Revival of Middle Class Black Posters

[Triguena]

Thanks for your insights Silvermoonlock, LakeWashington and Prefect. Yes, he has taken both SAT and ACT. SAT showed some improvement the second time around but still low. Second round of ACT due back this week. He refuses to try again and I support his decision--the stress was way too much to bear(bare?? D@#n English homonyms!).

Anyway, in response to why HBCUs? Because they fit his Board Score profile. He needs some "safeties". When I compare HBCUs like Hampton and Howard to "mainstream" schools that have the same midrange scores there is no question that the HBCUs are superior. I have looked at the schools very carefully and both Howard and Hampton seem to financially sound and have an academic program that he would be a good fit (both have good schools of communications). To me it is a no-brainer--add Howard and Hampton to the list. My parents both went to HBCUs (way back in the day) and I am often envious of the type of college life they experienced (I went the Seven Sisters route).

DS is hesistant of the social atmosphere as we live in a 99% white suburb. Perversely I hesitate to take him to visit at this point. From a Buildings and Grounds perspective I have been told (but don't know first hand) that the dorms, etc. at Howard and Hampton are not as nice as say Loyola or Syracuse. I don't want him to dismiss a potentially wonderful college experience because the dorms show a bit more wear and tear.

Ah, dilemmas.

[Texasmama]

Triguena,
I visited Howard two summers ago with my D. It was a great tour. We were in town for a convention and so I e-mailed ahead and set it up. The campus was very nice, but they didn't have a single dormitory open for the tour. Here's one thing that may cause your son to consider Howard. The campus is 70 percent female. That was enough to turn my daughter completely off! She had been enjoying the tour up to that point. That stat may have the opposite effect on your son.

We also wondered whether an HBCU would be a good experience for my daughter since, although she goes to a very ethnically mixed school, she does not typically 'hang out' with many other black students.

She turned down Baylor university because of what she perceived to be a lack of diversity on campus. Said she didn't want to go to a school where "everybody is the same thing." I think in this case she meant Christians, even though she is a Christian.

I'm sure this thread could debate all day about what the value of an HBCU is in this day and age. It's really important to visit. Try to go when school is in session. The campus was very dead at the end of July.

On some HBCU web sites, there are lots of complaints about things like broken showers. I did ask a parent whose two sons recently graduated from Howard what she thought of the school. She believed they got a very fine education. She was very frustrated with the administration and everything from responses to e-mails and phone calls to glitches in financial aid.

[Silvermoonlock]

Wow. The administration at Howard. We look at it as an adventure at this point. I concede that because the kid is a Laureate scholar, we have been able to bust through some of the admin issues, since they have a group just for them. We have been navigating the medical forms. I have been making the kid do most of the contact because she will be one to have to deal with it on campus, as she may as well learn now. I call it a life experience lol. Howard admin has responded and they eventually follow through.

Howard will have an open house type of thing for the students where they spend the weekend with other students. The kid had an opportunity see the dorms and attend classes. She also was introduced to greek life, as the Q's had a line and the pledgees did "stuff" in the yard. Being there while school was in session, without mom and dad, she could see and find people like her and people unlike her.

You may also want to check HBCU college fairs. That was an eye-opener for my daughter.

My friends who have children who attend other HBCU's, including Hampton, have indicated their kids want to transfer to Howard. One is going from Wilberforce to Howard. He hated Wilberforce (college in the cornfield, anyone?) and my aunt who lives in the area and attended Wilberforce called me and said do not under any circumstances send my child there!! Wilberfoce, is indeed, having financial issues.

The one at Hampton, thought it was an extension of High School and the rules seemed a bit archaic.

There are other schools to look at. I know in Michigan, there are some state schools that fit the bill just fine with the good grades and mediocre test scores.

My thought is and it is apparent that it is contrary to these boards, that a college education regardless of the prestige of the school is the end goal.

It's nice to say my child attends Harvard or Stanford. It's also nice to say my child attends Wright State University or Kentucky State University or Grand Valley State.

If we are honest, we know very successful people who graduated from all types of colleges. I think its just the parents who get off saying my child is attending <pick the most prestigious school you can think of>.

