<p>of the 11,100 points available in the ucsd point system, 1700 are almost automatically awarded to poor minority students.
is this an example of affirmative action gone awry?</p>
<p>Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) 300- it is easy for a student in an intercity school to stand out.
Educational environment 300-again, classic lausd, intercity school syndrome
Low family income 300
First generation college attendance 300- children of immigrants
Special circumstances/ personal challenges 500</p>
<p>I am not a bigot, but i find it highly disturbing that poor students (usually children of immigrants) get such a large advantage in the admission process. in addition, isn’t it funny how api scores barely affect admissions. For example, the average gpa for admitted students at a particular uc school is 4.03. My school has a api score of 10 (out of 10), and the average gpa for admitted students is HIGHER, as are the sat scores.</p>
<p>Have you ever attended, or just looked around one of these schools? From what I’ve heard of, it’s difficult to even get academically motivated and succeed at one of these schools, due to the poor environment/teachers/administration, much less come out at top.</p>
<p>@solostard, don’t want to be mean but…</p>
<p>1) Sorry but some people don’t have the money to go to a great school like yours
2) Most of the parent didn’t even finish high school, how are they supposed to help their kids? They don’t even know how the SAT, ACT, AP etc… process work!
3) How about the parents who had to leave their home country because of a war? They have to start their life again with nothing at all.
4) Just face it, some people are more “rounded” than you are. More community services (200 hours is nothing).</p>
<p>and so on…</p>
<ul>
<li>I agree with Serafina.</li>
</ul>
<p>@solostrad, i didn’t want to be mean (i even said it before i started writing the rest of my post). Sorry, it was just an example…</p>
<p>I just wanted to show you that some people are better than you at things you might be not. I didn’t say EVERYONE was better than you. Plus, no one is perfect. I’m sure you’re a bright person with stellar grades and ECs… but life isn’t fair. I even got rejected by my dream school because of one of the reason you’ve mentioned previously. Sorry if you took it the wrong way, my bad. But you still have to understand, some people didn’t have the chance you had. This is why some people have better chances to get into schools even if they have lower grades or scores.</p>
<p>For my EC’s, I’m pretty sure they’re similar to yours. You could find it in my previous posts on CC.</p>
<p>@solostrad: this is a public forum where people can post their opinions, regradless if they concur with yours or not, so let’s try not to overreact next time, okay? There’s no need for that kind of language, especially with people you don’t even know.</p>
<p>Besides the fact that none of those specify that they are meant to benefit “poor minority students” and it is my opinion that you are reading between the lines too much, affirmative action is illegal in California. Please do your research a little better to understand this fact. Especially since it has been in the news the last several years trying to reinstate it.</p>
<p>Those points are a small drop in the bucket as there are significantly more opportunities for points than the ones you posted.</p>
<p>Affluent non-minorities have the advantage over these “poor minorities.” You got the money and the opportunities (SAT classes, tutors, good neighborhood, etc.) so why not use them to the full extent? </p>
<p>Don’t be mad just because poor minorities are able to better utilize what little resources they have.</p>
<p>“Poor minorities are able to better utilize what little resources they have.” Really?? Are you saying that kids who grow up with some resources squander them all and don’t make use of them? That’s ridiculous.</p>
<p>Sure, the UCs can’t legally utilize affirmative action, but it’s pretty clear that they bend backwards to try to get around it. The point system is just one example. Berkeley’s and LA’s “holistic” admissions is another example. Also add all of the outreach programs and basically what you get is the UC system trying to admit minority students (except for Asians, because no one ever cares about them) over other better academically qualified students.</p>
<p>The fact is that the UCs try extra, extra hard to admit blacks and latinos. I agree that they should be given opportunities, but this is currently coming at the cost of other students. I once read an article comparing an Asian and a Latino who had very similar test scores and grades (actually, the Asian had slightly higher numbers), comparable essays, and both were low income who had a parent with cancer. The Latino got admitted to both Cal and LA while the Asian was rejected from both. Apparently, the suffering of non-underrepresented minorities does not matter. Only the suffering of those the UCs want to admit counts. What a sad world we live in.</p>