<p>@MYOS1634 thanks, you’re comment was really helpful!
Im interested in UT Austin a lot though due to it being a public, cheaper alternative but as you said, i will definitely check out those schools as well :)</p>
<p>@TigerCC2014 thanks for standing up for me 
youre awesome</p>
<p>that affirmative action will take you far. I sat next to a black kid with a 3.5, who got into Berkeley’s Economics program. They actually have a guaranteed admittance program for minorities who complete their outreach program.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t it be a silly thing if education was merit-based?</p>
<p>mikmac: you chose two odd schools to make your point - actually, admission to the UC’s is purely merit-based. Race or ethnicity does not factor in at any point. It’s the same with UTexas: race or ethnicity isn’t taken into account for 75% students, only class rank, and for the remaining 25% it’s much less important than being an athlete, a legacy, full-pay OOS, etc.
Only “'holistic” colleges take race/ethnicity into account, but they also take legacy factors into account and being a legacy helps a lot more than being URM.
And at all colleges, “merit” has various meanings, just look at how many athletes get admitted to some schools (including UNC) with scores 300, 400, 500 points below the school average and find NCAA basic requirements too tough for Div I…</p>