<p>iamanasianguy,</p>
<p>Congratulations on your acceptance to MIT!</p>
<p>I found your original post trully refreshing.</p>
<p>Meh. I think it's still good to keep the races balanced somewhat. Cultural diveristy IS important. And also, as someone mentioned already, Americans value independence more than they do ability. i.e. They would rather take a Mexican who can think for himself than an Asian who (presumably, from his interests in math and science) is "molded." It is a little unfair, but it has to be done somewhat. Actually, the argument is less about race than it is about the way the admissions process works and disparities in history and customs from those of Asian culture. </p>
<p>Although...it was really annoying when I applied. Haha I feel for you. I had to try so hard to try not to sound or come off as Asian on all of my applications. I do math and science because I am good at them, and I do music because at an early age, my mom started letting me take lessons, and now I truly enjoy it.</p>
<p>As a female, I think that affirmative action is a very hard subject to have and opinion on. On the one hand it is often implemented as reverse racism. I don't think it's fair at all for someone to get in because of things they can't controll. Also, I'm applying RD, but if I do get in I want to get in because I am qualified, not because I have different anatomy than a guy. And I really don't want to have to deal with accusations that I got in purely because I am a girl. On the other hand, one of the things that attracted me to MIT was the fact that there is a low guy:girl ratio compared to so many other schools. I want a balanced learning environment and diverse experiences because that's what the real world is like. One of the main reasons I didn't pick Brandeis (aside from the fact that it doesn't offer engineering) is that it's 60% Jewish. I am a proud Jew. I'm active in my youth group and overall pretty religious, but Brandeis would be like going to school with myself. It's a very unrealistic atmosphere.
Basically what I'm trying to say is that theoretically I don't believe in affirmative action I think it is a necessary evil. I think people need to understand that the world isn't perfect and having it is better than ignoring the issue. And honestly if you are truly more qualified than someone else you will get in. I think they use it to distinguish between two similar students. Especially with applicant numbers growing there has to be some way to differentiate between two people with similar statistics. Affirmative action may be the only way to do it.
p.s. Sorry if this didn't make any sense at all. I'm a big ranter.</p>
<p>
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I really don't want to have to deal with accusations that I got in purely because I am a girl.
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Luckily, that kind of crap doesn't go on when you're actually at MIT, where nobody gives a fig if you are male, female, black, white, or purple, so long as you can contribute to problem set groups.</p>
<p>not asian. chinese parents beat their kids to study.</p>
<p>not me though. im a certified chinese failure in life :]</p>
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chinese parents beat their kids to study.
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That did happen a lot 15 years ago. I hardly know any parents beat their kids for their grades now.</p>