<p>I heard a funny story about a person applying to the UCs as African American when he wasn’t (specifically Berkeley). From the statistical averages, it looks like he’s a shoe-in but if he applied under White/Asian he only has an average chance.</p>
<p>Can you get caught if you do this? If so, what is the punishment? I’m thinking there are so many applicants/admits that they wouldn’t be able to tell if someone was lying about it or not.</p>
<p>Note: He’s from a country in North Africa that is widely considered part of the Middle East, but he felt that putting White/Middle Eastern would hurt his chances of getting in.</p>
<p>Sorry I don't know how to edit first post. Forgot to add, he's only half North-African, his mom is white. I heard he didn't check the "White (including Middle Eastern)" box though.</p>
<p>I also heard another story of a white guy who is 1/8th Hispanic and 7/8 Caucasian and only checked Hispanic.</p>
<p>I hope these people don't get screwed over if they do find out that they were exploiting loopholes</p>
<p>After a little research, I found that Berkeley does admit a very little amount of African American people to their school, but further research revealed that it was easier for these people to get in. When shown on a comparative chart, its almost hard to believe how much higher certain races' averages (SAT/GPA) were compared to other races.</p>
<p>I wish they would make the admissions process completely free of race. Right now, certain people have to work harder to get into their desired school whereas other people have a much easier time with less impressive applications.</p>
<p>Good news: UCs don't make decisions based on race. Bad news: UCs are notorious for rescinding acceptance for either lying on your application or not keeping your grades up (above a 3.0). So, he didn't need to lie to get in, but once he did he may have torpedo'd his chances.</p>
<p>It would be annoying, though, if he checked the scholarship box as well. I remember UCLA having some African American day where they invited alot of the people that applied who were black to an event and a lot of them got scholarships. Since UCLA adopted holistic admissions from Berkeley, I wouldn't be surprised if they do something like this too. Quite a difficult fix that would be.</p>
<p>" but further research revealed that it was easier for these people to get in. When shown on a comparative chart, its almost hard to believe how much higher certain races' averages (SAT/GPA) were compared to other races."</p>
<p>Can you post a link? Could this be old (2005) research?</p>
<p>I believe UCLA and UC Berkeley are the only UCs that use holistic review and so they are more likely to use race as a factor. Affirmative action and whatnot is banned yet they can still use it as a factor among other factors as well; it just cannot be the factor that decides it. The other UCs use a formula called comprehensive review; it assigns point values to different attributes. Google UC [Campus] comprehensive review and I'm sure you can find it. I know you can easily find it for Davis. The comprehensive review does not give you extra points for being a minority, however minorities are more likely to receive the points regarding socioeconomic status. Thus, many people have said that the UC comprehensive review system is simply a "backdoor" for affirmative action. Yet, I do not think that's true at all.</p>
<p>No, Rick, per Prop 209, race cannot be used as a factor at all. The fact that it probably is in holistic review is contrary to the letter and spirit of the law.</p>
<p>But I highly doubt that one of the UCs will go, 'Hey, you're not black! No acceptance for you!' And in your friend's case, where he actually is from Africa, the chances that his application will be affected by this 'lie' is nil.</p>
<p>As an aside, race is arbitrary and is generally a self reported attribute. If someone is 1/64 African and 63/64 English, for example, if the person says he is African American, he is. (One would hope he were saying this because he identified with African Americans.)</p>
<p>UCS DO NOT SEE THE RACE BUBBLE IN THE APPLICATION!!!!!!</p>
<p>seriously... u guys don't know *** ur talking about. it doesn't matter what u bubble in. the bubble is for statistical purposes only. a berkeley rep came to my school and talked about cal's admissions process. he said after the prop passed, uc's made it so admissions officers cannot see what race you bubble in. he also said how that was really stupid because he can kinda tell what race the applicant is based on their names (wu, kim, ozawa, etc) and their personal statements. he said, "but i try not to take race into account when deciding whether or not they (the applicant) are good enough to get in because its now the law (prop 209)."</p>
<p>"UCS DO NOT SEE THE RACE BUBBLE IN THE APPLICATION!!!!!!"</p>
<p>Haha. Funny guy. Of course they see it. Prop 209 means race can't be the ONLY factor. But of course it plays a part out of many. You think a rep is going to admit something like that? Names isn't enough; especially in California. My last name is Jewish but I'm half-hispanic which increases my chances.</p>
<p>Clockstrawberry, try to know what you're talking about.</p>
<p>(a) The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.</p>
<p>The UCs are completely colorblind. If they rescind because of this your friend could be in the textbooks in thirty years from now like Board v. Bakke.</p>
<p>That's probably not true either. If you write in your essay about how being black shaped your life, I'd wager money that UCBs and UCLAs admissions officers would practice under-the-table affirmative action in administering holistic review.</p>
<p>"(a) The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting."</p>
<p>And you honestly, deep down in your heart, believe that to be entirely true? Please open your eyes. If you think four people(White, Asian, Black, Native American) with the same GPA, SAT, and EC have the same shot at getting into ____ University because they will not take race into account, then it's time to start living in the real world.</p>
<p>Comprehensive review is just the UC's way of getting around the ban on affirmative action. The stuff they award points for is ridiculous. Applicants should be admitted based on their SAT scores, GPA, and EC's. Your parents income, level of education, etc shouldn't even be asked on the application. I'm all for helping pay for the kids (once they get in) that need financial help but it's ridiculous that some kids are put at a disadvantage because of their race.</p>
<p>Clockstrawberry, it'd be nice if you actually read what I posted:
"If you write in your essay about how being black shaped your life, I'd wager money that UCBs and UCLAs admissions officers would practice under-the-table affirmative action in administering holistic review."</p>
<p>I was merely saying that race is legally allowed to be a factor at all, contrary to what you said, and that the UC admissions officers do not know your race unless you volunteer it in an essay.</p>
<p>Oh, and to answer your last question, if the white or Asian kid is poor and goes to a low-performing high school and has parents who dropped out of high school, he is more likely to get in than the rich African-American kid with college-educated parents attending a high-performing high school. More often than not, however, the situation is reversed, resulting in what may seem to you as race-based affirmative action what is indeed class-based affirmative action.</p>
<p>I'm not a fan of affirmative action - either class-based or race-based - but California's system is better than that of most private colleges and many public institutions across America.</p>