<p>Before I had kids in our high school I used to think only African Americans got into Harvard because they’d make the front page of the paper. After I was there I realized they were on the front page of the paper because it was news. (Our school was about 40% AA and 15% Hispanic when my kids attended.)</p>
<p>I just wanted to respond to Prefect. If you reread my post, you’ll see that I stated, “they are raised in white, middle class families.” I was not referring to upper middle class AA families, who of course would have a lot to offer culturally. Please be careful before you jump to conclusions.</p>
<p>I am also not at all saying that URMs who get into upper level schools are not deserving. I am just pointing out that there may be a slight edge, or a “presumed” edge, just as is assumed for legacies, recruited athletes, etc. If this presumed edge is to make up for past injustices, then that is the reality. I am not complaining; I am just stating what seems apparent.</p>
<p>alexiss I know of 2 people, who are half black, who were mediocre here, who got in to Harvard. They were in no way 1st generation. One of them was actually living in Highland Park, which is a very wealthy area here. She was not a legacy. She admits that she used the race card.</p>
<p>And…when I was in college, I had a boyfriend who was half black. He was an OK student. But, he had a full-ride just because he was half black. His dad was an engineer and his mom was an accountant and he was the only one in college. Since I had friends of different races, I saw many scenarios. One guy, from Louisiana, told me how reps came to his high school, and called in black students, even though it was a suburban school, and told them all that they just had to graduate and they would be in with a full ride. Every single black person I knew at Iowa State was on a full-ride. It is a mostly white state, which a large number of people living in poverty. But a poverty stricken white person could not get financing beyond student loans. </p>
<p>Racism is not ok, regardless of which race it is directed at.</p>
<p>One of my favorite quotes is “did you do your best today, did you love enough, did you see a chance to do good and did you take it?” I really think the world has gotten to where these top of the line academics and testing kids are a dime a dozen, and they are looking for the kid who effected change in his school, his community, his world. That he saw something that needed to be done and did it again and again, without being asked. He identified a problem and solved it, especially socially. I believe that had a lot to do with why my S got into his college. He did lots these kind of things, not soup kitchen things, but showed up to paint the new school all summer long when they moved kind of things… things a kid does that his first thought isn’t “How will that look on my app?”</p>
<p>That said, yes we were shocked when he got into a top tier LAC, and not into a safety in our state. Friends of ours who are college profs, said, “That’s crazy, he got into x but not y?” You just never know what they are looking for, and in the end, I am glad he wound up where he belonged, with like minded kids doing wonderful things…</p>
<p>lmkh-
I believe the correct term is biracial.</p>
<p>Anecdotal evidence means nothing to me.</p>
<p>If you knew me, you’d know just how annoyed I am with people like you.
I wonder if your half black bf knew what you really thought of him.</p>
<p>Okay.
I read all the posts.
I still don’t know how HE got it.
Any update?</p>
<p>I’m so not surprised by the direction this thread has taken.</p>
<p>zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz</p>
<p>Is it just Harvard and Iowa? Because my D is “half black”, although she prefers being called biracial or mixed. I can add these amazing places to her list. Because, you know, she plans on just partying it up and being rewarded with money falling from the sky because she’s the right color, and then laugh at all the poor, downtrodden white kids getting screwed. </p>
<p>Excuse me while I barf.</p>
<p>^ Add a little green square for sseamom!</p>
<p>Jeez all this thread has done is made me feel like I’m not going to get in anywhere because I’m Pakistani and not black. Unless you’re an adcom, there’s absolutely no point in discussing this.</p>
<p>All this thread is saying is that SOME admissions will be made to people who surprise you. I also think it is saying that SOMETIMES you can figure out why if you think about it (athlete, URM, legacy, etc.). And SOMETIMES there is some information that you don’t know (full pay vs. not, some hobby or activity you don’t know about, test scores you are not privy to, fabulous essays or interview, LOR information, etc.). And SOMETIMES it is like a game of musical chairs, and equally qualified applicants get different results. And SOMETIMES no one (not even the applicant) knows why they are accepted. One assumes the ad com does know, but they are not telling anyone.</p>
<p>I’m admittedly still sore over being rejected at my state’s flagship (SAT over their 75th percentile, direct descendant of school’s famous first student, served on multiple state commissions/board) while a friend at my school of the same race and gender was admitted with a lower GPA, lower test score, far less demanding courses, and no ECs. Of course, his family was wealthy enough to hire a private admissions consultant…</p>
<p>In the end, I went to Emory and he ended his first year with a GPA just north of a 1.0. Still, I hold out hope for attending the state flagship for grad school (not UGA, just to clarify).</p>
<p>“One of them was actually living in Highland Park, which is a very wealthy area here. She was not a legacy. She admits that she used the race card.”</p>
<p>No. SHE didn’t use a race card. They decided to admit her. Race may or may not have been a factor.</p>
<p>The Kongo: Again the law of large numbers. If you don’t get in it’s because of the small number of seats and the large population. The black thing is racist. BTW are you American? If so what generation? I ask because I’m curious as to how a Pakastani could become so insensitive to racism?</p>
<p>Could we stop with the discussion of racism on this thread? I think everyone knows that SOMETIMES some students are accepted partially because they are a member of a URM group. Whether that is a good thing or not is for another thread (actually, we have had many over the years… so go find another one to talk about it on). The topic of this thread is why acceptances happen of one student occurs rather than another when there is no apparent reason (or at least not apparent to other students and parents).</p>
<p>I think the assumption that lmk70 made is that black = mediocre or “not qualified”. lmk70 made these unfortunate statements about several black students but provided no objective or comparative evidence to support the claims. I don’t believe lmk70 stated whether he/she personally reviewed their applications, grades, standardized scores, personal statements, activities, or letters of reference. Neither has he/she demonstrated evidence that the financial aid system unfairly granted these AA students funds not available to the general student body. When I clicked on this thread, I had no idea I would be reading about a racial tone I thought ended years ago!</p>
<p>The top student in my medical school class was a black student who had straight "A"s. Not only did he receive straight "A"s, he had the highest overall grade in each subject. Nevertheless, a few of the white students in our class complained of the unfairness of affirmative action allowing the 10 AA students in out of the 154 students in our class. I finally got it. The folks who complained were attempting to justify their own shortcomings. Try again. Please list all of these schools for me because I would love to get my black D in these schools without having to pay a dime and let her start skipping her classes now!</p>
<p>exactly, frugaldoctor!</p>
<p>intparent–it is the ASSUMPTION (that black in and of itself somehow equals less-qualified) that is racist to the core. since you need help seeing that (and are perturbed by the use of the word ‘racist’), this is what is meant. okay?</p>
<p>@sosomenza: I immigrated so I guess I’m first generation. And what do you mean by insensitive to racism?</p>