<p>WUSTL’s East Asian dept is tiny.</p>
<p>I noted the seeming school diversity in your son’s list. just wondering: is pledging a Black Fraternity going to be a major goal of his? This might be some of the explanation.</p>
<p>for the the price, methinks that private schools offer better value than OOS fees at a UC. The UCs do not provide great finaid, either, since it’s comprised of a large self-help component (i.e., loans). How about Tulane?</p>
<p>Sorry for the little break, he’s been busy, I’ve been busy, it’s crazy.</p>
<p>Anyway, I was talking to him about the UCs, but he said that that was more of a fallback thing and he wasn’t quite interested in those as much as some of his others. I also said he should look into Pomona, but he said the small school size is the only thing that’s got him on the fence right now.</p>
<p>Tulane he’s applying to because they sent him a free app, so if nothing else he can always use their FA options to try to get more from more parsimonious schools.</p>
<p>As far as I know, he’s not pledging a black frat. I think since he’s been raised here in Northern Jersey/NYC he’s so used to this type of setting. For anyone not from round here there’s a huge mix of spanish, white, black, and even asian and indian people around here. He’s always loved that because he’s always had new friends to meet and new things to learn from them, so I think his fear is that he’s going to go to a homogeneous school and he’s going to lose out on a lot of that if he doesn’t go to at least a fairly diverse school.</p>
<p>As the mom of a UMiami junior, I think the school would be a great fit for this kid. My S had a slightly lower GPA and higher SATs and has found his classes challenging, particularly his science classes (biochem major). It is definitely a work hard, play hard school with a very active, diverse campus and strong academics. Since your S was able to strike a balance between academics and his social life in hs, he should be able to find that right balance in college, mine has. You know your own kid, how responsible he is and what he can handle. This would not have been the best choice for my other two more easily distracted kids, but I had no qualms sending #2 who is very good at understanding his responsibilities and the balancing act necessary to succeed.</p>
<p>Someone else mentioned the University of Maryland and my son seriously considered their honors college. In fact he narrowed down his final decision to Miami or Maryland. UMDCP had much of the same appeal that your S finds attractive and might be worth a look, lots of NJ kids attend. We would have been happy with either choice.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>If it’s diversity and a good social atmosphere he wants, and it’s raising his sights that you want, how about Rice?</p>
<p>really quick:
Mcgill-has renowned Pysch dept.
UCSB- very isolated from rest of the world, very rich , very $$$
UCB- lots of rich kids, good record for minority admits</p>
<p>I agree with poster above about Honors programs, could be a ticket to four years free for your son, most state schools have them. NYTIMES just had a “magazine” devoted to college, there is an article in there which highlights a girl applying to honors programs, check it out. Cheers!</p>
<p>raising2, are you posting about the University of California campuses being “rich”? You must be kidding, right? </p>
<p>Each UC campus is comprised of 33% Pell Grantees, aka, low income students. Compare that % with other public Unis, or some NE LACs which are 65% full pay.</p>
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<p>Thanks for the post, I think that our sons sound very much the same. I was concerned that the party reputation might detract from his overall success later on with grad. school and all, but the more I research UMiami seems to not only be academically strong, but also on the rise. I actually took a liking to what he showed me of the campus (videos from a site that did college tours online), but I didn’t want him to be going to a school where he would put all of his education aside for partying, but at the same time he’s never done that before and I don’t see why he would suddenly lose the balance that he’s had up to this point. He lives a social life thats a bit too active for my tastes sometimes, but all in all he always gets things done. I think that he might be able to thrive there, and that really helped alleviate some of those worries.</p>
<p>We also like U Miami - a lot. It has a great marine bio program that is opening up to undergraduates. And Donna Shalala is doing amazing things to bring the school up the academic ladder. And then there’s Miami:). Also for kids used to living in diversity (we are in the SF Bay Area), Miami is very appealing, to say nothing of their amazing merit scholarships.</p>
<p>The campus is beautiful and unique. There’s a big lake in the middle with a fountain. The day we were there an alligator swam right by. And a turtle. Not clear if the alligator then ate the turtle of course.</p>
<p>Count me as another one scratching my head about the “rich kid” label someone is affixing to two UC campuses. I can’t speak to UCSB first hand. But I have one of my degrees from UCB and lived in Berkeley for 19 years - while there may be wealthy students there (in fact, of course there would be), to sum the place up as “lots of rich kids”… say what???</p>
<p>… say what??? </p>
<p>Perhaps the poster is referring to Santa Barbara in general. And I seem to remember one of the guide books as painting Santa Barbara ( or maybe Santa Clara?) as a little more beach-blanket-bingo than the others.</p>
<p>I was going to say that (… say what???) about “good record of minority admits…”…true for minorities if minorities mean asian, but here in California, not so much. Don’t get me wrong, diversity of any kind is good, and diversity of any kind probably works for your son. Blacks do make up 4 percent of the UCB population vs. 3 percent at the other UC’s, but I seem to hear it’s not considered rich in African Americans.</p>
<p>FWIW, Santa Barbara did send out “The Black Book”.</p>
<p>raisings I am reading on old post of yours in a thread “Financial Dilemma” in 06. Lot’s of interesting data. Perhaps it supports you ideas about racial and economic background at the UC’s?</p>
<p>Miami isn’t even in the United States. As far as I am concerned, it is the most righteously international city in America. I love it. My sons love it even more.</p>
