Ethnicity as a Factor

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi. I'm a Puerto Rican junior girl from Georgia looking to start the college application process. I have done research and have heard that being a minority might increase chances of admission into colleges. How accurate and to what extent would you say that this statement is true?</p>

<p>Thank you all!</p>

2

<p>100%</p>

3

<p>If you want to get into top colleges, you still need the stats even if you are a minority.</p>

4

<p>@foolish @ooohcollege thanks!</p>

5

<p>Being a URM will give you a bump. It is by no means a guarantee at any school. </p>

6

<p>Some schools may factor it in. Many do not. Which schools are you targeting?</p>

7

<p>It’ll help but not by too much. Read the book A for Admissions (I reference it a ton). She gave an example where there were two identical applicants besides the SAT scores. One was white with a 750, 750, 750 across all three sections and the other was Hispanic with a 730, 730, 730 across all three sections. Their ECs and GPA and recs and everything were identical.</p>

<p>They chose the Hispanic applicant.</p>

8

<p>^ Again: only a very small number of colleges practice any sort of differentiation based on race.</p>

9

<p>See the threads linked to in the second section here:</p>

<p><a href=“Resources for Hispanic students - START HERE - Hispanic Students - College Confidential Forums”>Resources for Hispanic students - START HERE - Hispanic Students - College Confidential Forums;

<p>See the rest of the information in this thread and on the Hispanic Students forum for experiences/knowledge from actual Hispanic applicants and their parents.</p>

10

<p>If you want to know whether race or ethnicity is considered, look up the college at <a href=“http://www.collegedata.com”>http://www.collegedata.com</a> , go to its admissions tab, and then check whether it is considered in the list of criteria.</p>

<p>For example, University of Georgia does not consider ethnicity in frosh admissions:
<a href=“University of Georgia Acceptance Rate | CollegeData”>https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=975&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>But Emory does:
<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1039”>http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1039&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>However, even if the schools you are interested do consider it, it would be wise to make your reach/match/safety assessments without considering it, because the magnitude of consideration tends to be hidden in holistic processes, and is often a lot smaller than most people think. The only exception would be if there were something like if you got NHRP and some school had an automatic scholarship or something for that.</p>

11

<p>Though it doesn’t guarantee admission but you’ll have a huge leg up for sure! </p>

12

<p>@xFirefirex‌ is exactly right. For most schools -especially top 20 schools- ethnicity will only become a factor if you have the stats that make you competitive. One factor that you do need to keep in mind is that -underrepresentation aside- a larger proportion of kids from minority backgrounds also have a compelling “story” that makes their essays stand out from the pack.</p>

13

<p>I’ve actually heard that some colleges split the applicants into two groups. Those whose ethnicities are too mainstream like white and asian (BORING) and the minorities. They will then view the two separately and pick the best from each bunch. So yes, the odds are in your favor – at least for the colleges that use this method.</p>

<p>All men are – supposedly – created equal. Bet you never saw that revision to the Declaration.</p>

14

<p>Where’d you get this info from ThankIKnow?</p>

15

<p>Even for schools that cannot legally consider race (e.g., public universities in CA, MI, etc.), you should still make reference to your hispanic roots, via your essay or via your ECs (mention hispanic clubs). The schools will still discreetly give u a bump up for being hispanic. </p>

16

<p>@mandyg233, it’s not as cut and dried as @ThanksIKnow would make it seem. If you’re willing to read my screed, have a look here: <a href=“The Most Important Factors in a College Application - #86 by T26E4 - Applying to College - College Confidential Forums”>The Most Important Factors in a College Application - #86 by T26E4 - Applying to College - College Confidential Forums;

17

<p>I read it. Good post</p>

18

<p>@T26E4 To respond to an earlier question of yours, the schools that I am mainly interested in include NYU, Boston College, William and Mary, UCLA, USC and Michigan Ann Arbor</p>

19

<p>@T26E4 You could probably look at some of my previous threads/posts to know more specifically about the schools I’m looking at and my credentials… if you want of course</p>

20

<p>Can your family afford the $60K/year that UCLA or UMich will cost?</p>