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I still call flame on this. If you were for real, you would know what you are talking about...
Actually, if you were more concerned about providing advice instead of arguing, you would know what you're talking about:
Can student-athletes receive other non-athletic financial aid? Yes. Thousands of student-athletes benefit from academic scholarships, NCAA financial aid programs such as the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund and noninstitutional need-based aid such as Federal Pell Grants. (Behind the Blue Disk - NCAA.org)
While it is true that Div I schools can only award full ride athletic scholarships, those certainly aren't the only scholarships they give to prospective athletes. Given that Div I only get 13 male basketball scholarships, and the varsity team will likely use 11-12 of them, members of the JV program are most certainly receiving other aid. So the OP can certainly be genuine when he says he is receiving a partially scholarship.
Actually, if you were more concerned about providing advice instead of arguing, you would know what you're talking about:
Can student-athletes receive other non-athletic financial aid? Yes. Thousands of student-athletes benefit from academic scholarships, NCAA financial aid programs such as the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund and noninstitutional need-based aid such as Federal Pell Grants. (Behind the Blue Disk - NCAA.org)
While it is true that Div I schools can only award full ride athletic scholarships, those certainly aren't the only scholarships they give to prospective athletes. Given that Div I only get 13 male basketball scholarships, and the varsity team will likely use 11-12 of them, members of the JV program are most certainly receiving other aid. So the OP can certainly be genuine when he says he is receiving a partially scholarship.
What are you talking about? That last paragraph makes no sense. [ETA: First of all, my position is completely vindicated simply by the fact that the OP claimed to have basketball scholarships, not athletic scholarships, and said that Golfgal was "absolutely right" about partial basketball scholarships. This is plainly wrong. Second, you are talking nonsense. The varsity team will use all 13 scholarships. I don't even know what you are talking about with this JV stuff.]
I was simply pointing out that I believe this is a flame. The general tone of the post and some other little things lead me to believe that, and one of the things that made me more confident was that the OP did not know how basketball scholarships work.
Last edited by southernsmoke; 03-24-2012 at 10:58 AM..
Who cares (or, rather, why should we care?) if the OP got a basketball scholarship or not?
OP wants to know if he will stick out as a black man in Minneapolis. No, he won't. The metro area as a whole is noticeably more white than many other cities of its size, but I'm sure he'll fit in just fine if he makes the move. It's not like he'll be the only black guy in town.
The U is a great school. Big, of course, but that means lots of opportunities for those who seek them out.
"Large" is relative when it comes to % black (or really anything) of a city / metro area's population. Compared to up in Duluth, blacks are everywhere in the (Twin) Cities; but compared to Atlanta or New Orleans, blacks would be rare. Also, you have to consider that for blacks (African-Americans) who prefer to make friendships within their own race, they have to be born here. African-Americans and Somalis, for example, generally do not mix. Of course, NewOrleanianLA1 does not seem to be that type, as he says that most of his friends are white or Asian. He will do fine in Minnesota, particularly Minneapolis or St. Paul where seeing a person with any color of skin is nothing out of the ordinary.
What I think a more pressing concern for him would be is the weather. Is he going to be able to tolerate Minnesota winters being from New Orleans? Many people don't take well to the weather here.
Although I may not be born in the Twin Cities, I believe I will make African-American friends through college life rather than those who are natives in the area.
It's a shame that AAs and Somalis do not mix. It must be cultural differences since Somalia is in Africa.
I actually prefer the cold better than humid, hot summers. I'm still concerned if I would be able to handle that kind of cold in Minnesota. I believe I will get adjusted to it after the first winter. How colder is Twin Cities than Chicago? I visited Chicago once in January and I handled it just fine.
Although I may not be born in the Twin Cities, I believe I will make African-American friends through college life rather than those who are natives in the area.
It's a shame that AAs and Somalis do not mix. It must be cultural differences since Somalia is in Africa.
I actually prefer the cold better than humid, hot summers. I'm still concerned if I would be able to handle that kind of cold in Minnesota. I believe I will get adjusted to it after the first winter. How colder is Twin Cities than Chicago? I visited Chicago once in January and I handled it just fine.
Somalis came over here as refugees, not necessarily as "immigrants" in the traditional sense. They conserve a lot of their culture even in the state, which is based on clan loyalty and very conservative Islam. Their women dress according to hijab.
Minneapolis has had a phenomenal winter, with many days reaching into the 40's and even 50's in December, January, and February. They are also bound to set a new record for the warmest March - it has not gotten below 55 degrees, day or night, in about a week, and daytime temperatures have been between 65 and 80 degrees. However, this is exceptional. Expect days in the 20's and 30's interspersed with bone-chilling days in the single digits and nights below zero. Expect this until the first "warm" day in March, when it might reach 50 degrees or it might reach 75 degrees. I don't know what it was like in Chicago on the January day you visited it, but Minnesota has a well-deserved reputation for frigid winters. The months of the school year that should have good weather, though, are September, October, April, and May.
The Twin Cities are about 8F colder than Chicago in the winter on average.
Whether you choose Minneapolis/Saint Paul for the main U of MN, or the University of Minnesota-Duluth, you'll be pleasantly surprised in the diversity and grassroots activism. Particularly in Duluth, minority populations have nearly doubled in the last decade. As well, with so many bi-racial children having been born in the mid-90's, both of Duluth's high school (East & Denfeld) have a much more balanced minority enrolment, as well as UMD (University of Minnesota - Duluth). This was not the case a decade or two ago, and I think when you are in a smaller city, those connections you make within the black community are stronger and more is accomplished (as a gay guy, I know this as I lived in Duluth and found out that the rest of the GLBT community were a lifeline for me; while Minneapolis was nice, I felt like we took each other for granted by figuring, 'well, lots where he/she came from, no big deal'. I learned how to get involved with the GLBT community when I would have otherwise quit the group because I didn't get along with this person or our ideas didn't match. It made me stronger. My friends in the BSU (black student union) said the same things.
