<p>I was going through an article published by The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, and came across recent acceptance rates at the nation's top Liberal Arts Colleges.</p>
<p>The acceptance rate at williams is 50% for Black Americans, 70% at middlebury, 50% at amherst...this is incredible. </p>
<p>Could acceptance at top LAC for qualified Black Applicants be easily gained?</p>
<p>It is true from what I've heard...is it reverse discrimination? Maybe.</p>
<p>does the same hold true for hispanics?</p>
<p>For Class of 2010, "39% of accepted students identify as American students of color" per Admissions statistics reported in the Williams Record 4/12/06.</p>
<p>but onemoremom, those statistics are simply the total number of applicants accepted who are minorities. Although the class of 2010 may be 39% URM, those statistics don't say the separate acceptance rate namely for Blacks Hispanics and Native Americans. </p>
<p>As of 2005, williams stopped reporting the number of Black Americans who were accepted in proportion to the number who applied, so JBHE can't deduce the separate acceptance rate for minorites. However, for the most recent year (2004) the acceptance rate for black americans was 49.8%.</p>
<p>Total Acceptance Rate: 19%
Black American AR: 49.8%
BIG difference.</p>
<p>Think About this: if Williams' acceptance rate DOUBLES form 20-40% for White ED Applicants, then the assumption that the overall acceptance rate of 5/10 black applicants doubles to 8-9/10. That's 80-90%. Wow.</p>
<p>But Wait: There's more. Middlebury's Black Acceptance rate is a whopping 70% for 2004. woooow...</p>
<p>DittoGal ,I'm guessing the Acceptance Rate for non-white hispanics is similar, given that Black Americans and Hispanics are statistically similar.
What amazes me is that this principal holds true for ALL elite LAC except Davidson. Amherst & Pomona's Black acceptance rates mock Williams', so i'm guessing the aforementioned proportions are similar for all three schools. </p>
<p>That means a Black Applicant definitely "should not be discouraged from applying" (quote: JBHE) from these schools. Translation: "if you're black, you're in."</p>
<p>But Andrea, I wouldn't be so quick to declare reverse discrimination.
Please realize that most Williams applicants are rich/upper middle class, and white. I'd say the proportion of White: Black applicants stands at 13:1.
Then, you've got to consider that only maybe 60% of those Black students who are accepted choose Williams. If Williams has to bust its (collective) butt just trying to control White matriculation, imagine what it has to do to keep its black students from going to schools like HYP, which are much too eager to take them. I would say they'd accept "a lot" of Blacks.</p>
<p>I think anti-AA people are slightly prejudiced, or ignorant. URM wanna go to good schools too. What I don't want to see is a nation of Cal-Techs.</p>
<p>For the record: I am Black.</p>
<p>Hmm, is this what affirmative action has come to?</p>
<p>wow very interesting.</p>
<p>Today's Caucasian males are atoning for 300 years of dominance by our country's forefathers..</p>
<p>Minorities should have equal odds of being accepted to any institution as any white male/female.</p>
<p>I think the feelings motivating discussions like this are part of what made me feel uncomfortable at Williams. Williams is a noticably whiter and richer school than its peers. While the acceptance rate may be quite high for underrepresented minorities, the absolute numbers are still shockingly low, so you should not worry too about your white little brothers and sisters or neighbors getting rejected because of hordes of black applicants beating down the doors to get into Williams. It takes an amazing sense of entitlement to claim that there is reverse discrimination at williams, a bastion of white (male) priviledge - especially considering preferences for legacies and athletes that still overwhelmingly favor black applicants. Sorry if i'm ranting here.</p>
<p>What I think would be ideal is instead of affirmative action for minorities, there should be affirmative action on the basis of socio-economics. I know, this is impossible in a school with a need-blind admissions policy, but it seems to make more sense. While it is true that a vast majority of impoverished people in our country are URMs, I have a friend who's an extremely well-off URM, and another who's an extremely poor white male. If the point of affirmative action is to provide opportunities to people who wouldn't otherwise have had the chance, wouldn't it make more sense to recruit based on economics?</p>
<p>rhapsody - I think colleges do what you are suggesting already - it is a plus in the admissions process to be a first generation college student. This is also why the college applications ask for parents' occupations. And this is why Williams is now part of the Questbridge program.</p>
<p>
[quote]
you've got to consider that only maybe 60% of those Black students who are accepted choose Williams.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I would be astonished if the yield is anywhere near that high. In general, yields for accepted students at the top LAC's, even at Williams, are well below those of the Ivies, and lower still for URM's. </p>
<p>Williams overall yield, including all races and ethnicities and including ED is just under 50%. Middlebury yield is 45%.</p>
