<p>Does anyone have any proof that race "boosts" an application?</p>
<p>I've heard things like "all black people only need a 2000" and "all native americans go to ivy league schools"</p>
<p>Are there any actual statistics?</p>
<p>You can check if race or ethnicity is considered in admissions in each school’s common data set, section C7, or its admissions entry on [CollegeData:</a> College Search, Financial Aid, College Application, College Scholarship, Student Loan, FAFSA Info, Common Application](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com%5DCollegeData:”>http://www.collegedata.com) .</p>
<p>Where it is considered, the college is unlikely to be very specific in public about how it is considered. However, the wild claims you are hearing are just exaggerated speculation. Applicants who are URMs should not rely on any boost when assessing whether a school is a reach, match, or safety (particularly safety) when making their application lists.</p>
<p>I can’t help you out with any particular stats, but some colleges do pay attention to applicants’ races/ethnicities. While it is illegal for colleges to have quotas, they are allowed to take into consideration race/ethnicity in order to make their schools more diverse. In the Bakke decision, the Supreme Court ruled that diversity was a “compelling state interest”, which allows them to take race/ethnicity into consideration.</p>
<p>I do not have evidence to support or refute any of the claims you mentioned in your original post, but I can say that Native Americans are probably the most underrepresented group on college campuses. Therefore, being Native American would probably help someone get into a school a little more than having a different race/ethnicity because the schools want to add diversity. However, these students that make the campuses more diverse still need to prove to the admissions committee (esp. at selective institutions) that they are academically strong enough to handle the college’s curriculum and class rigor. The point is, having a race/ethnicity that will bring to a diversity to a campus is a plus, but it is not weighted so highly that being say, African American will automatically admit someone to a selective college.</p>
<p>“Applicants who are URMs should not rely on any boost when assessing whether a school is a reach, match, or safety (particularly safety) when making their application lists.”</p>
<p>^This is extremely important.</p>
<p>t23: It’s not that simplistic. Sophisticated college admissions don’t just “add SAT points” to certain sub groups. They practice what’s called “category admissions” which is explained in the bottom third of this essay:</p>
<p>[Reed</a> College | Admission](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/admission_messages.html]Reed”>http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/admission_messages.html)</p>
<p>The fact is colleges want a certain mix of students. Internationals, women, minorities, science majors, musicians, theater people, athletes, celebrities, etc. And they will allocate soft quotas to try to meet those goals. The kid who is offered a scholarship to play volleyball doesn’t take away the spot of the science major applicant from Los Angeles – that slot was never open in the first place. The LA kid, who doesn’t fall into one of the sub categories competes with others in the “general” category. And it can work out where some sub categories’ average SATs/ACTs are higher or lower than others.</p>
<p>Would you expect the avg SATs of hockey players admitted to Harvard to be lower than the “unhooked” applicants’ pool? Yep.</p>
<p>But that last hockey player who gets in – who does he keep out? The hockey player with lesser grades/SATs and potential. The black kid who gets in pushes out another black kid with lesser grades/SATs and potential. The Asian pianist never was in competition for the hockey player’s spot or the slot allocated to a black student.</p>
<p>To better understand how the process works, you need to go to the Resources sticky thread on the Hispanic Students forum and read the threads linked to under the section: Hispanic applicants and college admissions.</p>
<p>As to “all native Americans go to ivy league schools”, that’s pretty ignorant. If you hear that again, check those people. Native Americans have the lowest HS grad rate of any ethnic subgroup in the entire country and the lowest per capita income to boot.</p>
<p>thanks for the info guys!</p>
<p>people at my school go crazy over the whole race thing and many literally depend on it…</p>
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<p>Are you suggesting that colleges have de facto quotas?</p>
<p>That is what I’m suggesting. All one has to do is look at the historical percentages of sub groups. They tend to hover near certain percentages each year. “soft quotas” is how it’s explained.</p>
<p>I’ve noticed some colleges have race as “very important” on their CDS.
Is it pointless to apply if you’re white?</p>
<p>Sara: that’s letting the pendulum swing to the other side. These schools may have such a poor recruiting ability w/minorities that they are really on a tear to correct an imbalance. While some slots may fade, it’d be foolish to discount applying to a college you’re within the academic range of qualifying just because of this. In that case, perhaps you should eliminate colleges that have D-1 sports – because they offer hundreds of spots to athletic recruits. You see how “not applying” only hurts you? Prepare your best app. Ply your strengths and hope for the best.</p>
<p>Didn’t mean any offense. But in admissions, would this be the equivalent not having another ‘very important’ factor like ACT/SAT scores?</p>
<p>Sara: no offense taken. The “very important” factor means the college looks at it and is transparent about that fact. All it means is that it’s one of several factors. How colleges weigh this point is completely up to them. At the end of the day, your TRANSCRIPT is always, ALWAYS the most important evaluation item.</p>
<p>If your academics are on par with their entering freshman class (google their “common data set”), you are very interested in the college and have an affordable means to attend, then you should apply. That’s my advice.</p>
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<p>If T26E4’s claim of “soft quotas” is actually what a given college does, then being white may be advantageous if the college is attempting to avoid having its white population fall too much.</p>
<p>Great information</p>