I've learned alot already just calling up the three schools I applied to every other day to check up on my paperwork. It paid off too. I got accepted to all three and I learned people skills.

Just stay on top of your paper work and you will be okay well even if you stay on top of your paper work you still may have some issues. :rolleyes:

This takes me back to the day went I when I first took my daughter to Howard. I scheduled myself stay the week at the Howard Inn next to the school. You HU alumni/ae know how long ago that must have been - LOL.

The first day was orientation and getting settled in her dorm room. She, a high school friend of mine whose son was starting there, too, did the obligatory rent the mini-fridge, by bedding and accessories from JC Penny, get cleaning materials, get a fan since there was no AC, etc.

The next day was registration. My daughter was like okay Mom I can handle this you should not have planned to stay so long. When i told her I wasn't leaving early she became a little disgruntled. And the fact that the dorm room looked like crap didn't help her mood.

Well we go to the Admissions Office to make sure all the money is paid so she can register for classes. We stand in a long line and the whole time she is like rolling her eyes with the attitude I can't believe I am here with my Mom--I'm not a child anymore. We finally get to the desk and lo and behold they had no record of my tuition payment--the dorm room payment, yes, the tuition, no. So we were sent over to another line. I am getting p***ed and she is getting scared. We are standing in line and I know I had THE LOOK on my face.

Suddenly a woman came up to us and said come with me and took us out of the line. She said I noticed your Delta necklace. I am a soror, how can I help you? I told her the problem, she searched found the info all in the matter of a few minutes. She then hugged me and told me if we needed anything else just ask for her.

Well, because of the delay, by the time she got to the front of the registration line which had wound around the campus, most of her classes were filled. I went back to the soror in Admissions, she connected me to the then Interim Dean of the School of Communications who was also a soror. Daughter got her classes.

Needless to say she was estactic to have me there the rest of the week. LOL

Hmmmm, I guess this really is more than just about registration at a HBCU. It probably also belongs in the 1913 thread, huh?

^^^Draw within the lines... The lines are our friends... (mesmerizing and hypnotic tones...)

Also, you all starting these schools, they have a whole new concept of getting financial aid checks!!! While I was not on financial aid, many of friends were. Best you can do is "squeakiest wheel gets the oil first"...

Your classes will include an unlisted class call "Phinagling 101: HBCU Style". Now, if that unlisted class does not teach you about accomplishing your goals in life, you will NEVER learn it...

And don't get me started in the direction of "retention rates" of AfAms at non-HBCU's. Let's just say these schools rates are piss poor too, including Ivy Leagues...

I stayed on top of my paperwork all 4 years and didn't have nearly as many problems as my friends, however my classes were dropped and my loan payment was lost at least one time each. Then, there was the wonderful experience of being told I couldn't graduate because I had 4, count 'em, 4 INCOMPLETES. I looked that woman straight in her face and said, "With all due respect, ma'am, THE DEVIL IS A LIAR." She did the :eek: face at me, but I was so nice about it, she couldn't help but laugh. Turns out my name had somehow been electronically slapped on someone else's transcript. :rolleyes:


I applied only to HBCUs and my parents were thrilled. They were sad that I was going to have to go so far away--my dad wanted me to go to UC Berkeley or Davis so that they could visit me, but I wanted to see some black people! Aside from my family and my church, I never had the opportunity to learn about my own culture (they sure weren't teaching it in school) and interact with people who looked like me. I craved that HBCU experience because, even though my friends were great, we could never really bond on that level. I wanted to be around people who shared my views and experiences, which (admittedly) were minimal. I never knew what it was like to live in a close-knit community who understood each others' struggles and triumphs because we all share the same history. I wanted that more than anything else. At first, it was tough. I wasn't accepted by my peers: many felt that, because of where I'd grown up, I "talked too white" and "acted too white" to be at their school. A surprising number of people told me to "go back with all the other white people." :mad: I almost withdrew 2 months into freshman year! But, my mom refused to bring me home; I had to stay where I wanted to be no matter who said what. And I found A LOT of students who'd come from neighborhoods like mine and were having the same things said to them. Those were my first friends that I made and I definitely made more. I got the experience that I was looking for, in spite of those few hateful people trying to steal my joy. And I don't regret it because you find those types of people at every school, no matter what color the majority is. Now that I've graduated, I'm a little sad to leave that community behind, but I'm definitely more secure in my identity now that my history isn't a mystery. I can maintain that no matter what environment I'm in. I'm glad this thread was bumped because I think we younguns feel better being reminded that this stuff is nothing new!

