumer don't play well during budget discussions at the state capitol.</p>
<p>To the potential applicant, let me add two under-appreciated southern public universities with very good departments (especially in the sciences) and a large proportion of African-American students; U of Alabama-Birmingham and U of Texas-Arlington. UAB is especially strong in the life sciences. Chemistry and Physics grads from UTA end up at NASA, for example.</p>
<p>Chi Red, here's a bit more information about your desired major at U of Alabama-Birmingham and at the U of Texas-Arlington.</p>
<p>The College of Business Administration at UTA has 12 different concentrations for the Business major (B.A. or B.S.), including International Business for selected regions; Latin America, Germany, Russia, Asia/Pacific. Keep in mind also that Arlington is a suburb of Dallas, one of the leading business/corporate cities in the U.S. Also, if desired, transfer to U of Texas-Austin is a favorable possibility through the CAP program, although I understand that getting into the UT-Austin undergraduate business program is quite hard.</p>
<p>The School of Business at at UAB has an Honors Program. The UAB undergraduate program has 7 concentrations. While Birmingham is not a corporate center, it is not oblivion either. UAB is within a 1-day car ride of corporate friendly places such as Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville and Charlotte. And UAB's reputation in the southeast is good and growing elsewhere (even noticed by USNWR).</p>
<p>Considering your present grades, you will be a strong candidate for admission at both of these universities, even as a non-resident. Both campuses have a very diverse student population.</p>
<p>"It's a legacy at HBCUs that a lot of administrators and faculty have a sink or swim (or complete indifference) attitude towards students"</p>
<p>That's not true at all. HBCU faculty and administrators tend to be far more nurturing than are faculty at most other colleges. For instance, when I taught at an HBCU, the college president said that if students failed to make their early morning classes, the professors should call them at home to wake them up! I saw professors doing things like co-signing loans for students, going way out of their way to help students get internships, and even inviting students over for holiday dinners. My department even used to host a potluck before Thanksgiving in which the faculty and staff provided food for all of the students in the department.</p>
<p>HBCUs also are teaching institutions: institutions that value teaching far more than research, which means they attract as professors people who are professors because they want to help students, not become famous for their research.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, I think that you interpreted my comment quite too literally. And would you really say that "it's not true at all" that there is not a 'sink or swim' mentality at some colleges? Morehouse is famous for this. If you would say that, then you haven't had the same experiences that friends and family who are alumni if places like Spelman, Morehouse, NC A&T and Howard have had. Don't get me wrong, they all appreciate the education and degrees they received, but to say that they didn't meet any indifferent teachers and administrators is erroneous.</p>
<p>A historical note; it has been said that the great Professor Alain Locke of Howard was notoriously indifferent to the success of his female students, and in fact at times was hostile. Reportedly, no woman in his classes could earn an 'A,' no matter her ability.</p>
<p>LakeWashington,
There are sink or swim professors at all colleges. However, HBCUs take a lot of pride in having professors who go out of their way to help students succeed. I not only have taught at an HBCU, but I have consulted at about 20 HBCUs, and come from a long line of Howard graduates dating back to the 1800s, including having an aunt who taught there for decades.</p>
<p>Places like Harvard, where I graduated from, are basically sink or swim. That's very different from the atmosphere at HBCUs.</p>
<p>I was talking about administrators. I had no dealings with faculty.</p>
<p>Northstarmom,</p>
<p>That many college administrations seem to display a sink or swim attitude to students is by no means news. That colleges such as Harvard, for Black students, are quite different from a Fisk or a Tuskegee University isn't a revelation either. It appears that you are being very defensive and are allowing that circumstance to obscure any acknowledgement by you that at some HBCUs part of the credo is "if you can't master our methods, then get out of the way and let a more motivated person take your place." Some would say that historically, this has served HBCU students very well.</p>
<p>Also, did the Howard University faculty member in your family know Alain Locke?</p>
<p>"That colleges such as Harvard, for Black students, are quite different from a Fisk or a Tuskegee University isn't a revelation either."</p>
<p>When I said that places like Harvard are "sink or swim," I wasn't referring to how they treat black people, but how they treat everyone. Harvard is a research 1 university, which means that research is the main reason for its existence. Consequently, professors are hired for their research ability, and work there because they want to do research. As a result, their priority is not helping out students, but getting their own research publicized.</p>
<p>It's not a secret that if one wants lots nurturing and educators who are very involved with students, one is most likely to get that at a LAC or a place that takes lots of pride in being a "teaching institution," not at a research 1 university.</p>
<p>"It appears that you are being very defensive and are allowing that circumstance to obscure any acknowledgement by you that at some HBCUs part of the credo is "if you can't master our methods, then get out of the way and let a more motivated person take your place." </p>
<p>I think that in the past, HBCUs could get away with that. Indeed, I remember my mom saying that when she went to Howard back in the 1930s or so, professors said things like, "I've got mine. You've got yours to get." She also told me that one of her professors locked out students who came late. As a result, one time, the professor gave his entire lecture to just my mom.</p>
<p>I think those ways of doing things was possible back in the days in which few mainstream colleges were open to black students, and HBCUs got the cream of the crop of black students. That's no longer the case. It is very hard for HBCUs to attract lots of stellar students because colleges that are ranked much higher are recruiting those students and also offering them big bucks to attend. If HBCUs also don't educate the students who are less motivated or skilled, HBCUs will go out of existence because they won't have enough students to teach.</p>
<p>I don't know if my aunt worked with Alain Locke. </p>
<p>However, I'm speaking from personal experience including being a student at 4 mainstream universities (an Ivy undergrad, a top 10 grad, a second tier private for grad school and a second tier public, where I took classes for fun), teaching (TA and adjunct) at 2 mainstream universities, teaching fulltime at an HBCU and consulting with about 19 other HBCUs. I also spent a lot of time when I was in h.s. at a second tier LAC where my mom held an administrative position. What experiences are you speaking from?</p>
<p>What about the Goizueta Business School at Emory?</p>
<p>Illinois is a good school with some of the top colleges like engineering and business. I think with your GPA it wont be a for sure deal that u get in. I know kids with 4.0s that dont get in. especially since this year they're setting their standards higher and want to attract more out of state students. although your ACT score and that you're a minority helps alot</p>
<p>What about Illinois-Chicago or DePaul University? </p>
<p>I know it is in Chicago. DePaul and UIC would be good for business since you are in the heart of downtown Chicago.</p>