<p>^ I agree whole-heartedly.</p>
<p>Really? I always mark my race. Yes it will help me but I am also very proud of what I am :)</p>
<p>I marked my race even though it hurts my chances because</p>
<p>1) I'm Asian and my last name basically gives me away.
2) I like being Asian</p>
<p>As the thread-opening post and its associated links make clear, the current federal categories are ARBITRARY. To quote the Census Bureau, "These categories are sociopolitical constructs and should not be interpreted as being scientific or anthropological in nature." There isn't any science about this, and there isn't social consensus about this. This is legislation, not fact-finding. </p>
<p>What you can do, any applicant, is check off the boxes that you think fit, or not, as you wish. You can also write about your personal background as much or as little as you wish as you write college essays and answer short-answer questions on college applications. Let the admission committee know what is relevant about your background, and what you can add to a college community. If you want the law changed, write to your elected representatives (one United States representative and two United States senators, and the President) and tell them what policy you like.</p>
<p>lol, can you use your mother's maiden name or some made up last name instead?
also.. if you were asian, international, but from canada, and has the citizenship, can't you write that you are caucasian.. haha just wondering O.o</p>
<p>(frutiaspice, i too put down that i'm asian, and also because my name really gives it away and it's not chan. hahah)</p>
<p>You don't need to do anything with your name. Colleges don't ASSUME that every family has a family name that reflects its ethnic heritage. There are adoptive families all over the world, and there are "multiracial" families all over the world, and there are families whose names are changed by their home country governments or by one relative or another all over the world. Colleges are required to report what appears on college application forms to the federal government, but they are not required to guess beyond that about student ethnicity. Colleges are very happy to admit a lot of students whose ethnicity is reported as "race/ethnicity unknown," as figures from many colleges reveal. </p>
<p>Here are some selective colleges with high percentages of students reported as "race unknown." </p>
<p>(22 percent at Case Western) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Case Western Reserve University - Case - At a Glance </p>
<p>(21 percent at Cornell) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Cornell University - At a Glance </p>
<p>(21 percent at William and Mary) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - College of William and Mary - CWM - At a Glance </p>
<p>(21 percent at Brandeis) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Brandeis University - At a Glance </p>
<p>(20 percent at Amherst College) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Amherst College - At a Glance </p>
<p>(18 percent at Princeton) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Princeton University - At a Glance </p>
<p>(18 percent at Reed College) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Reed College - At a Glance </p>
<p>(16 percent at Chicago) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - University of Chicago - Chicago - At a Glance </p>
<p>(15 percent at Penn) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - University of Pennsylvania - Penn - At a Glance </p>
<p>(14 percent at Pomona) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Pomona College - At a Glance </p>
<p>(13 percent at Harvard) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Harvard College - At a Glance </p>
<p>(13 percent at Brown) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Brown University - Brown - At a Glance </p>
<p>(13 percent at Vanderbilt) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Vanderbilt University - Vandy - At a Glance </p>
<p>(12 percent at Carnegie Mellon) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Carnegie Mellon University - At a Glance </p>
<p>(11 percent at Yale) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Yale University - At a Glance </p>
<p>(11 percent at Columbia) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Columbia University - Columbia - At a Glance </p>
<p>(10 percent at NYU) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - New York University - NYU - At a Glance </p>
<p>(10 percent at Agnes Scott) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Agnes Scott College - ASC - At a Glance </p>
<p>(9 percent at Whitman) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Whitman College - At a Glance </p>
<p>(8 percent at Washington U in St. Louis) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Washington University in St. Louis - Washington U. - At a Glance </p>
<p>(7 percent at Berkeley) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - University of California: Berkeley - Cal - At a Glance </p>
<p>(6 percent at MIT) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT - At a Glance </p>
<p>(6 percent at Virginia) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - University of Virginia - UVA - At a Glance </p>
<p>And here are some other colleges: </p>
<p>(59 percent at Savannah College of Art and Design) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Savannah College of Art and Design - SCAD - At a Glance </p>
<p>(35 percent at Metropolitan Community College: Penn Valley) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Metropolitan Community College: Penn Valley - At a Glance </p>
<p>(28 percent at Rhode Island School of Design) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Rhode Island School of Design - RISD - At a Glance </p>
<p>(27 percent at Champlain College) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Champlain College - CC - At a Glance </p>
<p>(26 percent at George Mason) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - George Mason University - Mason - At a Glance </p>
<p>(24 percent at Lansing Community College) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Lansing Community College - LCC - At a Glance </p>
<p>(23 percent at Hartwick College) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Hartwick College - The Wick - At a Glance </p>
<p>(21 percent at Lynn University) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Lynn University - LU - At a Glance </p>
<p>(20 percent at SUNY Stony Brook) </p>
<p>(20 percent at New York School of Interior Design) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - New York School of Interior Design - NYSID - At a Glance </p>
<p>(19 percent at Eugene Lang College) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts - Lang - At a Glance </p>
<p>(18 percent at SUNY Albany) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - State University of New York at Albany - UAlbany - At a Glance </p>
<p>(18 percent at Fashion Institute of Technology) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Fashion Institute of Technology - FIT - At a Glance </p>
<p>(17 percent at Northeastern) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Northeastern University - NU - At a Glance </p>
<p>(17 percent at Whittier College) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Whittier College - At a Glance </p>
<p>(13 percent at Tuskegee) </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Tuskegee University - TU - At a Glance</p>
<p>Interesting article in USA Today:Opinion:</a> Editorial Pieces & Current Events Perspectives - USATODAY.com</p>
<p>I tend to agree with the perspective that "University admissions unfairly pit Asian Americans against one another."</p>
<p>Unfortunately, discrimination is tolerated nowadays. Merely personal opinion.</p>
<p>That writer has no idea what he's talking about or he simply ignored the data that opposed his view.</p>
<p>
[quote]
On the surface, Li appears to have a good case. According to a study done by two Princeton scholars, if students were admitted on grades and test scores alone, the acceptance rate for African American and Latino students would plummet while the rate for Asians would rise sharply.</p>
<p>That says high-scoring Asian students face higher admissions hurdles, but it does not necessarily prove discrimination. Tests scores and grades have never been the sole basis for admission to college; nor should they be.
