<p>I understand why minorities are given an advantage for getting into college. But how does it help that much?!? I have heard of URM with relatively low stats getting into like Harvard. I am obviously not saying that there aren't extremely well qualified URM's, but it's sometimes surprising to me how some ppl with low stats get into great colleges. Can some1 explain this to me? LOL i guess i'm a little jealous haha. What do you all think?</p>
<p>I guess I know and accept "why" they practice AA... but I don't necessarily agree with what they're doing. They're just trying to raise their level of education because they're disadvantaged, etc. But... what about those fortunate URMs who have had just as many opportunities as everyone else? THAT I will never understand. </p>
<p>URM status is probably like the equivalent of a 300 point boost on the SAT's [+ EC's too I'm assuming...]
So yes. URM status helps A LOT.</p>
<p>I have heard of URMs with very high stats getting rejected at harvard too. They seem to look for a good story beyond the stats. At more stat driven schools like Michigan and UVa it's a big help.</p>
<p>Depends on the school.
Let's look at two schools right next door to each other:
Harvard has so many URM applicants, it doesn't help THAT much.
MIT, on the other hand, greatly lowers its standards for URMs.</p>
<p>i am a hispanic student and i was just wondering just how much does being hispanic specifically help at selective colleges</p>
<p>thanks guys... jtrfn222 i guess it's like wat s snack said. If your hispanic it would depend on where u apply. MIT= a lot of help. Harvard not really. Actually I do know someone hispanic that got into Harvard, but they were qualified for it.</p>
<p>any more opinions. Ahh i wish I was an "URM," but actually had the same amount of opprtunities tat I do. LOL owell there are advantages to being Indian? lol well atleast life does not=college admissions.... any more opinions?</p>
<p>I'm half Latino, but i'm not counting on AA to get me into colleges. You shouldn't ever rely on something god-given, but rather, by your own merit. It makes the acceptances taste all that much sweeter :)</p>
<p>I don't think there are advantages to being Indian...
Native American Indians, on the other hand... Hahaha.
I know someone who is 1/4 native american, and that person is SO incredibly lucky. got into many ivies... not really that impressive of an applicant, but hey... it sure helps a lot to be an URM.</p>
<p>hi! who are considered as URM?</p>
<p>Natives? Asians? </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>hispanics, blacks, native americans are all considered minorities. Some schools consider filipinos as well, I know the UC schools for sure consider them minorities. </p>
<p>minority status depends COMPLETELY on the school. School slike UCLA, Berkeley, UVa, U of Michigan and a ton of other top 20 schools greatly help minorities but schools like Harvard and Yale don't really use AA because they have so many aamzing black applicants applying with stats good enough for their school.</p>
<p>Schools like UCLA, Berkeley, and UMich don't practice affirmative action.</p>
<p>Affirmative action confers a significant advantage in college admissions. Colleges want proportional representation of all races but there simply are not enough high scorers who are URMs. Thus, colleges are forced to take URMs who have scores substantially below those of their other applicants (by 100 or more points).</p>
<p>Southeast Asians are usually considered URM's, as well.</p>
<p>yes of course its a significant advantage, hence the controversy.</p>
<p>It's tough to say who should get the boost. Something to do with makeing the most out of your opportunity at your school maybe, would help the inner city kids of all colors</p>
<p>epiphany: really? Pakistani, etc.?</p>
<p>Hmmm...URM who have both parents with Phd or the like and above average income shouldn't get any preference by any college Ivy or not...on the other hand, students from low-income households, uneducated parents or with some significant disadvantage maybe should get some help even if they are red, green, purple, white...whatever...my 2cents...
But true is some times they just care about the URM status...i know of this boy who is from Hispanic origin whose parents are both Hispanic, doctors and high income getting preferences...I say he does not need any help..should get into ivy by his merit....he has not disadvantage what so ever!</p>
<p>Point of AA: Diversity, not disadvantage.</p>
<p>good point! but doesn't seem to be fair to give someone some advantage over others when they don't need it...</p>
<p>AA doesn't have as much of an effect at the Ivies as people think it does. Legacies and athletes have much higher boosts. And thanks to prep schools, the average black/latino student accepted has stats just as good as white applicants.</p>
<p>If you're asian, however, you get screwed because your applicant pool, on average, has much higher stats.</p>
<p>AA hurts asians. Not middle class caucasians.</p>
<p>Kyle, I was meaning Vietnamese, Cambodian.</p>