<p>so to set the record straight. am mexican american 1/600+ students, top weighted ever achieved in school,new all top administrators and had excellent recs and a very rare EC that less than 10 ppl have in my group, and i still didn't get in. top sat too... 1500/1600 m/v</p>
<p>so... to all who think it's just easy usin' AA, everyone is wrong.</p>
<p>Got a perfect score in Math, stellar recs, president of 2-3 things, no less than a 4 on any AP test I've taken, top 5%, African American, didn't get in.</p>
<p>AA doesn't always get you in.</p>
<p>ok, now i feel better</p>
<p>hmmm, maybe there were other things at play. i am african american, and to be honest, i feel as if my stats are much lower than some of the other URMs rejected (btw, i was accepted). my friend who is much higher ranked than me, got waitlisted. she is also african american...</p>
<p>Thank you so much for posting this. I know you are probably disappointed with your decisions and it is generous of you to share your experience despite your disappontment. Ivy acceptance decisions are not made by formulae. Many well-qualified URMs are not being accepted to the "elite" schools and many are being accepted. Being URM is NOT a hook. It's an edge.</p>
<p>Then mine was quite an edge (that, and God must be on my side---guiding the vote of the admissions committee??) LOL...either way, I still think it's a miracle.</p>
<p>amnesia & JD - i am so pulling for you two! GL this pm!</p>
<p>More thanks for sharing this. It's important for the board to see.</p>
<p>I believe it's unfair to say that simple minority status will guarantee your acceptance. Furthermore, I don't believe that these ivy leagues have such a dearth of minority applicants as to where simple SAT scores can truly determine who they accept. While being a minority may push you over the edge, I think that they definitely look at your dedication to your EC's and your level of achievement as well. That being said, I'm sorry for the high achieving minorities that weren't accepted, but this thread proves that the standards for minorities aren't set as low as many people assume.</p>
<p>AA can only take you so far. To get rid of your alcoholism is up to you.</p>
<p>Oh, wait, we're talking about affirmative action. Well, it's nice to have, but not a guarentee of admission, nor is being white/asian a guarenteed reject.</p>
<p>ok everyone knows blacks/hispanics have an edge when applying to top schools, so if some black girl gets into harvard with scores that belong at Boston University or New York University...then we all know what lead to her admissions (SKIN COLOR!)</p>
<p>its not fair. its not fair that minorities usually have to deal with bad schools/teachers/classrooms/neighborhoods....and its also not fair that the handful of educated minorities with good scores are taking spots at top colleges who accept excellent scores....im just speaking the truth...</p>
<p>i think the system is messed up, and that affirmative action is not the answer. they need to improve the school systems in poor district areas to decrease the size of the gap. its not fair to either groups involved.</p>
<p>The words of Dr. Martin Luther King regarding affirmative action:</p>
<p>"Imagine running a race and your opponent has a 300 year head start."</p>
<p>MLK also said people should be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.</p>
<p>Are we to believe that three hundred years of oppression has somehow relegated a colored man to three hundred years behind whites intellectually?</p>
<p>Yes.</p>
<p>The oppression never ended. It officially ended in the late 60's, early 70's, but we all see hate crimes based on skin color to this day. I don't think a black girl "with scores that belong at Boston University or New York University" would be accepted into Harvard University unless she truly set herself apart in her community. Furthermore, if said black girl grew up in the worst ghetto in town and still managed to become succesful, more power to her! How can you expect an extremely disadvantaged person to compete with a student whose parents make 250k a year. The educated minority - if she from an upper income family, will be figured out by the ad comm; the admissions office often checks out the average income in your zip code. Lastly, if you're bitter due to not being accepted to these schools, look at the numbers. Many more white people are accepted each year than minorities. If you can't make it in out of such a large percentage of the class, don't blame it on the minorities. The ad comm isn't going to admit an unqualified student who will fail miserably at the school, they've played this game too long to be so swayed by skin color.</p>
<p>I believe this thread was not intended to become another AA argument, but to show that sometimes AA doesn't seem to be much help.</p>
<p>Flipsta_G: yes. But given the direction the thread has turned, I think I'll put in my two cents:</p>
<p>Harvard is a private institution, free to admit any class of student it damn well pleases. Every college I've heard from talks about how they look for 'fit' in the student. They want every student to be suitable for their school, and moreover, they want the class as a whole to be suitable for a school. Undoubtedly, with Harvard, a significant percentage of the applicant pool is, individually, suitable for Harvard. </p>
<p>So, it's up to the admissions office to build a class from this pool with the values and diversities they want their class to have, which they can and should define however they want with total justification. Ultimately, every school's adcom has to serve the school's interests in admitting the class, right? There's nothing wrong with that, and it's just tough luck if someone "with less stats" gets in, regardless of race, gender, number of ears, and badminton ability.</p>
<p>Anyways, I got waitlisted, so I didn't get in either. The letter was nice though.</p>
<p>One of the points I always found attractive, Divanny, about the Ivy League was that they look at individual circumstances and choose those who make the best of them. Even so, for anyone to think that race plays no part is to believe a lie. The colleges affirm this themselves. But more is made out of all of this than should be. </p>
<p>I should think whites always make up the majority of applicants; they do make up most of the American spectrum, lol! As for oppression, I look at my hispanic friends and white friends, and they are not perpetrating crimes towards each other at all, certainly not based on race. Moreover, racial crime cannot be equated with oppression, unless the crimes are preventing the minority from practicing their government sanctioned rights. A man may kill out of racial motives, but to assume that by that action he oppresses a whole race is to commit a faulty comparison. </p>
<p>Anyway, all of this is rather off the main point of the forum, and really doesn't follow the spirit of the website. We might get banned or something, so best get back to the subject. :)</p>
<p>Eh, I'm sorry. I've received so many hateful comments and messages due to my acceptances at some top-tier schools. This issue quickly becomes a sensitive point. I understand that race does account for a slight edge in admissions, but I still don't believe that it's the defining force many make it out to be. I suppose as a minority in an area with many negative viewpoints towards hispanics and african americans (my town used to be the houston area hq for the KKK), I face much of this hatred on a daily basis. It's difficult to believe in said equality when discrimination is so prevalent. Furthermore, I see the oppression as a self-fulfilling prophecy. It isn't other races that often stop progression so much as fellow members of that race. Many hispanic youth choose against applying to colleges or out of state universities due to cultural values.</p>
<p>i don't 'blame it on the minorities' if you are referring to my post.</p>
<p>i think that affirmative action is racist and i also believe that the education system is racist.</p>
<p>its racist to admit students based on ethnicity, and its also racist the way schools are set up. the way that low income/minorities have to deal with bad schools/teachers/environments/classrooms/neighborhoods/etc....</p>
<p>but nobody wants to get to the real issue, which is the equal distribution of a decent education. they don't actually want to educate blacks/hispanics, they rather keep them down and pretend as if they are helping these minorities with affirmative action.
affirmative action = racist
the school systems = racist...</p>
<p>two wrongs dont make a right, but nobody can tackle the real issue bc it runs so much deeper than education. the rich and poor will never be given the same education, bc the rich are running the show, and to educate the majority of the poor, would not be in their best interest.</p>
<p>its ashame = /</p>
<p>i tried to put that in very, very simple terms = )</p>