<p>It hurts Asians because hard-working kids who just happen to have parents who eat with chopsticks are expected to have higher grades and test scores. However, there are even more Asian kids who are not motivated, partially because they feel that they can't live up to expectations. In fact, it is mostly children of immigrants who do well, not Asian children in general (third-generation kids are basically Asian on the outside, white on the inside).</p>
<p>It hurts white people because there are many white kids who work hard, and aren't brought up in wealthy families, yet they are placed on the same level as your All-American preppy kid who has rich parents. </p>
<p>It hurts minorities because they have to live with people assuming that they got in to college because of their minority status, and that they would have gotten rejected based on merit alone. What about the minorities who do work hard and matriculate at colleges that they would have gotten into, regardless of race? They are still seen as people who got a boost, which isn't fair at all.</p>
<p>I'm sure there are counter-points, but nevertheless, AA does hurt.</p>
<p>I completely agree! How about Race blind admissions..
Seriously I live in El Paso and I am a minority (my school has only 3% of white students) but because I am the majority in America the MAJORITY race of students in my class get aid. Not to mention that most of those getting aid have A LOT more money than I do!
How is this fair?</p>
<p>What's going on this week? All this talk of race in admissions everywhere. It's not going anywhere, so why don't people just get used to it and stop complaining?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, we are who we are. We all have situations where we are either advantaged or disadvantaged. We have got to just get through them both. I try not to boast when I am advantaged, and I try not to whine when I am disadvantaged.</p>
<p>My philosophy is do the best you can and if it's not good enough for some, just move on. Personally, I would rather have someone review me on my merits, not my race, creed, sex or color of my skin. We all know that doesn't always happen, but usually there is nothing we can do about it.</p>
<p>I do not know if Jian Li was discriminated against by Princeton University or not. I would think he loses this case in a heart beat. After all, Harvard, MIT, UPenn, and Stanford rejected him too. Maybe he can sue for collusion among all the schools that rejected him. Then Yale goes and admits him and blows my whole collusion case.</p>
<p>Seems like a headline grabbing frivolous lawsuit to me.</p>
What's going on this week? All this talk of race in admissions everywhere. It's not going anywhere, so why don't people just get used to it and stop complaining?
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<p>Did every individual in this nation get used to segregation a mere half century ago? I think not.</p>
<p>Did every individual in South Africa get used to apartheid and refuse to fight? I think not.</p>
<p>Did every individual in Algeria accept colonialism and relinquish the dream of sovereignty? I think not.</p>
<p>I think everyone understands that AA isn't on the same level as segregation apartheid, and colonialism. However, it is the same principle, giving one person an advantage over another based solely on their race.</p>
<p>I used to be completely against AA. Now, I'm in the middle after my AP US teacher last year made a very good point to me. Even if you are a white person who has never actively discriminated against a minority, it is very probable that at some point in your life you benefited from being white, even if you didn't try to. Considering the fact that many minorities are still disadvantaged in the education system today, it is unfair to expect them to meet the same standards, because in many cases, they had to work twice as hard. I come from Brooklyn where the public schooling is often inadequate if you're a minority, and you get thrown into some terrible public school where the teachers don't care and parents are working two jobs each, and the students don't have a chance unless they take it upon themselves to work hard and study in addition to many responsibilites at home. This may not be the case for all minorities living in the United States, but it cannot be disputed that minorities are more often subjected to substandard educational conditions: schools overcrowded to the point where janitors' closets and bathrooms are made into classrooms, out-of-date textbooks, teachers who'd rather be anywhere else, etc. It's not easy for them.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, I ALSO agree with many of the arguments on here made against AA. It is definitely unfair that someone gets rejected from a top college who really deserves to get in because of AA. And in a way it perpetuates racism to say that minorities need the help getting into college. If I were a minority, I would feel horrible if I were led to believe I only got into college because of the color of my skin. Yet, at this point, I don't think it's about color. It's about acknowledging that as a minority you are more likely to be disadvantaged and cannot get the education you deserve. People often think that AA implies that minorities aren't as intelligent as white people, but it doesn't imply that at all. It implies that they need the help, not for their skin color, but for having fewer educational opportunities than others.</p>
<p>Overall, though, I just think AA is a really tricky subject. There is no real right answer. There are flaws with AA but there are also flaws without it. I'm not sure what the real solution is....</p>
<p>I'm sure the same has been said to Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks... "Life's not fair, deal with it." They didn't just stand around when they saw discrimination, they FOUGHT back. It's time for us to fight back against this obvious racist policy.</p>
<p>The MLK example was pretty cheesy but I agree, this isn't a situation of "life's not fair, suck it up." "Life's not fair" applies to everyone. Discrimination applies only to a group of people and that is what makes it different</p>
<p>If the problem is the poor educational system from K-12 ,then it would seem that admitteing unprepared students to college dodges the problem and makes us feel better. Fix the schools.</p>
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schools overcrowded to the point where janitors' closets and bathrooms are made into classrooms, out-of-date textbooks, teachers who'd rather be anywhere else, etc. It's not easy for them.
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<p>If that's the reason for AA, most intls should get an edge too.
Average class sizes at my school are around/above 30 students, our lounge, cafeteria and library were turned into classrooms (now we spend our free periods in the hallways and get regularly crapped on by teachers because we are too loud), my history book ends somewhere in the 70s and my statistics textbook talks about a recent survey that was done in Oct 1967.... But I have to do much better than American kids to get into the same schools.</p>
<p>I agree that it should not be harder for internationals than Americans to gain admittance to the same schools.</p>
<p>I think that basically there's no solution to this. I really do. Every way you look at it, there's some sort of major flaw. And they should absolutely reform the education system, I agree. AA is not a solution to the problem, it's simply a temporary fix. In an ideal world all of our schools would be top notch, and the schools in minority neighborhoods wouldn't be crap. But they are. Reforming them is a process that can take years. What do we do for the minority kids who are suffering due to a poor educational system NOW?</p>
<p>I agree with what the OP said, but AA also brings some good things, like a more racially-diverse campus (which somewhat benefits everyone) and helping students from disvantaged backgrounds. Like most things in life, it's a mixed bag.</p>
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What's going on this week? All this talk of race in admissions everywhere. It's not going anywhere, so why don't people just get used to it and stop complaining?
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<p>Well, the UC system got rid of AA in the 90s, so I wouldn't say for sure that it's not going anywhere...</p>
<p>AA is unfair in the fact that it is meant to help disadvantaged kids, it usually helps rich URMs, not the poor ones. It leaves behind the poor whites, poor Asians, and does not as much for poor URMs. The solution is for race blind admissions whith AA for lower income people, not by race. However, with many "need blind" colleges, and the others in need of rich kids who can pay their way, this is not a practical solution. AA is flawed, but it could be worse. There could be no support network for URMs, and many disadvantaged ones could see no point in trying hard in school becasue there is no hope for them to get into a top college, where URM seats will just go to more legacies. </p>
<p>Also, to get into state schools, it should be easiest instate, harder OOS, and hardest for internationals. If you are instate you pay taxes and it is an institution for you because you are a citizen of the state, therefore it should not be impossible for you to gain admission. For OOS, it should be harder because you have your own state school. For internationals, you are not from this country, so state school admissions should be even harder becaseu you are not paying federal taxes, which money also goes towards all state institutions. However, private schools should do whatever they think is best. Note: both my parents came from India to state schools, so noone give me crap. They earned their assistanships and so should all internationals who need aid.</p>