Why University of 'X' is your #1 choice

[Thirdshifter]

Aquila,

The reason you see all that in IL is because you are an immigrant yourself. You are in the shoe of an outsider and you become more observant.

Almost everything you said about people in USA happens in Malaysia as well. However you never realized it up till you become aware of it in the USA and went back and smacked your forehead saying Duh!

Malaysian don't care? Maybe. But truthfully speaking on the matter of choosing school.. i say that your better of at a school in the country side with less distraction.. However since you can't compare the two from experience i consider your opinion will always be a little biased towards Innercity College.

Talking about Ghettos and what greatness it has done for you. I would like to extend an offer. If your ever in CT while i'm there i'd be more then happy to show you all of the good side of America.. the country side with ignorant white fools farming without help from mexicans...

The only reason we rarely claim to have learn much more in Malaysia is because we chose to be ignorant.

Just because your in an Ivy right smack in the middle of a poor neighbourhood doesn't makes you more aware or more observent compared to students in university california- Davis.

[aquila]

Oh, I hope I didn't say I am more observant than someone in another school. I don't think I did and I didn't intend to either. All I'm saying is, don't stay away from a school in a ghettoish city just because, well it's in a ghettoish city. The students here complain all the time about poor town-gown relations, small number of city spots we would like to go, etc etc. It's no NYC abuzz with activity 24 hrs. It's not SF with your spread out suburb and big cars.

The tradeoff is something else. Honestly, few people stay in Durham after graduation but I think people who push themselves off campus really do learn a lot in the four years they are here.

About me being more observant because I am an immigrant. Well, I'm not an immigrant but a visitor. No green card, no American citizenship. But I do agree that being a visitor peering from outside helped me gauge things somewhat objectively. Nevertheless, you'll be surprised to find many liberals white and privileged. My friend who lives in the suburbs in Long Island, NYC is a good example. Her family is staunch Republican. I stayed over once and we had a big discussion about immigration and social benefits. My friend and I were the only liberals at the table.

From left and right, we fielded questions such as "How can you agree that homosexuals should be accepted?", "Why should we give handouts to poor, lazy, good for nothing social parasites?", "We should close the border with Mexico" and endearments such as "My Bush", "Bushy" that would make liberals like myself cringe in confusion, if not amusement. Don't get me wrong, I don't think either side is superior even though we disagree. It just goes to show that privileged and rich or not, immigrant or not, white people or not, you can be liberal and aware of stuff going on around you. Furthermore, as another friend commented, it's easy for us college students not having to work and pay taxes to complain about the "evils of capitalism" even though we reap benefits from it. True, it's funny to see some of my classmates do so with their big SUVs.

Ah, another thing, in my dorm of 50 people, there is only one Republican and he's gay. A contradiction yes! But again it shows that you shouldn't pigeonhole people.

[Thirdshifter]

Being a liberal doesn't mean you're oppressed and being a conservative doesn't mean your an oppresser either. Also what does liberal and conservatives has anything to do with city or suburbs?

--- you can ignore these few paragraph--

Also, What goes by the term "liberal" today, is nothing more than a kinder and gentler form of the same brutal capitalism and imperialism (corporatism/fascism) which has taken over USA. What passes for "conservative", is the more extreme, mindless, and violent expression of the same basic philosophy. The difference is in implementation, not in fundamental philosophy.

Where are the "conservatives"?.. by all known American "definitions", these are the people who should be fighting for smaller government, more power to the states, fiscal saneness, personal freedoms and privacy, Where are they in today's political landscape? They do not exist!

What goes by the label "conservative" is nothing more than mindless yahoo-patriotism, war-mongering, and ignorant parroting of whoever happens to be the emperor. Where are the conservative intellectual thinkers?

Where are the "Liberals"? by all known definitions, these are the people who should be fighting for social programs, like national health care, universal housing, child care, full employment, minimum wages, organized labor, peace and justice, no-wars. But where are they? They do not exist!

There was a time in US history, when these two elements not only existed, but were the main political forces in American politics. Corporate control and corruption of society, of the economy, of the media, and of the political process, has killed both, and now US is left with nothing more than two corporate-friendly (fascist) political camps. Neither fundamentally different from the other.

This is most starkly observed if you look at the Democratic and Republican parties; both have the very same corporate and political goals, with implementation of those goals being the only difference.

--- you can ignore these few paragraph--

Back to topic..

There is ofcourse benefits of studying in innercity schools but to what extent and is it such a positive criteria to consider when selecting schools? Beside the prestige and the elite status ivy-league schools offers much of the educatonal aspect are the same to the students.. However! Not all ivy-league schools are located in unfriendly and uninviting neighbourhoods but more than often you will hear students from schools in the city complain then the students in the rurals.

Also if you get urge to help poor neighbourhoods you still can and location shouldnt really be an excuse.

Just as a side note, I have nothing against ivy league school personallyconsidering i adore one myself . But if you get the oppurtunity to select which Ivy your going to go to.. please avoid those in Poor cities.. its just bad for the overall mental health.. and if your really lucky choose one that doesn't come with a winter package.