<p>I agree with david218; process should be totally socio-economic. A black student coming from an upper income family offers no more diversity than a white person from the same income bracket. By checking the boxes and colleges giving allowances for applicants who are black, hispanic or Native American only further stereotypes these people as "if you are hispanic, you MUST be poor" (which is wrong to presume) and of course, if "you are white, you must be affluent and had every resource available to you". Real diversity comes from social upbringing, income and culture, not color.</p>
<p>I'm checking it and I'm Asian</p>
<p>Being Asian- INDIAN - does it hurt you or help you? I know Chinese people, etc, are not underrepresented, but what about Indians? I honestly have not seen as many Indians at ivys. What do you think?</p>
<p>damn right worldshopper, i totally agree. its really aggrivating seeing URMS who have burberry bags and way more money than my family getting a leg up simply because of their skin color. Even more annoying when people I never knew were anything but white end up getting in touch with their 1/32 peruvian heritage or whatever. Unfortunately, this superficial, race-based policy will never stop until guide books start reporting what percentage of students are in the lowest income brackets, etc.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Being Asian- INDIAN - does it hurt you or help you? I know Chinese people, etc, are not underrepresented, but what about Indians? I honestly have not seen as many Indians at ivys. What do you think?
[/quote]
I'm pretty sure that at Ivies, Indians are not URM...</p>
<p>But if they based it off of % world population...</p>
<p>david218: URMs carrying around Burberrys - that's a good one! I can totally relate! I attend school with a lot of URMs (actually I am a minority at my school and I am a white American). I also have the oldest and ugliest car in the parking lot while my URM peers are driving newer if not brand new cars their parents bought them. If they can afford to buy their kids new cars then they can afford proper SAT coaching, tutoring and other educational opportunities. I think one of the questions on the application AND on the financial aid form should be "what are the makes and years of the cars you own?"</p>
<p>Dina Dee, why not take advantage? It's the system, not you who's corrupt for allowing what I' label reverse discrimination. College admission is such a dirty game anyways, there's no room for being scrupulous and dignified, no one will notice.
I and a bunch of other people would give their right arm to have a URM status!</p>
<p>I might accept it because it's so darn tempting, but I don't think I would really want to perpetuate this whole problem. Then of course my not participating actually doesn't do much, but then again why vote right? But if I were a URM I'd feel degraded if colleges lower their standards just to let people that look like me in. To have the fact that my skin color has helped get me into a school hanging over my head would not be something I'd want to have to live with. So yes then socio-economic is the way to go by far. Then I'd be the one with the advantage. But not only that... It just makes sense. </p>
<p>Oh and I know that the majority of URMs are deserving of their acceptances, but I don't think race should be a factor when deciding between two like candidates.</p>
<p>Trust me, not all of us URM's are like that lol :D</p>
<p>but it's not fair to either nonURMs or URMs to assume that no URMs are like that, and to assume that all nonURMs are.</p>
<p>How about this situation...</p>
<p>My father is pretty white, but my mom is about 75% mexican, my grandmother is 100% mexican...can i say i am mexican? i look pretty mexican...but not straight from mexico-mexican looking...if i interview i dont want them to think im lying?</p>
<p>is that enough to be a URM or no?</p>
<p>My friend's only half black and he put it down, even with the interviews and whatnot. Of course he doesn't look either black or white. People ask what country in the middle east he's from all of the time. HAHA</p>
<p>Costocollege: Yea, my great-grandmother is 100% Mexican and my grandmother lived in Mexico (although her Dad was American). I am fluent in Spanish and I do like tacos (LOL). I also love Mexican and Latin American cultures and music (for real).</p>
<p>You're missing the point, URM means UNDER-REPRESENTED MINORITY. AA exists because the percentages of minorities at colleges is lower than their percentage in the general population. And socio-economics doesn't solve all problems. I dont know the reason (although I have a few ideas), but even middle and upper class minorities lag behind their white and Asian counterparts. </p>
<p>A lot of my friends complain that I get to check off the black box even though my parents make so much money I don't qualify for finaid. However, I think its makes simple management enrollment sense. If a wealthy URM and a wealthy Asian both have 1500s, 4.0, and decent ECs, why shouldn't the adcoms pick the appplicant who hails from an underrepresented background? It just makes sense.</p>
<p>However, why not choose the Asian?</p>
<p>Sure emperor even if we go with that.. then what if in the situation, the asian lives below poverty? The wealthy URM STILL has the advantage in the admissions process, because a college gets no special treats for helping poor people get an education, but they do if they choose based on a person's skin color. It just doesn't make sense.</p>
<p>And in actuality, when it's down to an Asian and a URM who are on the same level economically, and who have basically matching stats, then why don't the adcoms just pick the one they feel is the best match for their college? Obviously, they aren't going to have the same essays and ECs, so they could make the decision based on that. It just makes sense that a college would accept the applicant that the adcoms feel would be the most successful.</p>
<p>I think you all should consider that affirmative action takes into account a LOT more than your race/ethnicity/cultural affiliation. It also takes into account your socioeconomic status and geographic location among other factors--like if you're the first person in your family to go to college. Further, affirmative action and programs that help (ethnic, economic, geographic) "minority" aren't really aimed so much at leveling the playing field anymore. They're more because colleges (especially top-tier schools) want you to learn about and from each other and all the knowledge you are privileged to just because of who you are. They want you to be proud of who you are, so go ahead and check your (rightful) box.</p>
<p>:)</p>