<p>"Could the "something" have been his URM status which prevented adcoms from even looking at other parts of his apps to discover that he belonged to the Honors program? "</p>
<p>marite, I actually think that's too far fetched. Moreso (and similar to your explanation, without the overt prejudiced agenda) , I think UM's approach to AfAms is just careless. Perhaps he got into UM via some mechanized process, which assigned him to a program because his GPA wasn't 3.5. Later, I bet his app was sent to someone who reviews admitted URM apps for recruitment purposes and it was read carefully enough to have someone note the ECs and prep school background. Suddenly, he looked better than he did via the "mechanized" screening. Just my theory.......</p>
<p>Remember, he first learned about the Honors admission via a call that came to his school GC (this was about a month after the initial letter of general admission). So, at that point, his app was on someone's desk. That was when things changed and they began the business of recruiting.</p>
<p>AA opponents will argue that AA made him attractive, not ECs. This isn't true in this case. He was attractive without the box being checked. But, ANY school would have had to really read his app to judge accurately.</p>