<p>Acceptance rate ignores qualifications. Not that many URM's are even interested in going to Williams, so it may be that only exceptionally well-qualified good-fit kids even apply.</p>
<p>I personally believe JBHE should quit posting stuff like this. All it does is drive attention to URM "reverse discrimination" as Anti-AAers like to say. Nevertheless, here is a direct quote from the website itself:</p>
<p>interesting quote from JBHE:</p>
<p>Quote from: <a href="http://www.jbhe.com/news_views/47_black-admissions_colleges.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.jbhe.com/news_views/47_black-admissions_colleges.html</a></p>
<p>"Mid-dlebury College had the highest black applicant acceptance rate of these 27 institutions. At this highly selective college in Vermont, 58, or 71.6 percent, of the 81 black applicants were accepted for admission"</p>
<p>Middlebury once again sits at the top. The average black applicant acceptance rate at Middlebury over the past 10 years is 68 percent. Thus, on average, over two thirds of all black applicants to Middlebury over the past 10 years have been accepted for admission. </p>
<p>Probably one reason for the high black student acceptance rate at Middlebury is the fact that the college has consistently had to cope with a low black student yield. Therefore, it appears to accept a large number of black applicants in order to maintain some level of racial diversity on its remote Vermont campus. </p>
<p>JBHE research also shows that nearly two thirds of all black applicants to Macalester College in Minnesota are accepted. At Carleton College, also in chilly Minnesota, an average of 58 percent of black applicants have been approved for admission over the past decade. But note that there have been wide fluctuations in the black acceptance rate. In 1997, 80 percent of all blacks were admitted.</p>
<p>"it is a plus in the admissions process to be a first generation college student"</p>
<p>That really isn't fair. And I still wouldn't think it was fair if I was one myself.</p>
<p>I agree completely wth rhapsody. I go to school with far too many well-off minorities and I've known far too many struggling white students to support affirmative action. They may not be the norm, but we need a system that helps, rather than screws over those that fall outside of the stereotypes. And I actually think there is <em>some</em> fairness to first-generation preference. What I can't stand is legacy...</p>
<p>I can't stand the legacy thing either, but I still won't agree that the first generation thing is fair. Its not. There should be no preference simply because one's parents could not or would not attend college.</p>
<p>Actually, Xanadu, nearly 10% of the Williams student body is comprised of African-Americans (a higher percentage than at virtually all other LACs), and legacies do not get the immense pull you are suggesting, unless their folks are "big donors."</p>
<p>Did anyone ever think that maybe it's supply and demand? The number of African American students with the stats to get into Williams may be small. These same students are probably applying to other top colleges, so the competition to get them may be fierce. Let's say 500 AA students apply to Williams and that Williams would like to have approx. 100 AA students per class. Williams probably knows that a high percentage of their AA acceptees will attend a competitor college. Therefore they accept 250 (50%) to get their target of 100 students. On the other hand, there may be 5000 white students who apply. Williams cannot accept 50% of these students probably due to class size, etc. Just because 50% of the AA were accepted does not mean they were unqualified. It means that they are a rare commodity in the college admissions game. I bet the acceptance rate of students from Montana, Dakotas, Wyoming, etc are alot higher than those from Mass, NY, NJ, CT, etc. Doesn't mean a student from Montana is not qualified or a lesser candidate. Just like AA's he/she is a rare commodity. Now, and AA from Wyoming... I guess they've got it made!</p>
<p>Prefect I could not have said it better myself. As a Hispanic first year Williams student, allow me to add further to your post. A recent study conducted at 28 of the nations top rated schools found that a disproportionately number of qualified black applicants were second and third generation descendants of immigrants. Amherst, Williams, and other elite Colleges now use an applicants zip code and high school profile to determine that person's socio-economic standing. Contrary to popular opinion, low-middle income whites qualify for diversity initiatives offered by most top schools. I would also like to point out that under no circumstance, will the admissions officers admit an applicant who is not "qualified", regardless of race. It would not be in the schools best interest to admit students that are ill-equipped to remain in a rigorously academic environment such as Williams. Therefore, stating that "if you're black you'll get in" is highly inaccurate. In all likelihood, the graduation rate of minority students at Williams is equal to, if not greater, than the graduation rate of white students.
I think most people here also need to remember that a high number of Williamss students are born extremely privilegedover 60 percent of the student body pays full tuition, $42,000 a year. If it is unfair for a low-middle income minority student with slightly lower SAT scores to gain admittance, then is equally unfair for a high income white student with higher SAT scores to gain admittance.</p>