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<p>A quick count of my sons group of friends: they come from Upstate New York, Utah, W. Virginia, Southern California, Western Mass, Peru, Long Island, UK and Indonesia.</p>
<p>Yes, diversity can be found most places. My D. attends a very small private college (about 1200 students). Her two roommates this year were from England and Alaska. Among the rest of her social group were girls from CA, Fl, NY, DC, CO, NC, MD and Dominican Republic.</p>
<p>My son, who claimed he was not interested in diversity at all, chose for suite mates next year two boys from China, one from NY and one from NC.</p>
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<p>I’m not so sure that most kids come with an inborn desire for diversity. It’s kind of like good nutrition –> left to their own devices many kids would ignore the whole concept, but most of the adults and institutions around them know that it’s a good idea and that they are going to need it to get along. So they are wise enough to take steps to provide it for them whether they currently think they need it or not</p>
<p>I really don’t believe in forcing diversity. My son has met and become friends with people from various areas of the US and foreign countries at his boarding school. It just happens. He is a Texan transplanted to the Northeast. Our terrible public school was never an option, even though it would have provided a lot of diversity (20% white). I didn’t experience much diversity in my public high school and large state u educational settings and it didn’t seem to hinder my ability to relate to people as an adult. Maybe I am taking for granted that most of the more selective colleges naturally come with a diverse student population. Most of the students are bright and care a lot about their education, but they can come in all colors and from all parts of the world. Maybe I just don’t understand what diversity means.</p>
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<p>Elitist, eh?</p>
<p>We never considered an IVY for one reason only- never even looked for a good fit there- they are just more $$ than we can pay since we are not getting financial aid. And the merit offers did come, as we had hoped, from other elite schools. </p>
<p>Actually that is not entirely true; the cold weather for a southern kid made any school in the Northeast not attractive, so if we had looked harder at them, they might have been eliminated on that fact too.</p>
<p>I don’t think diversity can be forced, but it can be made available in both a social and academic setting.
Children do not seek out diversity, but they accept it as a matter of course. My Ss never referred to the ethnicity of their friends: it was not important to them. When I did meet the friends, I realized that they came in various ethnicities as well as socio-economic backgrounds. It would not have happened if they had attended a more homogeneous school.
In the classroom, a diversity of viewpoints, experiences and perspectives can truly enrich discussions. Discussing race in America in a room full of white middle class kids will be different from discussing race in a classroom with African-Americans, Hispanics and Asian-Americans. Likewise, discussing Japanese internment can benefit if there are Japanese-Americans in the class. Students from a rural background are more likely to understand discussions of life in Third World countries.
Colleges cannot force students of a certain backgrounds to take certain classes; but the presence of such students on campus raises the possibility that they will be in those classes.</p>
<p>nicely put, coureur. Situates the often touchy subject just right.</p>
<p>In our school district diversity is actually taught. Respect for others and differences are reinforced by the teachers daily and I would hear this in my kids conversations at home. My kids were much more conscieous of Martin Luther King Day than Washington’s Birthday. And some would argue that being aware of past discriminations and wrongs WILL affect the future. That Washington was a great general and our first president who was wise but Martin Luther King taught us it is possible to live together in harmony and with cooperation and THAT is more important now and for the future of what the U.S. has become.</p>
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<p>It’s possible that all those kids really are jerks and they’ll be jerks for the rest of their lives.</p>
<p>It’s also possible that they’re going to change enormously in the next few months.</p>
<p>IMHO, high schoolers – especially boys – are larvae. They may be six feet tall, but they are about as similar to the men they will be as silkworms are to moths.</p>
<p>I think this can be especially true of those who’ve had their heads down during high school, aiming for the gates. When those kids finally look up and see what’s around them, whole new characters may come out.</p>
<p>Don’t underestimate the impact of hitting a brick wall, either. An elite college is a very humbling place. Getting your first B, or getting rejected by the first 10 plays you try out for when you’ve always been the star, forces a radical rethink that’s very good for the soul.</p>
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<p>I agree, Hanna. Let me say initially that my D was never a jerk about her high school success. She was comfortable with the notion that hard work and her innate abilities would allow her to overcome almost any academic challenge. Your “radical rethink” phrase perfectly expresses what she has done during her time at Columbia. That might not have happened at a school that tested her less. She is a better adjusted person having gone through this process. Watching your child become more comfortable in their own skin is a wonderful thing. </p>
<p>BTW, Columbia being an Ivy was about the least important reason for my daughter deciding to apply. It was all about the challenge of the place, the location and the type of students that attend. There are very few schools that offer quite what Columbia does…both the positives and the negatives will educate you. :)</p>
<p>Oops, now that I have gone back and read the initial posts I realize that I have done exactly what the op asked those replying not to do. Sorry about that.</p>
<p>“Don’t underestimate the impact of hitting a brick wall, either. An elite college is a very humbling place. Getting your first B, or getting rejected by the first 10 plays you try out for when you’ve always been the star, forces a radical rethink that’s very good for the soul.”
