<p>Hey, I applied ED and was wondering how much Cornell takes into account ethnicity. My stats are about average for cornell acceptance (2170 sat, top 5%), and I was wondering if the fact that I'm Mexican is going to "seal the deal."</p>
<p>Sure. Good stats + URM status compared with someone with just good stats will give you the competitive edge. I don’t like the idea though, but who am I to say, I’m Asian and don’t benefit from this type of thing. I’m sure if I benefited from it, I would not have the same perspective. Unfortunately, I don’t.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m not actually full Mexican, but my guidance counselor told me to definitely put it down.</p>
<p>By “seal the deal”, you mean get you in for sure, then no. There’s no guarantee of course, but it will help you.</p>
<p>Being hispanic is by far (altho it competes w/ native americans) the most helpful ethnicity in college admissions. For some reason the % of Hispanics living in the US compared to the % who go to college is drastically different. So you definitely get an edge</p>
<p>Wait, shouldn’t you have heard by now? Or are you deferred and waiting for RD? Yes, URM does help, but it doesn’t guarantee admission. However, the fact that you have very good stats and you applied to Cornell early should help you.</p>
<p>remember, the fact that you’re a Mexican doesn’t automatically make you an URM. other factors have to be taken into consideration such as race, family income, school type, community, etc.</p>
<p>URM, according to Cornell website, has the same acceptance rate as non-URM. </p>
<p><a href=“http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000153.pdf[/url]”>http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000153.pdf</a></p>
<p>Asians might be included in the URM, so “real URMs” might have slightly higher admission rate.</p>
<p>Asians are included as “minority” in that list.</p>
<p>Also, there is nothing in that list that indicates how the qualifications of the minority applicants compared to that of the other applicants. </p>
<p>To give an oversimplified example: Let’s say that 10 white kids, with an average SAT score of 2200, applied to Cornell, and 4 got in. Let’s also say that 10 Hispanic kids, with an average SAT score of 2100 (100 points lower then the white applicants’ average) applied to Cornell, and 4 got in. Both groups would have a 40% admission rate, but the Hispanic students would have had an advantage because they were admitted despite lower scores.</p>
<p>Of course, I have no idea whether anything like this happens in real life. But if it does, the chart that Neineibu provided would not reveal it.</p>
<p>“Both groups would have a 40% admission rate, but the Hispanic students would have had an advantage because they were admitted despite lower scores.”</p>
<p>who is to say that these Hispanic kids would have had an advantage? i can’t stand it when people look at ethnicity and test scores alone, and then determine that a group of people had an “advantage” in admissions. you don’t know what the extra curricular activities, high school course-load, work experience, essays, recommendations (or whether or not these students overcame hardship), etc. were of these students who had “an advantage” had.</p>
<p>The hypothetical was qualified with the introductory phrase, “to give an oversimplified example…” so no need to jump on it.</p>
<p>“The hypothetical was qualified with the introductory phrase…”</p>
<p>well its a bad and unfair example, even if it is “oversimplified.” during the 2000 elections, george bush supporters made calls asking them how they would feel if john mccain had a relationship with a “black woman” and they had a child? this was a hypothetical as well, but like the statement above it was also undue and misleading…more than enough i feel to bring about my earlier response.</p>
<p>“who is to say that these Hispanic kids would have had an advantage?”</p>
<p>hmm lets c…CORNELL. They use affirmative action…and that’s a fact. It doesn’t mean it will change everyone’s destiny or anything but hispanic kids have an advantage…wat’s hard to understand about that? It will be the best applicants who get in no matter what, but AA gives certain ethnicities an advantage. That’s just how it is…how can u get worked up and deny a fact? It’s not like we are saying that bad applicants will get in or anything…</p>
<p>yep, figgy is right. </p>
<p>It’s a plus. If you have the right skin color, you’ll have an easier time getting in. Being black is the biggest plus right now (along side with native americans), mexicans are so-so (you can be white as a ghost and mexican … like me!).</p>
<p>To the OP: Yes it is a significant advantage! With those stats, i’d says that you are pretty much in unless you applied to AEM or something</p>