[Northstarmom]

About HBCUs, my suggestion is to insist that your kid visit a variety of different types of schools including HBCUs so as to make the most informed decision about which type of school your kid would want to attend.

Then, I think you should allow your kid to place applications at the schools that your kid likes and that you feel you can afford. I don't think that you should force your kid to apply to an HBCU, but I do think it would be a good idea for you to take your kid to look at one or two.

[madville]

My parents both went to HBCUs (way back in the day) and I am often envious of the type of college life they experienced (I went the Seven Sisters route).

Just this past week, I had lunch with a co worker who is an alumnus of a HBCU. (Kentucky State) She recently has become a PhD and is a staunch supporter of the HBCU experience.

Your quote struck a cord with me as we often have been at odds philisophically about an HBCU experience in comparison with other mainstream college options. She brought up the point that now as a professor at the satellite campus of the local university, she now realizes that while HBCU's are not obsolete, there has been a drain on the academic, intellectual, economic and social capital on these campuses, as these resources have been integrated into more of the mainstream colleges and universities. This is especially true in her opinion, of some of the most bright professors and students being snapped up by "more elite" schools who may have more to offer in pay, resources, financial aid, etc. It would seem this would be especially so since the time that maybe your parents had attended their alma maters. She says it's definitely so since she completed her undergrad.

Given his experiences and apparent comfort level in his current environment, unless he feels some desire to be in a completely opposite situation culturally, it would seem it would take some kind of persuasion to get him to seriously consider the HBCU option(s). Good luck in your search. As you probably already know, strive to make it as much his decision as you possibly can.

[LakeWashington]

Yes, some HBCUs can seem very parochial to students and parents. On visits years ago to Howard and to Dillard as an undergraduate I observed this. I thought Dillard's 'Stay Off the Lawn' rule was particularly ridiculous. Spelman's "Man on the Floor!!!" announcements were hilarious. It's all part of the college experience.

Many HBCUs have financial and administrative troubles, but the stong, solid ones stand out. As for the aesthetics of individual campuses, Hampton University is quite picturesque.

[Shrinkrap]

Wow! I missed this revival. FLVADADS, I posted about " Resolved" too!

"Resolved"- a show about debate teams

If you do Howard this July, don't miss the AKA Boule!

[Triguena]

Tying together two strands of this thread:
RESOLVED: The college application process belongs to the child. I will argue the affirmative.

Thanks so much for your wise words about HBCUs. I will step back from the bit and not try to put my vision into place when it is HIS decision. He is off for a 4 week LEAD program and I will take this opporturnity to think about anything BUT college admissions.

Once more my "virtual family" talked some sense into me.

Thanks

[Texasmama]

That's great that he got into LEAD. My friend's son is off to Atlanta today to be a LEAD counselor. I hear it's a terrific program!

[madville]

Forgive my ignorance, what's LEAD?

[prefect]

Lead stands for Leadership education and development. It is for rising high school seniors and is a summer program for students with an interest in business. Students spend from 3-4 weeks at various business schools around the country. Here is their website LED

[Triguena]

Yes, as Prefect said it is a summer program for rising seniors (focusing on AA and Latino/Latina) interested in business. It is competitive admission (based on PSAT and GPA) with essay and recommendations. The applicant pool is international (there are kids from PR and Mexico in my son's group). For the right student it is a great opportunity. Even if your son/daughter might not be comitted to doing an undergrad business program the classroom work and the site visits open up a whole new world to these kids.

The schools involved are top notch (Wharton, Kellogg, Stanford, Tuck, etc.). Good exposure to rigors of college life.

Best of all the cost doesn't break the bank!! I paid $1200 for the whole 4 week program. Feel free to PM me if you want more info!

[Texasmama]

How are you all feeling? I'm so distracted at work that I can hardly write. I keep thinking of what it's going to feel like to have only one child at home.

[Shrinkrap]

5 days for us; mostly feeling pressured to (not) take care of last minute details. My "only child left at home" and his friends are totally filling the void CD was gone most of the simmer; just got back today).

[milkandsugar]

Our only child/daughter is about to go off, feeling very bittersweet. We/she all worked hard to get here. Wasn't that the point? Feeling thrilled that she will have a great experience, but at the same time, grieving for the what is being left behind.