<p>Well, correct me if I’m wrong but I would instinctually think any school that isn’t an HBCU is a PWI. Of course there are exceptions, but generally I think it’s understood where I went with that. So, unless you specifically applied to all HBCUs then all of us applied to a PWI somewhere down the line. And I hate to have to fall into the elitist “prestige” argument, but unless you’re referring to Howard, Hampton, Spelman, or Morehouse alot of people don’t see the prestige or even know of HBCUs sadly.</p>
<p>Mouse is right. Whenever I tell people that my sister just graduated Spelman College, I always hear “What school? Where is that?” And I don’t just mean my white friends. Sadly a lot of blacks (in the NYC area at least) don’t know what an HBCU is.</p>
<p>Secondly, to answer Pinkonpointe question of why I applied to PWI’s. Well I did it for the opportunities, the PRICE, and simply personal preference. As I said before I have friends from all walks of life and I dont want that to change when I go to college. Also, For many of the Ivies if your parents make less than 60,000 dollars (which mine do) then you go for free. A free ticket to college sounds pretty good to me especially now that I see my sister paying back her loans from Spelman.</p>
<p>I applied to Tuskegee but no others. Lets be honest who wants to be around black people all day and all week? I been around Minorities for yrs its about time I see some others colors. All my friends are Hispanic or Black, I know a few asians but at my school everyone knows a few asians. I know a few white guys(You can count them on 1 hand) and any other miniorities are rare to find.</p>
<p>I won’t lie blacks and hispanic are first on my list to make friends with but I want a better variety.</p>
<p>I would only consider Howard (and if I were a girl, Spelman); but that’s because of it’s excellent location and good reputation.</p>
<p>However, being an middle (maybe upper-middle) class black student with friends of all races from a diverse town (look up Essex County, NJ) ; I’d rather go to a LAC that happens to be a PWI. Keep in mind; I’m also considering diversity as a factor; an example being that one of my favorite schools that I have applied is a top 40 LAC with around 40% students of color… I feel in tune with my race as someone who values but does not need a predominantly Black setting to learn and thrive in … I mean, I thought that I needed that before I visited Zimbabwe with my grandparents; but after that trip I realized I didn’t need to be around people who looked like me to have a sense of awareness of self, but rather I needed to be around people who could bring loads of differing viewpoints; cultural beliefs, and ideas to the table. Also ; race isn’t and never would be the deciding factor; and the financial resources of most HBCU’s as well as facilities aren’t as good as those of PWIs with larger and more stable endowments. I’ve also read horrible stories about the disorganization of the administrative departments of HBCU’s as well- for me as a student; it wouldn’t be worth it to go through all this red tape even if the quality of education would be the same as at a PWI.</p>
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<p>Outside of the beltway…</p>
<p>I didn’t apply to HBCUs because the most elite ones (Hampton, etc.) have really dismal graduation and retention rates. 38% graduating in 4 years? No thanks. I found that unacceptable, even for a school I would consider a safety.</p>
<p>That’s true as well aeroglisseur; yet another reason…</p>
<p>Who wants to go through all the administrative trouble anyways for an education that will net the same results as at a PWI that is more secure financially and sometimes can bring the same level of diversity and awareness?</p>
<p>I have to admit I was also shocked at the graduation and retention rates. Being around black people is fine, but would you really want to be in the midst of a crowd like that?</p>
<p>Mostly financial. I would have been able to get into places like Spelman, Hampton, Howard, etc but their financial aid is sub par they simply do not have the endowments. Also, they are underfunded and their male to female ratio is atrocious! Despite that, I still respect HBCUs because the reality is that, they are still producing the majority of the educated and well respected individuals in the black community.</p>
<p>That is an excellent view; the elite HBCU’s are good schools with horrible financial resources.</p>
<p>I’m a cc student right now & I used to have a desire to transfer to an HBCU, but that was when I was a little younger.</p>
<p>Even though I live in a mostly Black city, it has always been easier for me to communicate with people of other races so that’s why I’ll feel more comfortable at a PWI. From elementary school to high school I went to schools with a 90% Black population (this was even the case at my old cc).</p>
<p>I’m not doing this because I “hate” my own people or anything like that.</p>
