<p>Silvermoon you are right I should not assume. Howard and Spellman are different bc they are principal academic institutions that offer quality education and are well renowned. I personally never considered HBCUs bc many of my friends are from different races and I am not accustomed to being around alot of black people in an academic environment.
From my earlier post you can tell that about 55% of my school is black, but that 45% that isn't are the ones who are predominately in the AP and honors classes, so in nearly all of my academic classes I was the minority. It has been like that since 6th grade through 12th grade so I guess I am just used to it and it would feel awkward in a different environment for me personally.</p>
<p>@Superlax: Yeah I find jewish culture rather interesting, but that may stem from my LOVE of seinfeld.</p>
<p>Before I went to college, I attended a primarily white school with large Asian and Indian populations as well. The school was also middle-class with a solid tax bracket, and the students (excepting Blacks and Latinos), performed above state averages. I was one of few black students in Honors and AP courses, and I was always the only black male in every AP class I was ever enrolled in.</p>
<p>To be honest, one of the reasons that I want to go to top schools is that it will be an opportunity to meet other smart, hardworking blacks. So many of us seem to have the same experience of being one of the few, that (if The Lord bless me to get accepted) I can't wait to meet other smart people who are like me :)!</p>
<p>@Dbate:
No offense, but you are making assumptions that aren't based in any sort of truth. I'm applying to the TOP hbcu's and that is it. Howard, Hampton, and Spelman are all considered to be in the "Ivies of HBCU's" There are alot of students from these schools who've come from affluent environments where they were in the minority. In fact I'm friends with 2 current Howard students who've stated that mostly everyone they know is from either a surburban school or a private school. My friends mother who also graduated from there and has a son in Jack and Jill who currently attends my school assured me of the same, and one of my friends at Howard has a sister who recently graduated from Spelman who said the same thing about that school. In fact all these schools have been given the stereotype of being kind of "uppity," and Howard was rated the 2nd best dressed campus in the nation, second only to NYU. So, yes I'm sure that I'll fit in fine at either of these three schools. Now would I fit in at JSU or NC A&T...probably not, but all HBCU's weren't created the same. There are ones that tend to attract different types of students just like any other colleges.</p>
<p>^^I live in Texas and so I am only personally familiar with the HBCUs that are here so I assume that the other HBCUs would be the same. Specifically Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M university, which my mom and many members of my family attended.<br>
I do not know anyone who goes to Howard, but I know two ppl who went to Morehouse, one from my suburban school and the other who attended a private school. I'm sorry for making such an wrong statement.</p>
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To be honest, one of the reasons that I want to go to top schools is that it will be an opportunity to meet other smart, hardworking blacks. So many of us seem to have the same experience of being one of the few, that (if The Lord bless me to get accepted) I can't wait to meet other smart people who are like me !
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<p>i feel ya, Dbate.</p>
<p>i go to a predominantly white, all-girls catholic school. there's only about 20 black kids in the whole school and 4 (including me) in my grade. i'm the only black girl in all my ap classes. i went to a reeaaallly diverse elementary school in the city from kindergarten up til 3rd grade, so moving to the suburbs, and subsequently going to mostly white schools was a pretty big shock for me. that's why, for me, diversity was a huge factor in choosing what colleges to apply to.</p>
<p>I've grown up around black people my entire life. My elementary was 92% black, middle around 16%, and high school around 20%. I got picked on by them alot. Needless to say, I'd honestly rather go to a school that has a black population of 6-10% at the most. I've never experienced being around anything like that, so it'd be quite an experience.</p>
<p>^I've grown up in the black community my entire life, too. My elementary school was vastly black and my middle school had at least a 50% majority, but there were a lot more whites and hispanics. Now I attend a highly competitive, prestigious boarding school in New Hampshire (if you told me I'd be here 5 years ago, I would've thought you were insane), but it's been an incredible experience. My school right now is give or take 10% black now, about 7-8% hispanic, probably 20% asian and the rest is white.</p>
