<p>My friend go accepted to Brown, but we live in a predominantly Hispanic city near Los Angeles. She feels more comfortable with people of the same race (not because she’s racist or anything, its just more familiar). Are there any students currently at brown who have felt the same way? Would anyone like to contact her to maybe debunk her concerns?</p>
<p>Isn’t the whole point of college to encounter diversity in both people and ideas? If she’s not ready to handle such a change, perhaps she should ask for a gap year and ease into that transition over time, perhaps through community service involvement or an internship.</p>
<p>So what I’ve found about Brown, in terms of comfort with other students: probably of 90% of the student population, if that person had gone to my high school, we would have been good, close friends. I’ve found personality and shared attitudes are much more important in feeling comfortable with people than is ethnicity (though many people of similar ethnicities do tend to hang out because of their ability to relate with each other). What she should do is go to ADOCH if possible, and see if she is comfortable around the other admitted students (two of my current close friends I hung out with for much of ADOCH). If that’s not possible she should try to go to your area’s admitted student day and see how comfortable she is with that group. I suspect, given that she got in and that our admissions office somehow seems to select for it, that she’d feel the same way about most of us as I do.</p>
<p>Many people are afraid of the unknown – what your friend is feeling is normal. And I think it’s great that you want to help her. </p>
<p>I am sure there are people at Brown who would talk to her about her fears and uncertainties. One thing to tell her is that Brown has a vibrant Third World Center ([Brown</a> University Third World Center](<a href=“Brown Center for Students of Color | Brown University”>Brown Center for Students of Color | Brown University)). If she goes to ADOCH, she needs to stay an extra day for the Third World Welcome. And if she goes to Brown, she can come a week early for Third World Orientation. All of this is designed to ease the transition for students like your friend. And yes, she will meet students just like her, who have similar fears – and they will talk about them at these programs. </p>
<p>If she can’t go to ADOCH, then she should contact the TWC and I am confident someone there will talk to her.</p>
<p>She will experience culture shock. She should expect that. And she will feel homesick. Remind her that Facebook and email and Skype will help her stay in touch with friends and community. Tell her that four years is a relatively short amount of time in a lifespan, and that the benefits of going to a school like Brown may outweigh her discomfort and homesickness.</p>
<p>I think anyone who goes into college straight from home will experience some kind of discomfort because it is truly a new world with different rules and people. However, your friend should definitely go just to get used to a more diverse environment. She will eventually find her niche sooner or later; there are most likely going to be people that she’ll get along with and get accustomed to being around.</p>
<p>As fireandrain said, the resources available for people in your friend’s situation are tremendous, and they’re there for this very reason.</p>
<p>Encourage her that everybody else around her feels culture shock to one degree or another. Plus many resources are at hand. But she needs to commit to voicing concerns and reaching out for help if indeed, it gets overwhelming. Help is available. She was chosen because Brown fully knows she has what it takes to not only survive, but to suceed and add immensely to the community.</p>
<p>I ended up declining Brown and went to another Ivy instead. During our pre-frosh program, many students of color were brought in to get acclimated w/campus. One Mexican American girl, from a small town in TX, was extremely introverted and seemed out of her element. She withdrew the first week of college. Rather sad, I think.</p>
<p>Just an FYI, there are hispanic communities in and around Providence if you want to load up on Jarrito’s and chili suckers or grab a torta.</p>
<p>Even if she didn’t feel culture shock, which she probably will, she will feel weather shock! Providence in the winter can be very cold and snowy. So the more she knows about all of this ahead of time, the better. The important thing, as everyone else has said, is that she will be one of almost 1500 first year students who feel just about the same. That makes it a whole lot better once they are all there experiencing it together.</p>