<p>Because a bunch of white males don’t represent the American demographic</p>
<p>Affirmative action is probably the stupidest thing ever.</p>
<p>^ And what makes you an expert?</p>
<p>Scales1994 The supreme court is not about representing the demographics of America its about having the best justices. And on the original note if sotomayor was appointed because she represents the American demographic, wouldn’t it make sense for the Ivies to admit URM’s to represent the american demographic?</p>
<p>I didn’t say that URMs have 100% acceptance, i just said that they have an advantage.</p>
<p>^ Which it does, and it would do without AA</p>
<p>^ They might have an slight advantage, but it definitely doesnt mean they are taking the “easy” way because frankly, unless your parents pay millions to the school, there is no easy way</p>
<p>I mean, really, there are people who get into ivies every year who are URMs with stats that are far worse than those of most other acceptances and many, many who are rejected. It would be different if the students all came from low income, urban districts but many of them are upper middle class.</p>
<p>I guarantee you there are white males more qualified than sotomayor. And are you saying it would do without african americans?</p>
<p>AA = Affirmative Action and @seancarpenter, most upper class URMs have the same stats as Upper class whites and asians</p>
<p>^^Does it really bother you that Sotomayor is a Supreme Court Justice? Does that eat you up inside?</p>
<p>okay i misunderstood the meaning of AA. And no i am using it as an example of how URM’s can get preferential placement.</p>
<p>Even so, a URM would be chosen 9/10 times over an Asian with comparable stats.</p>
<p>I thought the point of the Supreme Court was to have different perspectives on the meaning of the constitution, and if those perspectives agreed, then that is the meaning of the constitution in that case.</p>
<p>Anyway, you have to be a disadvantaged URM to really get boost. And if you’re disadvantaged, then it is not easy at all. I would expect the boost from affirmative action gained by advantaged URM’s to be much smaller than that of ones from a less fortunate background.</p>
<p>^^Right, because URMs are… underrepresented. Asians are still the dominate minority in Ivy League schools</p>
<p>^why does that matter?</p>
<p>It doesnt, it just shows the percent of Asians in Ivy League schools arent going down anytime soon</p>
<p>Being a half black and half native american, double legacy, and having parents who donated >1 million to the school.</p>
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<p>It is not just about the individual’s qualifications. it’s also very much about how that individual’s life experience affects the dynamic of the whole organization. This is true of the Supreme Court and of college admissions.</p>
<p>Take URMs out of the picture for a minute and think about some other category. The Ivies could load up each entering class with high-scoring math nerds. Would that be a good admissions outcome for the college community? Would it advance the educational mission? Different schools have different notions of what the community dynamic should be, but very few if any of them are admitting based solely on objective academic merit.</p>
<p>This was true long before race-based AA came along. Generations of under-qualified white males (“the stupid sons of rich white men”) were favored in Ivy admissions. The post-war emphasis on “extracurriculars” began in an effort to tip the scales in their favor over high-scoring Jews and immigrants. Where was the public hue and cry over that? </p>
<p>Admission has evolved into a holistic process that considers much more than test scores and GPA. The process involves human judgement so is never perfect, but if the standards are relaxed for one factor, you can be fairly sure the expectations are higher for others. So, short of being born lucky enough to have family money to buy a building, there is no predictable “easy way”.</p>
<p>lol at all the ignorance and bitterness in this post. Affirmative action really riles some people up.</p>
<p>Well, here’s a novel idea: Stop belittling people you’ve never met and their hypothetical achievements. If you get rejected from your dream school, it will most likely be because some other white/Asian kid showed more sense and/or perspective than you, not because some evil lazy brown person’s 1650 trumped your 2300. Geez.</p>