<p>@Dbate
It's fine that your statement was so...off, but maybe you should just do a little more research before making assumptions about HBCU's. Those schools you listed that your family members attended are known as the bottom tier HBCU's. You mentioned that you have 2 friends at Morehouse(one from suburbia and one from a private school). Well Morehouse is on a similar scale as Howard, Hampton, and Spelman. My friend whose mother went to Howard is actually planning on going to Morehouse next year. It's a great experience if you've been in a pwi for a long time. The experience and the culture is amazing. I'm excited for next year when I get to experience it. Even though I like all three schools equally as of now, and unfortunately haven't been able to figure out which is my first choice.</p>
<p>"But also there are more people who go to HBCUs that come from disadvantaged backgrounds and there is a WIDE disparity in culture between affulent and improvished people."</p>
<p>Hi Dbate. When you say "more people", more than what? When you say disparity in culture, do you mean affluent Black people are very different from impoverished Black people? Do you mean they have little in common or that they don't mingle at HBCU's? Do you mean there are only these two groups? I didn't notice that, but then that was more than 30 years ago. Anyway, that's another thread.</p>
<p>Hmm...really. I've been wondering about that actually because I have noticed that at alot of top graduate schools a large portion of the black students come from the top hbcu's particularly xavier in louisiana for those going on to medical school, as well as spelman, morehouse, and many from hampton and howard who end up at excellent law schools. I do know that they do heavy recruiting at these schools for black students so maybe that is why. I hope to attend a T14 law school so maybe going to a great hbcu will give me an excellent starting point.</p>
<p>dukebound^^
i think that does hold some weight! my close friend's sister just graduated from spelman in '08 and when she applied to graduate school she got into yale...columbia...bu...and other top schools however due to her financial situation and the lack of money she chose boston even though columbia was her #1. i guess graduate schools really seek out the best of the best minority possible.</p>
<p>My son attends an all boys Catholic Prep school. The school is 6% Black with 10% total
minority enrollment. He loves it and has made excellent progress academically. The atmosphere is that it is cool to be smart no matter who you are, no one is accused of acting white. I wish it were more diverse, but our city does not have a large Black Catholic population. Most of the minority students are non-Catholic, but they are warmly welcomed
whatever their religious background. We are very grateful for the outstanding education he
has received and believe he is well prepared for college.</p>
<p>I'm in a private school and the only black girl that takes all the advanced placement courses (5; Stats, Gov, Bio, Eng. Lit & Comp, and Computer Science A) only girl and black girl in my comp. Science a class (annoying but I'm used to it lol) There is 3 AA students in my class, and 10 in a school of almost 1000 I know SAD. Lol. Im also in the top 10% (10) along with my best friend (14) who is AA.</p>
<p>For freshman year I went to a medium-sized school in the South, majority black. It was a decent school with a good honors track, great teachers, and lots of opportunities -- just a lot of school disturbances, like fights and, er, pepper spray...</p>
<p>I've since moved to a new state (a random one out in the Southwest :(), and my new school is colossal, and basically white with some Hispanics thrown in. I can count the number of black kids I've seen on my fingers.</p>
<p>I attend a public high school in North Carolina consisting of about 1,800 students. My senior class consist of 385 student, of which I am number 71. There are about 20% blacks 60% white and about 17% are hispanics in the whole school. My senior class is very competitive..We only have a few blacks in our class... probably around 50 out of 385 students are black. we only have 2 black people in the top 30, none in the top 10, and probaby about 6 in the top 100.</p>
<p>My school is an uncompetitive public too (however it used to be quite competitive) with about 70% Black, 15% White, 5% Asian, 10% Hispanic. Our school isn't wealthy either; we too are middle to upper middle class. </p>
<p>There are about 12 black people in the top 10%: 2 (me), 6, 11, 3 in the 20s, 4 in the 30s, and maybe one or two more up to 41.7. </p>
<p>We do have the highest percentage of students who pass the AP exam in the county, and our county is the best public in the state. That was mostly because we were the only school in the county on block schedule; we're off that now...</p>