<p>IMHO, Berkeley has strong pro-Israel and Muslim groups. Also, it has it’s share of progressive liberals - professional screamers for the-hottest-issue.</p>
<p>Overall, most of Berkeley is very nice, professional, and civilized.</p>
<p>Agree with Oldfort that transferring to a university with a substantial Chinese-American or immigrant population will not neccessarily be a cure. I was blessed as a young man to live among many Chinese-American families in our neighborhood. I found that a lot of 2nd generation Asian Americans mocked newcomers as F.O.B.s, otherwise known as “fresh off the boat.” The FOB kids were not universally happy at our high school.</p>
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<p>Yes, I’ve observed that…and it’s not always a 2nd generation or later thing, either. Many who are first-generation, but extremely/completely assimilated pull the same BS.</p>
<p>On the flipside, the newcomers or those who are sympathetic to them tend to have their own pejoratives for those calling them FOBs…like equating them with everyday food items.</p>
<p>Incidentally, the first time I or many Chinese-American friends heard the term “FOB” was either in California/West Coast or going to some near-all White suburbs where most of the Asian-American population are completely assimilated or at least trying their darndest to do so.</p>
<p>My son is adopted and also Asian (and Jewish). He is at Bates and has no problems, whatsoever. Nothing even remotely approaching what the OP’s D is experiencing. He has been over the moon happy about his school since the day he stepped foot on campus. </p>
<p>“OP’s kid only looks Asian, doesn’t mean she has any affiliation to Asian kids. She is a white all American kid for all intents and purposes. She isn’t going to be more comfortable at a school with 50% Asian.”</p>
<p>Agree 1000%.</p>
<p>ps - also, as a sister and a daughter of Smithies - I’ll give two thumbs up for that suggestion, too.</p>
<p>OP,
Have your DD apply to transfer to USC [in Calif]. It already has an incredibly diverse student population and accepts approx 1000 transfer students each year- more than any other private U. It has the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance,
[USC</a> Glorya Kaufman School of Dance | USC](<a href=“http://kaufman.usc.edu/]USC”>http://kaufman.usc.edu/)
and your D would fit right in among the multifaceted, racially diverse student population. And it is
a larger school in urban area . </p>
<p>[Freshman</a> Profile - USC Undergraduate Admission](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/apply/fresh_profiles.html]Freshman”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/apply/fresh_profiles.html)</p>
<p>Race/Ethnicity
African American 6%
Latino / Hispanic 14%
Native American / Pacific Islander 2%
Asian / Asian American 19%
Caucasian 43%
International (student visa holders) 15%</p>
<p>The OP didn’t say she wouldn’t name the school. She said she didn’t want to name the school right now. That is her right as she’s probably sensitive to her kid being identified. There probably aren’t that many adopted Asian students at a small private in North Carolina.</p>
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<p>That’s not necessarily the case. There are plenty of China adoptees with affiliation to Asian kids and they are not white all American kids for all intents and purposes–like mine, who went to elementary and middle school in Chinatown and now attends a high school that is 60 percent Asian. And she certainly wasn’t the only adoptee at PS130, Baxter and Hester.</p>
<p>It didn’t sound like OP’s D went to school with 60% Asian, but it really doesn’t matter. Someone’s affiliation is strongly tied to how they were brought up, not by their skin color.</p>
<p>USC’s transfer admission information is here:
[Transfer</a> Students - USC Undergraduate Admission](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/apply/transfer.html]Transfer”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/apply/transfer.html)</p>
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<p>^^^ This.</p>
<p>And it’s worth asking about at every college she’s considering. You’re thinking transfer, but she might well qualify as a freshman . . . which would set her back a full year (and not just a semester), but it would also give her a fresh start and eligibility for scholarships that might not be available to her as a transfer.</p>
<p>And she can tell people that this year was a gap year . . . one in which she got a very unexpected “real life” experience.</p>
<p>Application deadlines are comping up soon, though, so don’t delay!</p>
<p>I’m sorry to be blunt here - and it’s not like my ancestors arrived on the Mayflower either, I moved to the US 30 years ago for college - but if a couple of comments about a foreign born professor bring the student to tears, it may be time to apply some skin thickening cream and shrug it off.</p>
<p>We live in a very affluent community in the Midwest and have a very diverse (10-15%) foreign born population, mostly professionals. Yet their kids (my kids included) and they (us) are not quite immune to hearing such things.</p>
<p>When D1 was in middle school her gym teacher made the mistake of making fun of her last name (Elbonian last names are generally LOL’able). I was on his case about an hour later… But my girls developed pretty thick skin to begin with… In college she’s often asked which country she’s from (she looks/is Eurasian). Same as my younger one who seems to be developing a foreign accent as she is advancing her bilingual abilities 
and also has indeterminate looks - from anywhere basically.</p>
<p>Workplace diversity has not been all unicorns and rainbows either. You will always run into people who will comment on your ethnicity, accent, blah, blah. Or supervisors that will use such things in more alarming ways than simply making fun. </p>
<p>My suggestion is to not make it an issue unless it’s directed to the OP’s student, and then, follow proper channels and learn from the experience. We, as international students, made fun of endless professors’ or TA’s accents, behavior, and the like regardless of ethnicity (Intro Statistics prof with a Texas drawl straight out of Central Casting - awesome prof but took a while to adjust)</p>
<p>I don’t want to seem like I’m automatically falling on either side of the issue, but agree OP needs to have a careful look at both the situation, as her D perceives it, and the cure. Any college you think will be better needs to be visited while in session. Maybe enough interaction with the students themselves, maybe an overnight. In itself, that may mean staying where she is for the year.</p>
