<p>Does anyone know why some schools do this? I know they want a diverse group of kids but why do they take someone who isnt as smart and hasnt worked as hard as someone else</p>
<p>obviously exclude things like legacy and URM, they are always given some slack, but why the other kids?</p>
<p>Reasons for individual decisions may include the following:</p>
<ol>
<li> It's more fun to root for a winning football team.</li>
<li> It's not really a string quarter without someone to play the viola.</li>
</ol>
<p>i think most of the time its b/c of fit.</p>
<p>Because people aren't always accurately reflected by numbers.</p>
<p>what do you mean by big name colleges? some of the big state schools have a pretty big name... if that were the case, say at berkeley or ucla, each graduating class size is so big that you'll find kids who are ivy material and you'll find kids who are below average for a berkeley/ucla student.</p>
<p>i mean like the ivys, northwestern duke, wustl and those types of places (im pretty sure some ivy is some urm and legacy effect)</p>
<p>I don't think they take kids who aren't qualified---but given that you have say two similar applicants if one persson is an under represented group by gender. race, whatever than it can factor in. I don't mind that so much...but the leagcy thing seems like Affirmative Action just for having certain parents.</p>
<p>because half of the students at the school are below the average.</p>