[/quote]
Here, he says that Asian applicants actually aren't looked at more negatively because they're Asian, but rather because they are more lacking in extracurricular pursuits or other achievements than others. </p>
<p>But the Espenshade-Chung study that he cites also states that, if isolated from other conditions, the race factor does disadvantage Asians. It's funny how he left that part out.<br>
[quote]
In the 1978 University of California Regents v. Bakke decision, the Supreme Court ruled out race-based quotas and separate admissions tracks for students of different ethnicities. The court did, however, allow colleges to consider applicants' race and ethnicity as "one of many factors." Twenty-five years later, the court clarified Bakke by ruling out point-based admissions (giving minority students extra points) but allowing subtler evaluations of applicants.</p>
<p>Translated, that means universities routinely hand out what looks like preferences to get the freshman class they want. Football players, oboe players, dancers, minorities, children of alumni and men (yes, many colleges favor men to keep their campuses from becoming too female) at times find the scales tipped in their favor.
[/quote]
The court cases didn't have anything to do with football players, oboe players, or dancers. These are preferences that nobody opposes and by associating them with affirmative action, he helps to legitimize the practice. Conveniently, this allows him to set up the strawman argument that comes next:
[quote]
That is discrimination only if you imagine that university admissions policies are designed solely to sweep up the highest-scoring students.
[/quote]
Now he argues that opponents of AA want to see admissions policies based solely on academics. This is simply not the case.</p>
<p>I wouldn't care if the writer just argued the merits of AA. What I object to is how he tries to pretend that Asians aren't negatively looked at just because of their race. That is an untenable and dishonest argument which flies in the face of all existing evidence.</p>
<p>"Now he argues that opponents of AA want to see admissions policies based solely on academics. This is simply not the case."</p>
<p>No he doesn't, he just says that there would be discrimination evident if college admissions policies were designed to admit the highest-scoring students. Thus, the fact that Asians score higher does not necessarily correlate with a higher admit rate. I'm not going to argue whether or not AA is right, for I myself am conflicted leaning towards it's wrong, but I'm not really sure you can say Asians are negatively looked at. Just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>
[quote]
No he doesn't, he just says that there would be discrimination evident if college admissions policies were designed to admit the highest-scoring students. Thus, the fact that Asians score higher does not necessarily correlate with a higher admit rate.
[/quote]
But he mistakenly links affirmative action as one and the same as extracurricular activities and talents. Instead of arguing for race-based admissions like he should, he argues for holistic admissions in general. Anyone who has ever looked into the issue knows that Bakke and Gratz werent' about "football players, oboe players, or dancers," they were about race. He dodges the issue and pretends that the side he is arguing against believes in pure academically oriented admissions.</p>
<p>Even the title,
[quote]
Our view on equal education: Admission to college isn't just about grades, test scores
[/quote]
is misleading. Jian Li isn't arguing for college admissions to be just about grades and test scores. He is just arguing that race shouldn't be a part of the equation.</p>
<p>I don't quite agree with the author of that article, but it is true that it's more difficult for Asians because they have to compete with one another for the spots. Colleges have a lot of pressure to keep the racial percentages of admits the same from year to year. Since Asians usually get high test scores, it's almost a "standard." If you're Asian and you don't get high test scores, barring other special conditions, you're at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>I suppose a college would be considered racist by some for admitting a racially diverse class when the objective numbers alone (GPA and test scores) would favor Asians and Caucasians. The definition of "racist" certainly varies greatly depending on one's beliefs and skin color.</p>
<p>I think he is arguing that there are general holistic admissions (not just AA) and that the process is not inherently discriminatory against Asians. I don't think his purpose in this article was to defend AA, but to say that admissions are very complex-not just test scores, grades, and achievements.</p>
<p>...........</p>
<p>depends where ur from....</p>
<p>MODERATOR'S NOTE TO "Descrimination because of Race?" THREAD: </p>
<p>Thanks for sharing the link to the newspaper opinion piece. Recently, the practice on the College Confidential Forums has been to merge most discussion of consideration of student ethnicity in college admission into this combined FAQ and discussion thread, which has links to official information in the thread-opening post.</p>
<p>To answer a question merged in above, international students are not part of any of the ethnic categories reported to the federal government by colleges. They are in their own separate category. See the thread-opening post for links to more information about this.</p>
<p>Alright so i am 1/16 native american and legally 1/32 is the cut off, so by law i am native american, but the closest i am to being involved with Native American stuff, is my grandparents who live near an reservation, btw my Grandmother is native american her last name is "Boykin", bc her father was with a tribe and then settled in Texas. I am mostly black though so should i put native american and would you?</p>
<p>Oh and this is not something that just came up bc of college apps, bc my family as well as myself have always talked about being native american. But i wasn't going to put it down bc i am more black than native american, but it seems a little dishonest.</p>