<p>affirmative action</p>
<p>less there be any of confusion . I am personally strongly in favor of affirmative action .wish it was used and used very widely</p>
<p>There is no evidence that there were thousands of emails sent to white students from Swarthmore to give fee waivers. Moreover, Discovery Weekend was typically for students of color, until there were federal laws enacted requiring it to be slightly more opened up (true for all colleges except a very few that take no federal money.)</p>
<p>I am for affirmative action for all deserving students. That is not racist. It is appropriate to discuss this issue on a college forum to understand what opportunities exist. I am not worrying about slots being taken away from whites, at all. I just think that there are many deserving students from poor backgrounds of all races. I believe that it is discrimatory to give one race priority over another, especially if students do not need the extra opportunities because they are from a privileged background. I do not think that is racist, in fact many colleges are looking at how to give opportunites to deserving economically disadvantaged students of all backgrounds.</p>
<p>i found this in the Columbia forum: "On one hand, the amount of time it takes to train in order to be a nationally ranked athlete makes it pretty hard to earn the 4.3s that other applicants, with less demanding schedules manage, so I can definitely understand giving athletes some leeway.</p>
<p>That said, I was pretty surprised when I got to Columbia by how many kids had their financial aid packages substantially improved and were allowed to apply after normal deadlines purely because of athletics (although the overall number of REALLY special cases is probably less than 10 per year, to be fair).</p>
<p>But there's nothing you can do about it. And it doesn't really affect your life."</p>
<p>when i read this statemnt, i thought about this thread. i thought it might be worthwhile to repost it and hear people's opinions on it...</p>
<p>Yeah, I love Swarthmore now. Well I'm turning in my app today, but to get the fee waiver do we still need to turn in the card?</p>
<p>Not gonna lie, I'm a little insulted by a lot that was said on this post. I'm pretty sure that these were give to students who need help financially (like moi), and calling it racial bias is rude, uncouth, and bitter. I am a white girl from Illinois whose parents don't have a lot in their bank accounts, and I appreciate Swarthmore's attempt to help those who need it. A lot of students with financial troubles wouldn't think about applying to Swarthmore because they can't afford it-- thus the extension of the deadline. It shows that they care, that they want people to apply regardless of their financial situation. I applaud that.</p>
<p>Has anyone bothered to ask the Admissions Office directly why the fee waivers were granted and if they were directed to any particular category of applicant. Perhaps a simple answer, if there is one, might do much to temper this thread, which, in my view, has spun out of control.</p>
<p>I don't know how a thread with no posts for a year could spin out of control!</p>
<p>Hi I was wondering when is the extended deadline? I received the postcard (but no e-mail) and I sent it in the package with my guidance counselors recommendations. On one of the first few posts it says Friday the 25th (which doesn't exist) but I have jotted down Monday the 26th. Help Please!</p>
<p>^ the deadline is monday, january 26th</p>