<p>Hows the latin american diversity at umich? I'm colombian and puerto rican so, I guess Im pretty diverse.lol. So, are there a lot of different latin american ethnic groups at umich?</p>
<p>It's alright really (not great, but alright). The big latino org on campus is la voz latina. It's HUGE, and its a great way to break into the community. They'll have events during welcome week for you to get involved in, so keep your head up for la voz events.</p>
<p>KB</p>
<p>Im from venezuela and i was deferred so i guess i might not end up being the "diversity" for Umich, which i dont care! good luck!</p>
<p>wow...if you were a URM AND you got deferred...ok..I'm not going to say anything.</p>
<p>yeah, and my essay was about how tough it is being a venezuelan in america, Umich is full of it!! i thought they loved affirmative action...</p>
<p>outofstateorbust, we could have been country neighbors :( well, i havent received a rejection, yet... lol</p>
<p>well lets hope for the best. u wrote about how tough it is being venezuelan.wow lol. I took another route, I didn't want to write about what they would expect.</p>
<p>just because your a urm doesnt mean that you should get accepted. If your grades arent good enough, then you dont deserve to go</p>
<p>Please don't start an affirmative action debate. Please, I hate them.kthnxbye.</p>
<p>"yeah, and my essay was about how tough it is being a venezuelan in america, Umich is full of it!! i thought they loved affirmative action..."</p>
<p>People like you are why I think AA is stupid.</p>
<p>let the sparks fly!</p>
<p>yea that really is one of the stupidest things ive ever heard</p>
<p>Theres nothing wrong with affirmative action, stop haterizing on hispanics because we are less fortunate than whites to have a decent education. Not to mention that hispanics, in majority, have a lower socioeconomic status in this country than whites (i know there are poor whites but certainly, hispanics are taking the worst jobs here.)</p>
<p>And my GPA is higher than 80% of the transfer candidates, i have a 3.85 college GPA with a decent ACT score of 26. The average UM transfer gpa is a 3.5... So if your saying that just because i believe that affirmative action should have taken place is wrong, well its obviously not taken place and people have the right to believe what they want. Obviously, minorities will always favor affirmative action as oppose to whites who think its an unfair advantage for minorities. We have to use what we have, and thats our status...</p>
<p>PS. i was initially joking on the affirmative action comment, i didnt see it necessary to be attacked, stupid racists.</p>
<p>I don't think it is necessarily unfair. I just believe that Affirmative Action should be based on socioeconomic factors, rather than race. All disadvantaged people, regardless of race, should be able to reap the benefits of Affirmative Action. The poor, extremely underpriviledged kid from Appalaichia should be afforded the same priviledges as the underpriviledged African American. But, aside from financial aid, this will never happen. I'm not racist or anything and I think Affirmative Action is useful under the correct circumstances.</p>
<p>Well, African Americans did have their suffering and still continue to suffer today in regards to socioeconomic status. Hispanics today are the ones with the lowest paying jobs. Here where i live, the average income is 20,000 per year, and i live in an all-hispanic neighborhood. I feel very passionate about the sufferage hispanics go through in this country. Aside from racism, degrading low-paying jobs, and discrimation, many immigrants who fled from poverty will now have to go back to their country because of the new immigration laws! Even though i understand your point, i still felt it being unnecessary to bash on a comment about Michigan's old admissions way, I find myself being indifferent to Michigan's decision.</p>
<p>Yes, Blacks and Hispanics have suffered and been discriminated against, but that does not refute any part of my argument. Colleges should simply disregard race all together and focus solely on the type of school the student attends and the average income of the student. This way, only the truly needy receive the benefits of AA. I've seen many instances in which wealthy black people who attend top high schools are afforded the priviledges of AA when they obviously do not need them. The focus on socioeconomic factors rather than race not only creates a level playing field, but also allocates the benefits of AA to only the people who truly need it. If you are truly underpriviledged, then you will obtain the aid you need, regardless of race.</p>
<p>Of course, I doubt Affirmative Action will ever implement this thought process. Colleges could care less about creating a level playing field or giving the benefits of AA to the truly needy; rather, they desire diversity. They don't want a campus filled with white, upper class kids, they want a diverse student body, which is appealing to future students. I do believe that diversity is extremely important as I would never want to attend a college with thousands of people just like myself.</p>
<p>I'm not going to weigh in on this particular debate, but I would like to say that I'm glad you all are taking an active interest in this issue. Ann Arbor will be ground zero for the national discourse on affirmative action in the coming fall, with MCRI on the ballot. I hope you all will make an effort to learn more about how affirmative action works, and specifically how its used here at UM (it seems like there are a lot of misconceptions lol).</p>
<p>Keep talking, its good for you!</p>
<p>KB</p>
<p>Misconceptions in my argument? Explain.</p>
<p>I totally agree with you CCRunner. I have several Chinese friends who have 95 averages (which is difficult to obtain in my competitive high school) who have EFC's close to zero who were rejected from schools like Columbia, Cornell and NYU. Their SAT's were their weak spots, for all scored between 1300-1400 (none broke 1400). I've read that SAT scores can sometimes be correlated with economic status, and all of them could not afford prep classes. However, in my school I also know of several Hispanic kids who got into Columbia and NYU with similar SAT's, EC's and lower averages. And in my school, there is a BIG difference between a 95 average and a 88-92 which is the range for the accepted Hispanic kids. I feel so horrible for my Chinese friends who worked so hard and come from a poorer household. These people also need a fair chance to raise themselves out of poverty. Affirmative action, the way it works now, only helps a very thin top layer of minorities rise up. What is really needed is to provide good education at the junior high and high school levels in poorer neighborhoods, or neighborhoods with minorities. I also think it is so hypocritical of colleges to preach and practice affirmative action and at the same time take in priviledged kids from prep schools who may also be under par. The people that end up getting hurt in the end are the middle-class non-minorities, which a lot of applicants fall into. It's also funny when colleges say they desire diversity. What ends up happening is that certain racial groups self-segregate. Also, it can lead to non-minorities questionning the presence of minorities on campus, wondering if they really deserved to get in (I actually know someone like this who was qualified). I also think the way race is determined is flawed. For example, there is a guy in my school whose parents are from a Latin American country. However, he looks White, has an Irish last name (the country he's from had a lot of immigrants from Europe) and is middle class. So how can he be discriminated against in the real world if he comes across as an Irish-American? And myself, for example, am half Caucasian and half Filipino. I look Hispanic, and many people mistaken me for it. It is possible that upon interviewing for a job, I could be discriminated against because of my looks if my interviewer was racist. Yet I cannot receive affirmative action.</p>
<p>CCrunner, i do agree with your socioeconomic perspective but as you said, many schools throughout the country would rather have a wealthy black person over a white one, due to the fact that they believe that they possess African heritage and could possibly bring "diversity" to the school. However, i do think UM considers socioeconomic status, i do remember them asking how much income one makes in the application... But Michigan is trying real hard to be fair and i applied late in the game, so regardless of my grades and other factors, i am deferred. I dont think Michigan considers race or socioeconomic statuses as an important factor as much as they did in the past...</p>
<p>KB lol, i knew you were just waiting for the debate haha</p>