<p>I’m Nigerian and while I have a lot of friend and I’m really a people person, black people just don’t like me. They think I’m whitewashed. I’ve only ever had one black friend, and she’s just like me, mayber even worse. </p>
<p>So I didn’t really think I’d fit in. And now I’m officially an Aggie, so no going black…excuse me, back.</p>
<p>Yeah, I would have to put forth an effort to put up with not Black people, but those African-Americans who we all would refer to as “ghetto”, for four years at that. I’m an “Oreo” kid myself, black on the outside, white on the inside; all that seems to mean is that I’m intelligent and want to go somewhere in life. But that’s cool; Pepperdine University '14 beats any HBCU, imo…</p>
<p>^ Please don’t encourage that stupid phrase. Being an intelligent black person has nothing to do with being white on the inside.</p>
<p>Let’s be realistic here. I think everyone on this board can and will do better than an HBCU. HBCUs are good, but they’re not as selctive as say Penn, or a Vandy, or a Northwestern.</p>
<p>I was accepted to Bennett College for Women (small womens HBCU) and Clark Atlanta. I was suppose to be attending Clark Atlanta now, but they messed up loan stuff and I ended up at community college. </p>
<p>And my brother is a senior at Howard. I was in DC visiting earlier this month and saw Georgetown’s campus, which is boring and UMD’s campus. Compared to UMD’s campus, Howard looks completely outdated.</p>
<p>Longstory short I now prefer a PWI over an HBCU because of the diversity. Also HBCU are horrible w/ fin-aid (loans,loans o yes and loans!!) and always losing papers.</p>
<p>Omg thank you DNerd! Finally someone with some sense! It’s the most ignorant statement when individuals identify intelligence and correct grammar with acting “white”. Especially when coming from the mouth of a fellow African American. And to natemup… not all African Americans are “ghetto” as you stated. Ughhh… I just can’t stand the way blacks divide themselves. We’ve been excluded enough from the rest of the population… why do it to ourselves?</p>
<p>I completely agree with the financial aid. I will be attending Spelman ONLY because of the GMS scholarship… but otherwise they gave me only $2,000 and the rest in loans. It’s so unfortunate that so many young black students wish to attend HBCU’s but are unable to because of the schools’ poor efforts to get them there.</p>
<p>Wow, this thread has been both creepy and enlightening. Some people describing THEMSELVES as “Oreos” (I’ll give them credit for guts), but the wide variety of opinions is indeed telling: there is no clear indicator of the future of HBCUs. </p>
<p>One question no one has addressed is whether HBCUs are a good environment for kids with one white biological parent? Some biracial kids don’t look all that mixed, but others are very racially ambiguous. Are HBCUs a good place for them? Would they feel more comfortable at a PWI? My kids fit the racially ambiguous category (they’ve been asked by mostly whites if they are everything from Italian to Columbian to Russian, in the case of my son. None of my kids has a black friend, although not because they don’t want them. There aren’t many blacks in their high school, perhaps 1.0%, and the handful who are there seem to have a Hip Hop, “street” mentality. </p>
<p>I grew up in “the hood.” But my kids didn’t. I attended an HBCU for one year, then transferred to a PWI because of the money issue. One part of me would like my kids to experience an HBCU but the other part says “hell no.” I’ve asked their opinions. None has expressed a desire to go to an HBCU. They believe they wouldn’t fit in around “all those blacks” and being asked questions (or so they fear) about their hair and their skin color, their white facial features, and white speech patterns and music preferences. </p>
<p>I think HBCUs served a critically important purpose at one time. But that time is over. They are a legacy, but they just aren’t needed—not as “black” institutions. The best thing that can happen is to preserve HBCUs as colleges by fully integrating them with comparable PWIs. Merge them, bring the student bodies to a level of diversity where up to half the student body, and at least half the faculty, is non-black, but keep the HBCU names intact. This will alleviate a lot of their money problems too.</p>
<p>haha 1. I didn’t say I endorsed the phrase, I’ve just recognized that that’s how people see me and I’m totally cool with that. Who let Jesse Jackson in here??</p>
<p>and 2. I didn’t say all black people were ghetto (I actually made sure to distinctly differentiate “Black people” from “those we would consider ghetto”); but when a school is 90+% black, chances are the scum will even or outweigh the standouts. I considered Florida A&M for about a day almost simply because of the marching band, but knowing that I’d be around almost all black people at a college posed too great a risk of most of them being hoodrats, or just not very intelligent. NOT feelin’ it…</p>
<p>my 2 cents</p>