<p>What about racism at Stanford University? How are International Students treated at Stanford and how safe is it?</p>
<p>No. Stanford is a magical kingdom up in the clouds that is free from life’s harsh realities.</p>
<p>It is a minority majority school. So if there is racism it might be reverse.</p>
<p>It’s super diverse, and in liberal leaning and PC California. But there is racism everywhere… shocker, I know D:</p>
<p>OP, I don’t know where you are from? But I still predict that there is more class and ethnic racism from where you come from than there is at Stanford.</p>
<p>I would imagine that racism is relatively low at Stanford. That isn’t what the OP asked, though.</p>
<p>I went to high school in a small school that was ~95% white and had almost no foreign students. I didn’t think of myself or the school as particularly racist. However, after having a completely different experience at Stanford, I came to see how differently persons in my high school who were a minority or international were treated… things like having a more difficult time joining social groups or generally fitting in. In contrast at Stanford, I didn’t feel like minorities or international students were treated differently or had more trouble fitting in. I had roommates who were Russian, Nigerian, black, asian, and homosexual (not all the same person) and got a similar impression from them; although one of them clearly preferred to hang out with people of his race. After a short time at the school, I didn’t give a 2nd thought to what race a person was or what country they were from. I expect the same is true for the vast majority of other students. There a few exceptions. I have a unique look that many mistake for being from outside the US. Once two maintenance workers at the school stopped me and asked if I was from Europe. After answering, they said something to the effect of “Good, we don’t like Eurotrash.” There was another incident were a rainbow/gay flag was ripped off one of the dorm doors, which was heavily discussed by the dorm members, RAs, etc.</p>
<p>That said, it’s been my experience that there is much less racism at Stanford than at any other college I have taken classes at or anywhere else I have lived. This stems from the school promoting a great atmosphere, having great people, and having a diverse population. In undergrad, white persons from the USA only make up ~1/3 of the student body. International students make up ~10% of the student body as undergrad, and ~1/3 as grad. This percentage increases in tech fields. For example, in many of my grad school EE classes, the vast majority of students were from outside the US.</p>
<p>I am from India.</p>
<p>Generally no. However, you might have isolated incidents of a frat doing an offensive “theme” party, like Duke has been accused of doing over the last few years. Stanford kids tend to be relatively liberal and the admissions dept seems to generally choose very open minded and worldly kids, I mean with an admit rate of 5% or less, they can pick the “cream”. I graduated in 02 and after working for a few years, am now doing my grad work at Berkeley. I have found Cal to actually be less diverse in terms of African Americans in addition to the “frat boy” politically incorrect culture being much stronger here at this so-called bastion of left wing politics. Stanford is a great school for undergrads. If you attend, you will not regret it.</p>
<p>There are plenty of Indian origin kids as well as many Indian kids at Stanford. However, there may be more Indian students at the graduate level than undergrad. </p>
<p>As an Indian origin parent of a Stanford student, I can tell you that you will survive “racism” at Stanford!</p>
<p>Stanford is very diverse, and there are plenty of active ethnic community centers on campus. In fact, some might argue that we have minority-majority syndrome, as the Students of Color Coalition (SOCC) plays a huge role in endorsing/dictating candidates for the undergraduate senate.
International students are not treated differently, though they do get an extra few days of Orientation to move in and get settled and access to the Bechtel International Center. Freshman year, each dorm has an international student population proportional to the dorm’s size. Aside from those things, it’s up to you who you associate with at school.</p>
<p>My opinion is that you should forget about “racism”. If you attend a college (any college), looking for racism, I am sure you will find it.</p>
<p>But if you go about your business in a friendly and outgoing manner, and integrate with other kids, rather than, for example, just sitting at the lunch table with only other kids from your particular ethnic group, you will do fine.</p>
<p>I am sure that there are talented kids from all over the world who attend Stanford, and that racism is not a serious problem there.</p>
<p>Many kids at Stanford will actually seek to be friends with international students.</p>
<p>You would be in more danger if you wore a “Cal” or “USC” shirt on the Stanford campus.</p>
<p>Ha! Love it, simba9. So very true.</p>
<p>Why would I be in danger if i wore Cal or USC and Why only these two colleges?</p>
<p>^ Cal has been Stanford’s rival since the 1890s, and USC used to be a big athletic rival, but like Cal has faded into non-threat status after being perennially dominated by Stanford. The only time that most Stanford students ever care about either ‘rivalry’ is the annual football game with each. Other than that, students couldn’t care less… similar to their attitude toward race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.</p>
<p>They are Stanford’s rivals.</p>