Can colleges still guess your race if you select "I'd prefer not to tell"?

Applying to College
1

<p>If someone were to select "I'd prefer not to tell" on the college application, but their name was clearly indicative of their race (Ex: Alex Kim, Rahul Patel), will the colleges not take their race into account, or will they just guess it?</p>

2

<p>Well of course, it would only be human to guess it.</p>

3

<p>Colleges try not to make inferences from names, but it’s hard not to. That said, <a href=“Secrets of Dartmouth Admissions Office”>Secrets of Dartmouth Admissions Office; </p>

<p>

[quote]
“There was one girl who sued Princeton claiming she was discriminated against for being Asian, so you do find that some Asians can be disadvantaged in the process, and not only because admissions committees think about Asians in a specific way, but because recommenders do too. When reading recommendations you see these words—“diligent,” “hardworking”—because people tend to see East Asians in a certain way. You rarely see “creative” or “strong intellectual bent,” and they are less likely to be seen as “freethinking.” Same with issues of character.But at Dartmouth there was not much discrimination against Asian Americans, since they were considered a historical minority at the school.”</p>

4

<p>If it were you reading the application file, and the applicant had an “obvious” last name, could you help yourself from not having a mental image of the person? </p>

<p>In any case, check your HS transcript. It may already have your racial designation on it. </p>

5

<p>For the top schools, adcom could care less about name. It’s all computerized, check the box about race or decline, btw it really doesn’t matter one way or the other. If you standout, you will stand out regardless of name or race. BTW the statistics of admissions prove that being Asian is favored by adcom, not discriminated. Only in backstreet gossip is it believed that the good Asian candidate will face discrimination. I am Hispanic and got into a pretty good school. A couple Asian candidates, at my school, did not get into the same school, and of course the whispers started. But the truth is they needed to take the SAT several times to match my one time SAT. Also their SAT II were not likely as good. I know by ranking their GPA wasn’t as high as mine. Also they had no verifiable EC’s. Lastly, I’m taller and better looking :)</p>

6

<p>

Please enlighten us and show us the numbers.</p>

7

<p>If a race is over represented, then obviously such race is favored. This does not mean that favoritism is unjustified. I believe Asian overrepresentation is earned and therefore justified. However to argue discrimination in light of overrepresentation is not logical.</p>

8

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</p>

<p>You are missing half the equation. You have to consider how many applicants of that race actually apply. </p>

<p>Just because Christopher gets more Xmas presents than Saul, does not mean mean Santa likes Christopher more than Saul…</p>

<p>Here is Umich admissions data from 1999 to 2005: </p>

<p>column1: Applicants<br>
column2: Admittees </p>

<p>** 1999 **<br>
6% | 6% | Black
3% | 3% | Hispanic
14% | 13% | Asian
77% | 78% | White</p>

<p>** 2003 **<br>
7% | 7% | Black
3% | 5% | Hispanic
18% | 14% | Asian
72% | 75% | White</p>

<p>** 2004 **<br>
6% | 7% | Black
4% | 5% | Hispanic
18% | 16% | Asian
72% | 73% | White</p>

<p>** 2005 **<br>
6% | 7% | Black
4% | 5% | Hispanic
19% | 17% | Asian
71% | 71% | White</p>

<p>The reason there are disproportionately more Asian students at UMich is because disproportionately more Asian students apply. But the Asian students actually have a lower rate of admission compared to other groups.</p>

9

<p>[/Just because Christopher gets more Xmas presents than Saul, does not mean mean Santa likes Christopher more than Saul]</p>

<p>It’s more logical to assume that Santa does like Chris than to assume that he does not. </p>

<p>10 year old data is not relevant. </p>

10

<p>It seems like this thread should be melded into: <a href=“"Race" in College Admission FAQ & Discussion 11 - Applying to College - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1544837-race-in-college-admission-faq-discussion-11-p1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

11

<p>I tend to agree and will close this thread. If it had stayed focused on the question asked by the OP, then I think this is a very specific subset question of that broader thread and would have left it open. But it has already turned into the more general topic of admissions by race.</p>