Any Parents Privately Disappointed with College Placement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Is any college -- DIII type school actually diverse? They are either white or hbcs.

What in the world gave you this impression?

Kenyon, Middlebury, Amherst, Williams, Colby, Bates Bowdoin, Davidson, Elon...black kids are 10 percent or less of student body according to college board. those are some of the biggest names in DIII.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Is any college -- DIII type school actually diverse? They are either white or hbcs.

What in the world gave you this impression?

Kenyon, Middlebury, Amherst, Williams, Colby, Bates Bowdoin, Davidson, Elon...black kids are 10 percent or less of student body according to college board. those are some of the biggest names in DIII.

So for you diversity is only about the number of black students? If that's the case we'll have to disagree. Diversity should include students from more than just two groups (black and white) As for DIII schools, you can't really lump them all together. Some will have low numbers and others will have numbers close to schools like HYP. You will also find some DI schools with lower diversity numbers. I went to college board to check out some of the schools you mentioned. Kenyon and middlebury do have some low percentage but Amherst, Williams and bowdoin have percentages that are close to other schools. Looking at the numbers for blacks, hispanics and asians they have numbers in the 30-40% range. This is the same range at many of the big name/big money schools. Looking only at the percentages for black students Amherst and Williams both have slightly higher percentages than harvard and Yale.

[Anonymous]

Amherst has been a leader in promoting economic diversity -- i.e., recruiting talented kids of all races and ethnicities who come from working-class families.

With re to diversity generally, the top LACs have big endowments and give generous f/a packages, so cost is no more an obstacles than at other private colleges and universities (inc. Iviies and other D# schools). To the extent that some LACs don't attract as many Latino and African-American kids from working-class and poor families, it might be related to their rural locations, which might -- in some cases-- be less appealing to those kids and their families. For example, Wellesley is very diverse (aside from gender, of course), due, in part, perhaps to its location in the Boston area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do think it is important for parents and kids to be realistic about college choices. I talked to someone recently whose child had just graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt. And both parent and child are still disappointed that the child didn't get in to Harvard.

That happens a lot: it's human to know that the odds of one's child's getting into Harvard are low yet have high hopes for one's child and STILL be disappointed about the rejection after all those years. I guess this hasn't happeend to you yet? It hasn't happened to me (yet?), but I can imagine how it must feel.

It hasn't happened and it won't because neither of my children will apply because it is totally unrealistic. We are going through the process for the first time next year and so far i think have a pretty realistic list any one of which DD would be happy to go to. To me that is important. The idea of being disappointed 4 years later after the child has excelled at an excellent college seems really depressing to me.

Isn't there a difference between your friends' being disappointed in their son's summa-level performance at Vanderbilt (not the case, I'm sure) and their being disappointed, as they stated, that he didn't get into Harvard four years ago? I don't see why the latter disappointment should necessarily be effaced by his later success at the school he did get into. I just think they are human. Maybe your child's not getting into the first-choice school would not be as disappointing for you as it has been for your friends, but perhaps there is some disappointment in your life, in some area other than college placement, that has been as lasting as a wound, the memory of which could help you understand how your friends feel?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm white, but for me, it is a LOT about having black kids at college. After all, the diversity issues' roots are totally intwined in our nation's civil rights issues. Many, many Asians and non-white foreign students don't have a problem gaining admittance or paying $50k a year for college.


So for you diversity is only about the number of black students? If that's the case we'll have to disagree. Diversity should include students from more than just two groups (black and white) As for DIII schools, you can't really lump them all together. Some will have low numbers and others will have numbers close to schools like HYP. You will also find some DI schools with lower diversity numbers. I went to college board to check out some of the schools you mentioned. Kenyon and middlebury do have some low percentage but Amherst, Williams and bowdoin have percentages that are close to other schools. Looking at the numbers for blacks, hispanics and asians they have numbers in the 30-40% range. This is the same range at many of the big name/big money schools. Looking only at the percentages for black students Amherst and Williams both have slightly higher percentages than harvard and Yale.

[Anonymous]

I'm white, but for me, it is a LOT about having black kids at college. After all, the diversity issues' roots are totally intwined in our nation's civil rights issues. Many, many Asians and non-white foreign students don't have a problem gaining admittance or paying $50k a year for college.

[Anonymous]

I'm all for diversity, but I find it interesting that some posters hold up schools that have 10 percent african american students as being "non-diverse," and 30 percent "diversity" doesn't count if it includes Asians and Latin Americans. According to the 2000 census, african americans make up 12.3 percent of the United States population, Asians 3.6 percent and Latinos 12.5 percent. A 30 percent representation of all three would mirror the racial makeup of the country. I realize that this does not reflect the racial percentages in the Washington area, but the schools being discussed pull students from the nation as a whole. I think people are using diversity standards that should appropriately apply to, say, a Washington, D.C. private elementary school, as a frame of reference for these schools.

[Anonymous]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26499-2004Oct12.html

[Anonymous]

15:37 That is insane. Is the student going to grad school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:15:37 That is insane. Is the student going to grad school?

I don't think any of us should judge how another parent should feel.

[Anonymous]

11:36 You're judging how I feel about how they feel. That's my opinion. I think it's really, really unfortunate for any parent or student to be upset years later about not getting into their first choice school.

[Anonymous]

I agree with that...it's time to move on. The person should do the best and move forward. Vanderbilt is a fine school...not everyone is cut out for Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:11:36 You're judging how I feel about how they feel. That's my opinion. I think it's really, really unfortunate for any parent or student to be upset years later about not getting into their first choice school.

You don't know all the circumstances. Your opinion is founded on very little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with that...it's time to move on. The person should do the best and move forward. Vanderbilt is a fine school...not everyone is cut out for Harvard.

I think this is part of the attitude that is a problem. In fact there are many people who ARE cut out for Harvard but not all of them can get in because there are limited spaces. These schools say they can fill their classes many times over with equally qualified kids. One shouldnt feel slighted forever that you aren't one of the chosen few.

[Anonymous]

I agree with that and I'm the one who wrote the sentence you responded to. For whatever reason someone is rejected from Harvard ... it may feel like the end of the world...but it does have to be the case. I run a retained executive search firm. In law, medicine, and high end finance ....employers tend to really care where someone went to school. In other cases, they don't care. People need to do the best with what they have and be able to respond to all of the many challenges life presents to most of us.