<p>hyeonjlee, one of my son’s Muslim classmates (as well as another Muslim girl from the class before them) is at Haverford, I am reasonably certain that she would not be there if she were not receiving attractive financial aid. I think, in general, that the top-shelf LACs’ need-based aid is more or less on a par with non-HYP Ivies, and maybe better than that depending on the student and the school. Many great LACs do have merit aid.</p>
<p>When my daughter and I were visiting Wesleyan a number of years ago, posters were plastered all over the campus reminding us that it was Arab and Arab-American Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons Awareness Month. I will admit that we wondered just how many Arab or Arab-American GLBT students there were at Wesleyan, and whether it would take a whole month to be aware of them. But I suppose that indicates that there was at least some Arab/Arab-American community there (which is not the same as Muslim, of course, since many Arab-Americans are Christian).</p>
<p>Obviously, critical mass is a concern at LACs. I suspect many have at least enough Muslims for a club, what with South Asians, Iranians, Americans, South-East Asians, Uighur, Albanians, etc. But (as one can easily see from the Jewish threads) that hardly means that they will share enough traditions, practices, preferences, etc., to constitute a viable support community. For that reason, colleges in or near cities may have an advantage (although perhaps not, if the specific city does not have the sort of community where a particular student would feel comfortable). And of course it is hardly a foregone conclusion that any particular Muslim student will WANT to engage in religious practice or ethnic-identity groups while in college. As with students from other backgrounds, in some cases the student may be looking for a way OUT of that.</p>