Does Affirmative Action help that much at Colby?

After much research I found that to stand a good chance at Colby you need above a 1950 SAT and a 3.6 GPA. But recently I just found out that my friend who is black got accepted early to Colby with a 3.4 GPA and a 26 ACT. Does Affrimative Action really help that much in admissions?

the College really tries to add diversity, so if you’re a high-achieving minority, you have a really good shot

This question may relate less to affirmative action than to a general under-recognition that fully a quarter of a given school’s matriculants will fall at or below the 25th percentile in one or more statistical measures.

If you’re asking whether your race will make up for low scores, I doubt it. Colby is adamant about promoting diversity, but it’s mostly toward international students. I’m in the class of 2019 and there are only 12 African-American students in our class, so I don’t think that Affirmative Action helped us any there. If anything, I’d look into why Colby has such low numbers of minority students. Also, the admissions office looks into so many more things other than scores and race. If you’re a well-rounded student, then you most likely have a chance.

The rule of thumb is that there are students who fall below the average and those are “hooked” applicants. A “hook” means being an athlete, being a legacy, being the child of a major donor, being from an under-represented demographie (of which minority is one but so are first gen students, rural students, students from states 400+ miles away or under-represented such as the Dakotas), being someone the college needs. In other words, being URM is just one among many possible hooks. All the hooked applicants compete against each other to fill the spots the college needs filled.
If you’re unhooked, you can “create your own hook” and apply ED, since the ED students get a similar boost as the hooked applicants. They too fill a need for the college - the guarantee they won’t go anywhere else.
If you’re not hooked and not ED then you don’t have elements of your application that make it a no brainer based on your grades and scores, so ywithout the hook and the ED your record stands alone. You need to make the college want you when, on paper, you’re just like anyone else in your pool. For instance, your test scores to be at the median in your pool, need to be near/at the 75% line, for instance. Your essay needs to be personal and well-written.