<p>My favorite story about Miami is the story of a high school senior who went down for a visit. After the school tours, she and her mother went to South Beach on a Monday afternoon–and stopped into a cafe/bar for a quick coke. The place was as quiet as, until all of sudden, the music started pumping and a stream of costumed waiters and waitresses came pumping out of the kitchen and up onto the bar in a rythmic rehearsed dance.</p>
<p>The wide-eyed girl turned to her mother and asked: “What must this place be like on Saturday NIGHT???”</p>
<p>I also have liked Miami when I have went there, and when we went around there he was young but he still says that he remembers alot of it. Seeing as how he speaks Spanish and all but also wants to take up another language, I think Miami will allow him to keep his spanish skills up while still learning another language so thats again another plus. However, I’m still going to look into Pomona and some of the other school’s suggested in case there’s something more appealing out there.</p>
<p>With pomonas small size I’m assuming undergrads can have cars on campus?</p>
<p>I’m sorry to double post, but I couldn’t edit. I just need some opinions again really quick.</p>
<p>With more research I’m doing with him recently (alot of advice helped me and him get together and talk more about what he wants/doesn’t), it seems “The U” really might be for him. The diversity is INCREDIBLE (the only other school we also saw with such a wide range of diverse people [ethnically that is] was U Mich Ann Arbor which I will ask about in a second), the FA is great, and it really seems like it would be a good fit for him talking to kids who have went and looking at studentsreview. It seems to be a really balanced school between social and education, and I’m 99% sure he’s got the stats to get into some honors classes if he feels he’s not being challenged enough.</p>
<p>secondly, he had been contemplating U Mich Ann arbor for a while, but for whatever reason he had been kind of reserved. However, doing some research this morning turned up not only the strongest pool of diverse applicants (at least according to studentsreview) besides UMiami at the school’s he’s looking at, but we know that U Mich has a great social AND academic scene.</p>
<p>His worries are about the cold (which he can certainly adjust to), but more importantly, how well do people of different ethnicities/religions/etc interact at some of these schools. Anyone know maybe where I can locate some of this info or any resources? Also, with the U rising each year is it really worth all this scrutinizing of rankings? For all I know, at the rate the u is going they could be near the top 40 by the time he graduates.</p>
<p>Hey concerned…don’t know if this helps but this JBHE analysis came up on madville’s thread (another AfAm parent of a star student). It’s a listing of schools with high AFAm retention rates. I link it becuase of the surprisingly LOW rating for UMich. <a href=“http://www.jbhe.com/preview/winter07preview.html[/url]”>http://www.jbhe.com/preview/winter07preview.html</a></p>
<p>FWIW, my preference for privates stems from that fact that in all state schools, the majority of students grew up in that state. They have very similar experiences to share. Love Michigan, vacationed there as a child, but Michigan is a solidly midwestern state. The majority of Michigan students will return to their Michigan towns and suburbs to engage their adult life. </p>
<p>H and I attended private universities–where we met kids from all over the states–and the world. That experience jumpstarted our global lives. My life would have been completely different without the diversity of that private university experience. </p>
<p>You might PM mini for advice about acceptances. I believe your son might be one of the top AfAm students too.</p>
<p>That was really interesting, thanks.</p>
<p>I think that the exact reasons you have stated are the reasons he’s so interested in U Miami or other diverse schools. He wants a global outlook, he loves learning about new cultures and new things (I would presume you would have to to want to teach yourself Japanese), and more importantly he’s interested in Psychology/Anthropology or International business, all of which I thin would benefit from him being exposed to different people, mindsets, cultures, and ideas. SO I think that his best choice is to find that school that has that balance of diversity, social life and academics, and he seems content to have found it in Umiami or USC, so we shall see how this all works out.</p>
<p>As for the retention rates, although I’m sure it shows how well a school handles and treats its blacks students, I have no fear of him dropping out. He’s looked forward to college since he was probably around 4th grade and he’s worked hard with that goal in mind to get to this point (though I’m sure he could definitely work harder if he wasnt so social, but I’d rather him happy than sad and slightly more intelligent). I have no worries that he will fall off and mess up, as he’s seen it happen to family members. </p>
<p>Also, just as a note, as a black kid I’m sure alot of people assumed he was looking for other blacks, but his diversity definition in his mind constitutes ALL races, various religions, and different locations. The only reason he was semi “stressing” the presence of black people is that we DO tend to be the most underrepresented at colleges. He knew most schools he was looking at had respectable asian/hispanic/white populations, but very few had the level of blacks as USC/Umiami.</p>
<p>Edit: And is mini the name or is that short for something? AS for him being in the highest AFAM percentage, I’m not sure, but he did receive the national merit commended honor (is that correct?) for being in the top 2% of black PSAT scorers, or something of the sort.</p>
<p>“I’m not sure, but he did receive the national merit commended honor (is that correct?) for being in the top 2% of black PSAT scorers, or something of the sort.”</p>
<p>You might mean National Achievement Commended if it’s top two percent of black scorers. National Merit Commended for top of ALL scorers. And yes, mini is a posters “name”.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/member.php?find=lastposter&t=378995[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/member.php?find=lastposter&t=378995</a></p>