<p>nobody is a lock for Cornell - trust me. There’s so much that goes into the whole process…</p>
<p>"hmm lets c…CORNELL. They use affirmative action…and that’s a fact…how can u get worked up and deny a fact? "</p>
<p>umm, you obviously didn’t get what i was referring to when i said “these hispanics.” i was referring to the example given by the user before me who compared 10 hispanics with 100 pts lower on their SAT than their 10 white counterparts. in this case, and especially without knowing the whole picture, you can’t just go saying that these students (hypothetically speaking, of course) had an advantage. that’s not being fair to all students involved. after all, the hypothetical grades of these hispanics fall within the 50-75% SAT percentile for accepted students. and nobody is denying anything. </p>
<p>but i agree with gomestar, nobody is a lock.</p>
<p>If you say that it’s unfair to assume that the 10 hispanic students didn’t have a competitive edge over the 10 white students (white is a bad example, by the way, because they have other confounding variables like social status, legacies, and money, which all help them, but anyway) in terms of “overcoming hardships,” personal statements, interviews, and whatever other factor, then I think you’re missing the point when it comes to correlational observations about test scores and admissions in terms of URM status or non-URM status. Although it is only a correlation, there is strong evidence that the relation is causual:
- The whole point of affirmative action aims to give an advantage (unfairly, in my opinion) to people based on skin pigmentation concentration (if you disagree, then just ask the university to define affirmative action and it will be a similar but more politically correct phrasing).
- Observe the size of the applicant pool of the asian-american students to top schools such as the ivy leagues or mit or stanford etc. (and please don’t tell me that they didn’t get in due to a personality defect).
- The fact that hispanics are being admitted over other students with the same scores means that at least some of them were given priority simply because of race. Otherwise, you are claiming that hispanics have better personalities than white students on average.</p>
<p>My biggest concern about people who get offended because someone states the truth about affirmative action is that they tend to automatically and subconsciously justify unequal treatment of races by simply calling the “other” people that didn’t get in less sociable or less personable. I find this disturbing.</p>
<p>I hope this does not offend anyone because that was not my intention.</p>
<p>"etc. (and please don’t tell me that they didn’t get in due to a personality defect). "</p>
<p>i’m not the one reading applications, so i couldn’t tell you why some Asian-American students are not accepted. (just to note, Asian-Americans are included as URMs.) but to automatically assume this, without knowing the full portrait of these applicants, i feel is foolish. </p>
<p>“think you’re missing the point when it comes to correlational observations about test scores and admissions in terms of URM”</p>
<p>with all due respect, i think you’re missing my point. you see “black or hispanic” and automatically assume that they have URM status. URM status, as i mentioned before, is more than simply race. my point is that i believe that the example given as it was (without knowing anymore about the applicants than race and SAT scores) is not being fair. yes, i understand that affirmative action aids URMs, but that doesn’t take away from my point. and i for one am glad that colleges don’t accept people simply based on SAT stats.</p>
<p>“Otherwise, you are claiming that hispanics have better personalities than white students on average.”</p>
<p>nonsense. re-read what i wrote. i didn’t write anything about differences in personalities. i simply hold that its foolish to make such assertions without knowing the full portrait of these applicants. (i must say though, that i’m shocked that so many people are pointing to SAT and race scores alone to support their arguments)</p>
<p>just for the record (and i’ve made this point in previous threads), i personally do not support affirmative action. however, i feel that it should be up for the people in a state to decide whether affirmative action will be used in their state’s public institutions of higher learning. but i feel private institutions should be allowed to use affirmative action if they so choose (and quite frankly, so do many of their donors).</p>
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<p>Asians are not URMs (Under represented minorities). They are minorities, yes, but not underrepresented. Therefore, being asian would not help you in the same way of being an URM (Native american, hispanic, african american, etc.)</p>