To (All) the Colleges That Rejected Me

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Oh faw the luvva gawd, cobrat, thats ghabage. Quit hangin’ with those chowda heads. Go get a grindah and a beeyah and relax.</p>

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<p>Bingo! :)</p>

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<p>Denial. It’s not just a river in Egypt…</p>

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<p>Funny you mentioned that as while it is considered a Texan oasis from what many Austin-based friends who studied/live there have said, some of the AA and Hispanic* friends among them have had some issues due to things such as folks displaying Confederate flags or otherwise behaving in a bigoted manner. </p>

<p>Granted, most of this took place on the outer parts of the Austin city limits, but it was enough for it to be a less congenial environment for some of them. Worse…much of it took place within the last 5 years.</p>

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<li>Couched in anti-immigrant rhetoric from certain political groups/individuals.</li>
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<p>I think you’re giving cobrat an unnecessarily hard time. He may be overstating the differences to make his point but I’ve experienced the same thing. People walking on the street say hi to you in the Midwest where that would be weird in Boston (living in both places a dozen years). </p>

<p>Yes that’s a stereotype and of course there are exceptions but there are differences.</p>

<p>I learn something new every day.</p>

<p>Mythmom, I don’t think anyone is criticizing your kids choices. But I don’t think one gets to decide “I won’t leave the NY Metro area” and then complain about the lack of professional opportunities, especially as a young professional. The new PhD’s I know have had to go where the jobs are- Ames Iowa, Rolla Missouri, and State College PA were the most recent three. Not exactly Cambridge MA or the Upper West Side. But if you are in a field with 12 tenure track openings the year you finish- and you are lucky enough to land one of them-- especially with a promise from the U to fund your research lab- you pick up and go.</p>

<p>People should do whatever pleases them in life as long as its legal and doesn’t hurt anyone else. But you don’t get to have your cake and eat it too- especially at the age of 26 or 28 when you are paying your dues and climbing whatever ladder exists in your field. And then don’t whine about the economy, how tough it is for young folks starting out.</p>

<p>My cohort graduated in the late 70’s and early 80’s so we had both a terrible job market AND high interest rates for those unlucky enough to have both private and government college loans. I’m sure my classmates who ended up following the jobs would have preferred to stay with “their kind” (Cobrat, see? I was listening. No nasty Bostonians for those gentle and friendly Southern souls). But that reality was pretty well accepted back then. Now- not so much. Everyone thinks they’re going to live in a cute 2 bedroom Coop with only one roommate and buy designer shoes right out of college.</p>

<p>And again- in the spirit of being helpful- unless your kid needs to be close to his/her oncologist (god forbid) I can’t imagine telling a new college grad that they should or need to stick close to campus or close to home to get established professionally. If that is the case with any of your kids- gentle nudge them off the couch and help them get oriented. They can spend 2 or 3 years living in Charlotte or Boston or Houston or Tulsa for god’s sake without the world coming to an end… even if they find the locals cold and unchatty. Jeez. Get a grip.</p>

<p>Novimom, you are really going to tell your new grad not to take a job with a promising biotech start up in Boston because people on the street don’t stop to chat? Or he/she shouldn’t take that great offer at Fidelity because nobody says hi?</p>

<p>My head hurts. And now I am starting to understand why I have recruiter friends who have jobs that go begging while every week I read a rant about how this generation of college kids are screwed due to lack of economic opportunities.</p>

<p>Fwiw, at the time, to get to Carleton required getting to Boston, transferring in Chi, then taking a 45 min bus from MSP to the town, then a local bus or cab to campus . Go for it. Sounded like a logistical pita to me.</p>

<p>Blossom, you’re in my head. Again, well said.</p>

<p>Forget about moving to another state. I know parents who think it’s OK if their darling S or D, who is currently living at home, turns down a job with a 45 minute or hour commute as too long a drive. Seriously? That’s a standard commute around here.</p>

<p>?? There are direct flights from Boston to Minneapolis.</p>

<p>Funny how it’s never a “logistical PITA” to get to, say, western Massachusetts, or Hanover, New Hampshire.</p>

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<p>Nailed it, as usual. Some of the people on this thread are un-FREAKING-believable. I mean, do you even hear yourselves?? Using anecdotes about the rural south that are 20 years old. (cobrat: give it up. There are plenty of white racists in upstate New York or Connecticut or Maine.) Saying “Charlotte would feel pretty exciting after having lived in Lexington for 4 years. But Charlotte after living in Boston, not so much.” (TheGFG, do you have any idea how closed-minded and judgey and provincial you sound? And is it possible for you to realize that some people are sick and tired of northeastern winters and people with holier-than-thou attitudes, and welcome the warm reception they generally find in the south?)</p>