yes indeed....attending an HBCU forced me to stay on top of my paperwork and document...document...document. i take that skill with me to this very day. my coworker's and supervisors tease me and say..."if ageniuschild doesn't have it filed away in her office, it doesn't exist"

It's disappointing how so called "white" schools get stereotyped in reaction to HBCU stereotyping.

true...two wrongs don't make a right. it's only been recently that i've noticed and experienced the stereotyping of Black PWI alum by Black HBCU alum. When I was in school a lot of the Black students from the local PWI ended up hanging out on our campus and there was no tension or issues at hand. We know and realize that we are here for the same thing....to graduate, whether you do it at UVA or VUU is really not important.

Personally, I'm happy when any Black person gets accepted and matriculates from any college or university.

I think the only thing that disturbs me more than anything are the Black people that have the "white is right" mentality in regards to these institutions...whether they are alums of PWIs or may have heard through the grapevine of isolated incidents that occured at HBCUs. All universities have their fair share of problems when you really look at it.

I am not so sure I can agree with you here. I think life experiences are unique to each person. For example I went to predominately Black schools through high school and I loved that experience. However for college I felt as though I needed a change so I went to a PWI and for me it gave me a well rounded education. The reality is that college is what YOU make it and you can learn as much or as little about life anywhere you go. The determining factor is how open or closed you mind is.

I have heard alot of different stereotypes from friends who went to HBCU's. Being smarter, I believed half of what people said! In looking for colleges I went on two college tours, one for HBCU's and one for PWI. There were pros and cons to both. Needless to say that money, Mommy, and level of comfort were what made my ultimate decision.

You have a point. My daughter grew up in MN needed the HBCU experience. I on the other hand grew up in St. Louis, lived in an all Black neighborhood and attended an all Black high school. I needed the PWI experience to understand that not all White folx were like the ones in the Lou.

True true. I've been going to mostly white schools my whole life. HBCU's just seemed like the only option for me. One of my friends is opposite. She's a rising senior who has been going to mostly black schools. She's looking at all PWI's.

At least you saw white people!! ;)

I have the greatest respect for HBCU's and the many extraordinary leaders they've produced, but what you're saying about the Ivy League just isn't true. As of 2005, the black graduation rate at Harvard is the highest in the country, higher than any HBCU. In fact, all 8 Ivy League schools have higher black graduation rates than the HBCU with the highest black graduation rate (Spelman).

http://www.jbhe.com/features/50_blac...gradrates.html

To each his own. I remember when I was a junior in high school and was preparing for college visits and filling out applications and all that jazz....I had a teacher of mine who was a white guy come up to me and tell me that I was too smart to go to an HBCU and that I should go to a PWI so that I could get a better education! I was appalled to say the least! Now I did choose to go to a PWI, but it was definitely not because of that. I love my university and I wouldn't take it back for the world and I had plenty of friends attend HBCU's and I would never say something like that to them! People choose their schools for different reasons, but I think the main one is the name. Some schools look better on resumes to employers than others-- it's sad but true. I interned for a company and I was having a talk with one of the head guys about what he looks for employees and he told me he hires based on your school........PWI (large then small) and then he looks at HBCU candidates...:eek:

LOL!! At least she had a room. When my mom drove me from Chicago to Baton Rouge...SU didn't have any record of my room reservation. Needless to say, my mom got all "westside of Chicago" on them and went on to tell them that she DID NOT drive her daughter 900+ miles to leave her here without a room. LOL! I was soooo glad my mama was there because not only did they find me a room but they put me in the upperclassmen dorms which ment 2 things (SU Alum may know what I am talking about)

1. No Curfew
2. No "Mama Boley" (The lady in charge of the girls freshmen dorms)

Thanks Mom!!!;) See LG, 1913 and a Mom...you are the Bomb Soror!;)