<p>Does UA have racial issues? I’m considering going there, but when I went on a campus tour it seemed like all of the racial groups kept to themselves. I’ve also heard that it’s hard to have a social life there aside from sororities/ frats. Is this true?</p>
<p>It is NOT hard to have a social life outside of Greek life. Most kids are not Greek.</p>
<p>As for ethnic groups keeping to themselves. Unfortunately ALL COLLEGES in the US have this problem. This is NOT unique to the Bama. This is not a racist thing; researchers have determined that ethnic groups just prefer to mostly hang out with their own groups because of shared culture/dating/etc purposes. Of course there is inter-racial dating and there’s no problem with that.</p>
<p>As for racial relations…No school is going to be free of any racial incidents…that just goes with the territory. Colleges all over the country have “incidents” that are dealt with.</p>
<p>Bama is 12% African American. I don’t think that many students would be choosing Bama if they felt that they would be mistreated there. </p>
<p>There has been much research in this area for schools across the country, and there is a book called:</p>
<p>Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> “Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”: A Psychologist Explains the Development of Racial Identity (9780465083619): Beverly Daniel Tatum, Beverly Daniel Tatum: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Black-Kids-Sitting-Together-Cafeteria/dp/0465083617/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303140467&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Black-Kids-Sitting-Together-Cafeteria/dp/0465083617/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303140467&sr=1-1)</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, thanks for that Amazon link. Very interesting!</p>
<p>One thing that has struck me over the years is that the workplace is a lot more diverse and desegregated (to use a '60s/'70s term) than college campuses seem to be. This isn’t so much the case with smaller workplaces, but it’s definitely true at Fortune 500 companies, such as the one where I work. There are a lot of problems with large multinationals, but lack of diversity isn’t one of them!</p>
<p>At my workplace, people of every conceivable race and ethnicity work together, eat together, jog together, work out together, hang out together, socialize together. It’s too bad that the same dynamic isn’t at play on college campuses. Definitely, though, by the time people get into the workforce, at least if they work at a company with lots of diversity, they do seem to become more flexible socially. Perhaps that’s because teamwork is such an integral part of the workplace experience. I dunno. Maybe there should be more emphasis on teamwork (e.g., group study) in college, in order to foster more diverse social interactions. Again, I haven’t a clue. </p>
<p>Will have to check out that book you’ve linked to. It sounds fascinating!</p>
<p>Blacks & whites get along as well at UA as they do on any other campus in America. And that includes the “enlightened” Ivies and Big 10.</p>
<p>My lil bro has two white roomates and a black roomate who all went to the same high school. He hangs around with the black guy just as much as the white guys. </p>
<p>I had a black roommate my freshman year at UA. We got along fine but we didn’t hang out much. Not because of race but because we liked different things. He didn’t really care for sports which was pretty much my life back then. Neither of us were racists, we just hung around people (black & white) who liked the things we liked.</p>
<p>The stereotypes that the rest of the country has about the South are ridiculous in my opinion and from my experiences. </p>
<p>There are 30K students on campus. Roughly 24,000 of them are NOT greek. I seriously doubt they all sit home at night.</p>
<p>I forgot to address so-called “party schools”. Virtually all schools have a party-element. Schools that have “big sports” are going to have a “party element”. However, how much it affects each student depends on the student. </p>
<p>Many students party very rarely…typically, the academically-oriented kids in the so-called harder majors do not have time to party much. And, those who think they can, often end up paying the price. </p>
<p>Yes, at all schools there are kids that will party too much…and they, too, will pay a price by often flunking out rather quickly. </p>
<p>I always tell people, who cares if students in easier majors across campus party too much. How does that affect you? </p>
<p>My kids are Math and Chemical Engineering majors. Their classmates do not have time or interest in partying too much. If they have time for an occasional party, then fine. </p>
<p>What will your major be?</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to imply that the people there were racist because they’re in the south. I was just wondering because I didn’t witness a lot of intermingling between different groups. </p>
<p>I’m planning to study biology (pre-med).</p>
<p>There is intermingling, but like I said, this is an issue at all campuses. Students tend to largely group by type. I’ve been on campuses from Calif to Florida to the NE to the Midwest. This is just what often goes on. Do kids mingle? Yes. Do kids tend to hang-out, eat, socialize within their identified ethnic group? yes. </p>
<p>Note the thread in the Parent section about Colleges for B Jewish Student. It’s not that these parents only want their kids hanging out with other Jewish kids, it’s that they know that there is often a comraderie amongst certain ethnic groups and sometimes a desire to date within their group (even tho dating outside of one’s ethnic group is certainly fine). </p>
<p>We see this all the time on CC. Kids will say, “I want to go to a school with diversity.” But, when asked what it is they want, they will say something like, “Well, I’m (Hispanic/AA/Asian/Middle-Eastern/etc) and I want my future school to have a good number of students like me.” These kids aren’t making such a request because they’re racists, it’s because the want to have a group on campus who will identify with their culture/music/habits/preferences/etc. </p>
<p>Since you’re pre-med, you won’t have to worry about having lots of friends and classmates who are very serious-minded students like yourself. Pre-meds know that a high GPA is paramount. There are pre-med clubs, activities, and a very good pre-med advising team.</p>
<p>Of course, if you’re in honors housing, you’ll have constant exposure to some of the top students at the school. :)</p>
<p>I suggest that you sign up now for the Listserve for Pre-med advising so that you can see some of what Mr. Chris Hutt (Director of Pre-med advising) is sending out to the pre-meds.</p>
<p>[The</a> University of Alabama Health Professions Advising Website](<a href=“http://premed.ua.edu/]The”>http://premed.ua.edu/)</p>
<p>Scroll down to subscribe for the Listserve mailings. </p>
<p>Also, look around the Pre-med advising website.</p>