How to know a college is safe for POC

[Anonymous]

DC is interested in a top LAC, but, after checking the CDS, there were only 22 black students in a class of 436 accepted this most recent cycle- 1/3 of past cycles.

DS currently goes to a boarding school that isn’t racist, but he also wouldn’t call tolerant. He was really hoping to be able to go to a college of his choice but also find community, so this has been very disappointing. Should we throw in the towel?

[Anonymous]

Try asking current students via LinkedIn or similar

[Anonymous]

has he considered HBCUs?

[Anonymous]

Kids apply and go to colleges they wish to attend. There are multiple efforts to reach out to various communities to entice them to apply and attend. Nevertheless, as your son illustrates, people generally want to be with people who look and act like themselves.

Has your son considered HBCUs? If that's his primary focus, there might be a good fit there. Otherwise, he may need to expand his search and look at data to decide whether there is enough of a critical mass of people like him to make him wish to attend. You only mention one school--I'm quite sure there are others with data more to your liking.

I wish him the best in his search.

[Anonymous]

Schools like Duke are where my mind goes for Black kids like your son. A SLAC in the current climate, not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids apply and go to colleges they wish to attend. There are multiple efforts to reach out to various communities to entice them to apply and attend. Nevertheless, as your son illustrates, people generally want to be with people who look and act like themselves.

Has your son considered HBCUs? If that's his primary focus, there might be a good fit there. Otherwise, he may need to expand his search and look at data to decide whether there is enough of a critical mass of people like him to make him wish to attend. You only mention one school--I'm quite sure there are others with data more to your liking.

I wish him the best in his search.

No he hasn’t considered hbcus, because he is a top student. He has a 1580 and great course rigor. Hbcus are great, but it’s annoying that it’s assumed black students will just walk to one.

[Anonymous]

OP you SHOULD be concerned. 22 students in the entire class that look like you…sheesh.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is applying to schools that have very high percentage of male students. She has reached out to members of campus women's groups and had very productive conversations. I recommend that your student do the same for the relevant affinity group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try asking current students via LinkedIn or similar

By LinkedIn? What?
Maybe Snapchat!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is interested in a top LAC, but, after checking the CDS, there were only 22 black students in a class of 436 accepted this most recent cycle- 1/3 of past cycles.

DS currently goes to a boarding school that isn’t racist, but he also wouldn’t call tolerant. He was really hoping to be able to go to a college of his choice but also find community, so this has been very disappointing. Should we throw in the towel?

What school?

[Anonymous]

Not a fine-tuned measure, but you can look at the graduation rates by race: https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?s=all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is interested in a top LAC, but, after checking the CDS, there were only 22 black students in a class of 436 accepted this most recent cycle- 1/3 of past cycles.

DS currently goes to a boarding school that isn’t racist, but he also wouldn’t call tolerant. He was really hoping to be able to go to a college of his choice but also find community, so this has been very disappointing. Should we throw in the towel?

What school?

Pomona

[Anonymous]

OP, there was a long thread some time ago that might be of interest, but I can't seem to find it. It was by a mom who was looking for her daughter for schools with comparatively larger % of black students. I'll see if I can find it but google so far is failing me.

One school that comes to mind for a kid with high stats is Northwestern. Class of 2024 15.4% black https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2024/se...stern-class-of-2028/

[Anonymous]

Look at the BSUs on instagram and see how active the students are in terms of events-rlly helped my dd. Did you ED there? 22 is crazy..... with those stats maybe look at duke and penn, both have strong black presence and I rarely hear any red flags.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is interested in a top LAC, but, after checking the CDS, there were only 22 black students in a class of 436 accepted this most recent cycle- 1/3 of past cycles.

DS currently goes to a boarding school that isn’t racist, but he also wouldn’t call tolerant. He was really hoping to be able to go to a college of his choice but also find community, so this has been very disappointing. Should we throw in the towel?

What school?

Pomona

Don’t do it. California has a very small black population and Claremont a nearly nonexistent one. It might be liberal, but that just means they aren’t outwardly racist.