I can't say enough good things about the U of Minnesota - the Twin Cities campus is a Division I school, and there are so many ways to get involved on and off campus, through the student groups you will find links to the community to figure out what interests you. Lots of times we assume a certain city doesn't have any resources for us, but when we actually arrive, we find out there are huge opportunities here that would never be available in, say, Detroit or Kansas City or Buffalo or Cleveland. Minnesota still has a great quality of life and is relatively affordable.
Whether you choose Minneapolis/Saint Paul for the main U of MN, or the University of Minnesota-Duluth, you'll be pleasantly surprised in the diversity and grassroots activism. Particularly in Duluth, minority populations have nearly doubled in the last decade. As well, with so many bi-racial children having been born in the mid-90's, both of Duluth's high school (East & Denfeld) have a much more balanced minority enrolment, as well as UMD (University of Minnesota - Duluth). This was not the case a decade or two ago, and I think when you are in a smaller city, those connections you make within the black community are stronger and more is accomplished (as a gay guy, I know this as I lived in Duluth and found out that the rest of the GLBT community were a lifeline for me; while Minneapolis was nice, I felt like we took each other for granted by figuring, 'well, lots where he/she came from, no big deal'. I learned how to get involved with the GLBT community when I would have otherwise quit the group because I didn't get along with this person or our ideas didn't match. It made me stronger. My friends in the BSU (black student union) said the same things.
I can't say enough good things about the U of Minnesota - the Twin Cities campus is a Division I school, and there are so many ways to get involved on and off campus, through the student groups you will find links to the community to figure out what interests you. Lots of times we assume a certain city doesn't have any resources for us, but when we actually arrive, we find out there are huge opportunities here that would never be available in, say, Detroit or Kansas City or Buffalo or Cleveland. Minnesota still has a great quality of life and is relatively affordable.
For a southern guy used to driving on dry roads and flat ground, the transition to the driving on ice/snow in Minneapolis may be one of the harder things to get used to. Good thing he's not heading to U. of Minnesota-Duluth. The streets in Duluth scare ME in the winter.
Location: Cleveland bound with MPLS in the rear-view
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NewOrleanianLA1
Although I may not be born in the Twin Cities, I believe I will make African-American friends through college life rather than those who are natives in the area.
It's a shame that AAs and Somalis do not mix. It must be cultural differences since Somalia is in Africa.
I actually prefer the cold better than humid, hot summers. I'm still concerned if I would be able to handle that kind of cold in Minnesota. I believe I will get adjusted to it after the first winter. How colder is Twin Cities than Chicago? I visited Chicago once in January and I handled it just fine.
1.) Could you answer once and for all (honestly, preferably) if you are LEGITIMATELY interested in relocating here, or are just starting a "flame" thread, as Southernsmoke suggests? That topic needs to be dropped.
2.) The Twin Cities is "solidly" colder than Chicago. By that, I mean that the average high during Dec, Jan, and Feb is a good 5 degrees or so colder, albeit drier, than Chicago's. The number of days when temps struggle to get above 5 or 10 degrees (my personal definition for "too cold") is probably 10-15 per season, and it stays below 32 degrees for most of Dec-Feb. The rest of the year (Apr-Nov) is essentially the SAME as Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, NYC, Boston, etc. I will note though, that below-freezing temps has one major perk: winter sports. It's certainly a popular thing in MN, but maybe not as much amongst the black population. Either way, everyone living here should consider joining some winter sports activity when they first move here, and learn how to enjoy the "misery"!
3.) As for how "black" or diverse is the Twin Cities, and will you fit in? The metro area is/was projected to have roughly 350K black/African people by 2015 according to one source I saw. Currently, the estimated population is around 300K, meaning the area's black population is growing pretty moderately (and downright "fast" for non-South standards). That population PRIMARILY comes from two different sources (the majority, but not everyone): 1.) the Great Lakes and Midwest cities like Chicago, Gary, Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland, St. Louis, etc.; and, 2.) East Africa/Horn of Africa, like Ethiopia, Sudan, and/or Somalia, as well as Liberia (West coast of Africa). I'd say the proportion of both, population-wise, in the area is 80:20, but only roughly 10% of the total metro population. There is an equally-sized Hispanic population in the area as well, and a slightly smaller Asian population (mostly Hmong and SE Asian). You could safely assume that 3 out of 10 people in the Twin Cities are not white, but I know that's very different than New Orleans, and especially the black population. Since the origin of the black population in the Twin Cities generally (again, over 50%) comes from more impoverished regions of the country/world, the population here CAN BE more "gritty", "urban", "ghetto", or whatever one wants to consider it. The more "uppity" black people I've met were from Africa, including a good buddy of mine from the Ivory Coast (well educated, dresses well, friendly to anyone/everyone, etc.).
I think you'll fit in very well though, as I think people will really warm up to somebody who is as friendly, outgoing and social as you say you are. Minnesotans can definitely be shier or more reserved by nature, but I think we/they open up more easily to people who are extroverted and open like you sound. Plus, you couldn't pick a better time to join the U of M....there is so much stuff going on with new things popping up and a new train connection between Minneapolis and St. Paul that runs right through the U -- fun times!
If you are planning on relocating here for school I think you'll love it!
P.S. We need somebody to help make the Gophers legitimate basketball contenders again!!
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