<p>^^^What’s the different between an African-American students culture and a White-Americans culture? I’ll tell you. There is no difference.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>So wait, all we need to do to rectify the “UR” in “URM” is to encourage "URM"s to apply? Then…WHY DO WE NEED RACIAL PREFERENCES?!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>When did I ever say that I didn’t like that? Is it really that hard for you to accept that I don’t believe that the SAT is everything? If it is, just tell me and I’ll stop asking.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes. It seems that there is a conflict between those who WANT the overriding value of American higher education to be “the very absolute smartest, all thrown together to live and learn from one another” when in fact the overriding value of American higher education is “a diverse mix of smart people, all thrown together to live and learn from one another.”</p>
<p>Caltech is a top notch school that admits much more “by the numbers.” While certainly an excellent school, there’s a reason that it doesn’t capture the imagination and have the social bona fides of Harvard et al. And part of that is precisely because Caltech doesn’t spend a lot of time trying to create the most diverse soup.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Maybe we need both encouragement of URM’s to apply AND racial preferences.</p>
<p>It makes me sick that Asians have to work twice as hard to have less of a chance of getting accepted while URMs can do less and get accepted. It’s not right.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Correct. Different mission, more narrow focus.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Both of these posts show a profound ignorance of American history, American educational differences, and American class dynamics.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>So, you’re saying that middle class blacks have an excuse for doing less? Really? There aren’t poor whites? There aren’t poor asians? Are you saying that URMs only go to bad schools? Poor asians consistently do better than middle-class blacks, why is that?</p>
<p>Tell me the difference between a suburban white family and a suburban black family</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>But why? Recall that woeishe asked, “But why would URMs be in low numbers if they were as equally qualified as other Applicants?”</p>
<p>epiphany answered, “They don’t apply in numbers nearly equalling those of other groups.”</p>
<p>The solution, then, appears clear: simply encourage more "URM"s to apply, and the “UR” in “URM” will disappear. No racial preference necessary.</p>
<p>Just curious. If a school has legacy preferences, does that mean they have instituted a quota on non-legacies? If a school offers scholarships to athletes, does that mean they have instituted a quota on non-athletes?</p>
<p>Whatever. You guys really don’t get that a campus without at least some minimum critical mass of pretty-much-everything-under-the-sun would be incredibly unappealing. Nope, it’s all about qualifications for the academic materials and nothing else. It’s basically Asia redux.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>More like, “Whatever. You really don’t get that I don’t believe that the SAT is everything. Nope, even if I say it 105 times, you’ll always think that I think the SAT is everything. It’s basically…well, I don’t even know what to call it.”</p>
<p>And how “minimum” is minimum and how is “minimum” not a quota? Does Berkeley fit the “minimum”?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Over 30% of Harvard’s students are Jewish, please explain how this is diverse? US Asians are from the biggest continent in the world, it’s not just Chinese and Koreans and Indians.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Accepted where?<br>
It’s only a problem for the unsophisticated people who define the only places that are worthwhile as being HYPSM et al. People with more sophistication, who see that the US has a lot of excellent universities all of which can provide great opportunities, don’t need to get so worked up over being rejected from a particular few that they idolize beyond all reasonableness.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Beats me. I don’t particularly care one way or the other about Berkeley; it just doesn’t loom that large in my life like it does for some people on CC.</p>
<p>I think a lot of boomers who came of age during the Civil Rights Movement just can’t let go of this issue. It was the defining issue of our age, probably. I get that. But it’s really time to look for more meaningful definitions of “diversity”.</p>
<p>Oh, and I see Pizzagirl is now calling people who don’t agree with her “unsophisticated.” Well, I guess that’s better than “lacking in class”!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>By calling someone “unsophisticated” you are, therefore, being unsophisticated.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Exactly, and that was precisely the point I was trying to make. If two people with similar accomplishments apply to the same elite institution, the one who succeeded despite economic disadvantage can have an edge in admissions only over someone in his own race. I’m waiting for someone to provide the evidence that an Asian student coming from a low socioeconomic background will still have an edge over another student who can claim the underrepresented minority status when the two have similar qualifications.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Why? Because you don’t think Black and Latino students add anything worthwhile to the Harvard experience? Or is it because you think that opportunities for achievement in K-12 have been equalized among all the races in America? Or is there another reason?</p>