OK, I agree that this is true in some cases. But there’s also a risk that the work will be TOO hard, and the child will suffer stress and depression. We have an young lady in our community who took a year off after attending an Ivy - said she hated the “pressure cooker” environment. This is someone who did very well in a highly competitive and challenging high school environment.</p>
<p>And that can happen anywhere…</p>
<p>“Make this thread go away.” Does the OP realize how ugly and defensive the premise of this thread is? As a future ivy student, it is truly disturbing to get a bird’s eye view of what so many think. And it’s comforting to read the posts by those who understand many of us are just looking for the best education and fit, and for many accomplished students, one or more ivies is bound to make the list. Though it seems there are daggers out for ivy grads. There are people hoping you’ll fall on your face to prove the point that their state U is every bit as good. And all th great anecdotal evidence: In North Dakota Harvard grads report to UND (such a thing?) grads.</p>
<p>So why I don’t wish this thread would go away, I wish the line of thinking of the OP would. Can’t people just feel secure in their own choices without attacking those of others?</p>
<p>suze:</p>
<p>I agree with you. Although my daughters weren’t interested in the ivies even though they had very high stats, there’s nothing at all wrong with anyone who chooses them and one shouldn’t make assumptions about those people. If we lived in the northeast, we probably would have considered the ivies, so geography played a key factor for us. Also, my daughters considered the ivies more or less as just additional high-end colleges in addition to the others they looked at - i.e. if they would have selected one it would not have been for the purpose of snobbery, elitism, exclusivity, etc. but rather, that they’re excellent colleges and I’m sure this is true for many who choose them.</p>
<p>IMO, it’s not necessarily the attitude of “I want to go to a good college, and the good college I have chosen to go to happens to be an ivy” that bugs people, it’s the attitude some people develop of “I want to go to a good college so I have to go to an ivy, because those are the only good schools”. </p>
<p>I don’t particularly care how great and wonderful people who go to ivies or want to go to ivies think the schools are, but I do care when they belittle me because I go to a ‘lesser’ school. And before you tell me that I’m just imagining things or exaggerating things, I’ve had people say things like this to my face.</p>
<p>I find any generally belittling attitude towards a college obnoxious, even a community college.</p>
<p>I guess the thing that is disturbing to me about many of my child’s classmates and their parents who aspire to an Ivy education (and his school sends about 30% to Ivy) is the pervasive attitude that if said child does not get into an Ivy then essentially his/her life is over.</p>
<p>In addition, there is a snobbishness from many that belittle and look down on a student who gets into a “lesser school” like Trinity or Conn College. Image what they might think if my son goes to Umass or Uconn!</p>
<p>Honestly, if the worst thing that ever happens to your child in his or her life is rejection from an Ivy, then I would say he/she will have a pretty wonderful life</p>
<p>MomofKnight- It’s not quite that strong around here but the parents and students do put quite a bit of emphasis on getting into Ivy or at least top 25. Now that my son has chosen an honors program at his State U - we often get no response when we share his plans or a question on why he made that selection given the other “fine” choices that were available to him. Others are quite complimentary, so it’s not universal. But, in all fairness, I see it go both ways. Some of those who have chosen Ivies are often put in the snob or nerd cateogory. I have great respect for those students who are smart or accomplished enough to have thier pick of choices - including Ivy. It’s all cool! But this board shows that many out there have a problem respecting the choices of others - Ivy or not.</p>
<p>MomofaKnight
Sounds like you can be from New Jersey!</p>