I’ve heard that Cal States don’t take your race or ethnicity into account, but then why would they ask for it? I guess I just have a hard time believing this. I thought it was just accepted at this point that certain races have an easier time getting accepted into college. If I put I was Hispanic or African American would I have a better shot at getting into Cal States/UCs?
Also, I saw on a thread on this website awhile back that your race is blacked out before it gets to the admissions officers for the CSU schools, so therefore they can only guess your ethnicity by your surname. Can anyone confirm if this is true or not?
California public schools (UC’s and CSU’s) banned affirmative action so race is not considered in admission decisions. They ask your race for statistical purposes only.
Do the admission officers see your ethnicity?
If ethnicity truly doesn’t matter, then why do they require you to send in evidence if you’re Native American?
From what I heard, no personal information is associated with the applications for readers to view. I am not an admissions officer so I cannot say what is true and what is hearsay. CSU’s are all about the numbers so you meet their GPA and test criteria, you will be accepted. UC’s have the added element of essays, so race can sometimes be determined by the content of the essays.
An applicant that wants to play the race card should look into private schools where their race would be a consideration in admissions.
For CSUs, it doesn’t matter.
At UCs they are race-blind as well but, with essays, target schools, and preference given to first gen applicants, they may play an incidental role.