<p>Smith and MHC have the advantage of the consortium- so, lots of different sorts of kids. You can have the comforts of the small home school and still extend your experiences and your social circle. </p>
<p>Campus “diversity” is usually starts with stats (even on this thread) and I think OP’s goal is more about where kids are more tolerant and willing/eager to mix with others based on personal qualities that have nothing to do with one’s ethnic identity or skin tone. (It seems, same way she was raised.)</p>
<p>And, that’s sometimes hard to discover. D1 was at a very liberal and diverse NE college and she and her bff would still comment on how imperfect things sometimes were, how that affected them. You can’t always anticipate that from numbers.</p>
<p>But, OP didn’t tell us the extent to which her D is encountering prejudice and rudeness. Is it an occasional remark or something her D is intimidated by, daily? Random, the sort of thing that often resolves itself, as one makes more friends an develops one’s place, in and out of class? Or a real undercurrent?</p>
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<p>The clues are medium sized LAC, non-UNC. “University”. Small town, “global perspective”, and accepted not great SATs. And not Wake Forrest. And a campus she fell for while visiting. </p>
<p>So not Duke or Davidson because of SATs. </p>
<p>LenoirRhyne and Chowan are too small. Campbell doesnt sound like a fit in the first place. </p>
<p>That leaves High Point and another nearby school that I think it actually is because of the major, the global perspective, and her hobby.</p>
<p>I bring it up because of the “oh noz! small town in the South” subtext. Check the pr0wler stats- 80% of the students are out of state. And from Connecticut, Mass, and New Jersey. So the same kids that go to Smith. </p>
<p>And btw, High Point is the same- 77% oos and from the North East.</p>
<p>@ Oldfort, post No. 63; BINGO! Amen brother/sister!</p>
<p>Really, the point is to help OP through this, not satisfy curiosity. Let it go. This isn’t about “clues.”</p>
<p>turbo93, I read the entire thread and kind of agree with you. I think something else is probably going on here and perhaps the student/child wants to leave school for other issues and is playing the parent on an issue they know the parent was predisposed to. ( which OP alluded to earlier)
this could be an issue of a student who is homesick or just having a hard time adjusting to the next phase of life.</p>
<p>I’m sorry that your daughter is having to deal with this. Of course if a student is in danger, that student should leave. However, if not, there are pros and cons to transferring that I’d consider carefully. How will it impact your daughter academically, and you, financially?
You mentioned your husband’s concern about NC before your daughter went to college. Is it possible her perspective was biased in any way? NC has gotten some bad press lately, but the press only publishes sensational and mainly negative news, not the entire picture.
Is it possible that her distress is part of a greater adjustment to college in a new place that is not as familiar or comfortable? Could some if this be homesickness? If so, then transfering may not solve the problem, just present it again.
In many cases, kids pick on others to get some temporary relief from their own insecurities. Sometimes putting the insults in context decreases the impact when it is seen that the perpetrators are insecure, ignorant, and powerless if you don’t let them get to you. I’m not excusing the kind of behavior your child is describing, but it is coming from relatively young, immature, people who are also experiencing discomfort of being in a new place, and they have a lot to learn as well.
Your daughter earned her right to be at that school. It’s her school as much as any other student’s. What power do they have to make her leave just because they are uncomfortable with people who are different from them? None- unless your daughter leaves because of them.
One option may be for her to apply to transfer to some other schools, but then there will be some time before she is accepted. In the meantime, she could stay, join student groups where others share her background- but not just restricted to that- also include groups that share her interests. I would encourage her to seek support through the counseling center for this, for it could be part of a larger adjustment. She could seek out mentors through older students and faculty who have dealt with diversity issues. By the time she gets her acceptances, some of her difficulties may be resolved. Your daughter can still stay or leave, but she might make that choice more with purpose than out of discomfort.</p>
<p>argbargy-so what? The OP said she didn’t want to name the school at this time. Why would you continue to harp on it? Right now, she just wants some help on how to get her daughter to the next school.</p>
<p>Because it doesnt sound like the issue is “small town Southern LAC”. The majority of the kids at those schools are Northern liberals. Does the advice “go to an urban public” fix that?</p>
<p>My company has an ombudsman (well, right now it’s an ombudswoman) so that folks who have a workplace issue or are facing hostile colleagues and co-workers don’t have to go to their manager where they worry that they will face retaliation.</p>
<p>I confess that I am regularly amazed by the things that people say and do in the work environment, and I’m glad that employees have a neutral place to discuss these issues.</p>
<p>I feel for the OP’s D. People are both clueless (say stupid things that they don’t realize are offensive) and indeed bigoted (say stupid and hostile things that they know are offensive.)</p>
<p>I don’t think she needs to tough it out if the environment isn’t conducive to her education. 100 years ago students had to put up with whatever stuff was going on (my grandfather faced quota’s, overt discrimination, and horrendous anti-semitism at an elite university, but his family reminded him how lucky he was to be in college (indeed, the first of the family to attend.)</p>
<p>I think we’re past telling the OP’s D to suck it up. She doesn’t need to be the lightening rod which works within the system to make change. She can leave and spend the rest of her college years doing what everyone else is doing if she so chooses.</p>
<p>OP- encourage your D to talk to her professors as early as possible. While she is performing well, and is clearly an “academic fit” is the right time to get recommendations.</p>