New York Times on blacks and elite colleges

[Steeltrap]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/24/ed...FFI.final.html

This is a thought-provoking article. What it's saying is that in many cases, black students who are getting into the Harvards, Yales, Stanfords of this world are either West Indian and African immigrants or their kids, or to a lesser extent, biracial children.
The concern is that AfAm students with four grandparents born in this country aren't getting the opportunities.

Thoughts?

And Soror-Moderators, please feel free to combine...

[Senusret I]

Haven't read the article yet.

The opportunities are DEFINITELY there. People just aren't taking them, or go where they are offered the most free money.

For example, a school like Georgetown inevitably loses half of it's admitted black students to schools such as Washington University in St. Louis because while Wash U has free rides for some black students, Georgetown has no merit aid, only need based.

Admissions is so complicated....

[Munchkin03]

I read the article this morning before work, and I had a lot of thoughts about it...

I certainly didn't expect the majority of blacks I met at my college to be West Indian, African, or Central American. At a pre-Orientation seminar for students of color, I was one of the rare ones who could say that both sets of grandparents were born in the States.

But then...in my close circle of friends, there are only a handful of us who can say the same thing---regardless of race. In fact, I'm sometimes seen as the "All-American" girl just because when I go home, it's to Florida and not Yerevan or Colombo...I didn't grow up speaking another language, or eating the cuisine of another country.

I wouldn't be surprised either to see that the majority of "American" blacks at the elite colleges are affluent. I suspect that middle- and working-class black students are either going to their state schools (if you look at the incentives they are giving, a savvy student can literally get PAID to go to a state school), an HBCU, or to a school that has amazing financial aid opportunities, like Princeton (no loans as part of its student aid package) or schools that give large minority scholarships.

[Exquisite5]

Originally posted by Munchkin03

I wouldn't be surprised either to see that the majority of "American" blacks at the elite colleges are affluent. I suspect that middle- and working-class black students are either going to their state schools (if you look at the incentives they are giving, a savvy student can literally get PAID to go to a state school), an HBCU, or to a school that has amazing financial aid opportunities, like Princeton (no loans as part of its student aid package) or schools that give large minority scholarships.

I can speak to this. All of my great-grandparents (and I would venture even further back as well) were born here and the statement about state school is definitely true in my case. I was accepted to Stanford, but chose Texas A&M for financial reasons. I could have gone to Stanford and my parents would have paid for it, but what was the point when I knew I would be following undergrad with professional school AND I literally got PAID to go to Texas A&M? There was no point. Also, as an engineering student Texas A&M was just as a good a choice as any. It was a top 10-15 engineering school (and number ONE in my discipline- bio-engineering), depending on the rank and all the big companies recruit there. The way I see it, I got paid to go to a top engineering school- I made out!

[Lady of Pearl]

Even though I didn't read the article, it does seem apparent that most African Americans are going to HBCUs these days instead of the elite universities. Most go to HBCUs for undergrad and then go to the elite universities for grad, I wonder if they researched that, I myself went to a state university and my sister did graduate from an elite university, Cornell -even though neither my mother or father were not college educated, which disproves that African Americans can't go to elite universities, we beat the odds!

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by Exquisite5
I can speak to this. All of my great-grandparents (and I would venture even further back as well) were born here and the statement about state school is definitely true in my case. I was accepted to Stanford, but chose Texas A&M for financial reasons. I could have gone to Stanford and my parents would have paid for it, but what was the point when I knew I would be following undergrad with professional school AND I literally got PAID to go to Texas A&M? There was no point. Also, as an engineering student Texas A&M was just as a good a choice as any. It was a top 10-15 engineering school (and number ONE in my discipline- bio-engineering), depending on the rank and all the big companies recruit there. The way I see it, I got paid to go to a top engineering school- I made out!

See, I took the elite school route. It worked well for me, but I think about the money that could have been saved by going to a good state school (even a UC with out-of-state tuition). Especially now that I'm at another Ivy for grad school. Our local recruiter for my undergrad tries to explain to the admissions people why the best students from my state will go to UF over Brown or Harvard, but they just don't get it.

[rho4life]

In some schools, ie California, some of the state schools are elite. I may be a bit biased, but I don't think you'll find many employers disappointed to see UC Berkeley or UCLA on a resume. However, this varies from state to state. The bigger problem to me is just the number of blacks who think they're going to make it big w/ music, or sports, or some other get rich quick plan , and don't see ANY college educaiton as needed.

[Steeltrap]

Originally posted by rho4life
In some schools, ie California, some of the state schools are elite. I may be a bit biased, but I don't think you'll find many employers disappointed to see UC Berkeley or UCLA on a resume. However, this varies from state to state. The bigger problem to me is just the number of blacks who think they're going to make it big w/ music, or sports, or some other get rich quick plan , and don't see ANY college educaiton as needed.

Exactly. The sad thing is that still too many of our kids don't really have a shot at a college education or a professional career. I especially hate it when as you say, too many of us believe in a get-rich-quick plan instead of pursuing education.

Education is so important. The economy's changed and the blue-collar jobs that my father and his generation could easily get are no longer as plentiful.