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<p>The asian population in the united states is around 4 percent. Asians get on an airplane and immigrate to the united states all of the time.</p>

<p>For our horrible racism? What? </p>

<p>I’m exhausted by this and I’m not racist. But there is no way to prove a negative.</p>

<p>If you believe that the only place safe for an asian in the united states is New York or Boston or California, you’d better just stay there and do your own start up firm.</p>

<p>I knew someone would respond. That was at the time and from the rep and Boston area grads who spoke.
And I do inform kids what it takes to get to, say, Midd or Amherst. Go for it.</p>

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<p>Well, at THIS time it is still a PITA to get to Williams or Bard or Bowdoin, and yet smart people from the midwest, south and other regions of the country somehow manage to do it.</p>

<p>No argument from me. It was a sidebar. I’m more concerned about the contention that if we don’t get someone’s perspective, it’s back to claims of prejudice against Asian Americans.</p>

<p>People still get on leaky boats and emigrate here… when there is a high risk of either drowning or getting caught by the Coast Guard, held in a detention facility, and then sent back. They must not realize that half the country doesn’t stop to chat, and that the other half is filled with rednecks and lynch mobs.</p>

<p>And our own kids won’t leave the comforts of home and Mom’s free Wifi to take a job in a training program with health care benefits and a good salary because it’s in Boston or the wrong side of the Mason-Dixon line.</p>

<p>Someone explain to me how a bright kid from the Midwest, who goes to college in the Midwest, is a hick? Have we gone from “more good options than just top 20” to “but northeasterners don’t get it?”</p>

<p><a href=“cobrat:%20give%20it%20up.%20There%20are%20plenty%20of%20white%20racists%20in%20upstate%20New%20York%20or%20Connecticut%20or%20Maine.”>quote</a>

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<p>If you had read my prior posts, you’d noticed that I acknowledged that. I even cited an instance ugly racially motivated attack in upstate NY in the late '90s. </p>

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<p>My extended point isn’t that I necessarily believed this, but some Asian-Americans and some URMs did have many firsthand experiences with bigotry and racism in rural “real America” and/or the SE/parts of the Midwest. </p>

<p>Some of which was underscored by my own firsthand experienced in rural NE Ohio…though mine was pretty mild considering even with one ne’er do well nearly coming out of his car spoiling for a fight before seeing a cop car caused him to reconsider and bug out. </p>

<p>Not accounting for this aspect is to be completely oblivious as to how the advice to “relocate” isn’t necessarily realistic or for everyone.</p>

<p>Oh this insufferable thread. :p</p>

<p>I can’t imagine a bigger relocation than southeast asia to the northeast united states.</p>

<p>carry on.</p>

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<p>Lol, Cobrat. Don’t ya know that when many are enjoying a great game of football under the Friday lights, others are dusting off their white capes and making sure to roundup enough minorities for a fun weekend. Yep, Django is still at risk in the Texas frontier.</p>

<p>Sorry, dude, but there are idiots everywhere and I am sure that we have our share of White Supremacists in Texas, but in general terms, people have learned to coexist pretty well. Minorities from plenty of origins have flocked to the State. If the image you are trying to portray were remotely true, they would look for other destinations. </p>

<p>No place is perfect, but you really picked a bad example to support your wild allegations.</p>

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<p>On the other hand, several relatives, friends, and colleagues who graduated in the same period recalled one can still work their way through college to defray all their undergrad costs at a public college with a minimum wage job and college tuition was much lower…especially when inflation was taken into account. </p>

<p>Can’t do that with a minimum wage job today even at some publics with the way tuition has risen and state subsidies being cut to those institutions…</p>

<p>Even most of those I know who graduated around the same period as you feel that most of the talk of “we had it just as bad” is a variant of “Get off my lawn talk” or Weird Al’s song “When I was your age” and call BS on it.</p>

<p>At this particular moment in time, Charlotte is the hot city for big law firms. I think that will continue and I would be delirious with joy to move there. </p>

<p>I am one of those chatty people in NYC. People strike up conversations all the time with strangers.</p>

<p>The late 80s and early 90s were a whole other world and lifetime.</p>