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Wouldn't you rather learn in an enviornment with more than one type of person?
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<p>Yeah, but I think it's pretty much every environment, because people get accepted for a variety of reasons, as you said. They are bound to be different.</p>
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Doesn't learning require that you experience different opinions and points of view in order to better form your own beliefs?
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<p>Not really, but even if I said yes, would that change anything? Isn't each individual able to come up with his/her own opinions and points of views?</p>
<p>Whatever the PO intended, it still doesn't erase one thing: AA factors in race.</p>
<p>I realize that no one denies it, but that sole fact can't exactly be forgotten or passed over. I've outlined my beliefs on the utter BS of basing anything on race in many previous posts, so I won't bother to repeat them.</p>
<p>While I agree with what you're saying, I think you're misinterpreting my statements. Because cultural, race, socio-economic status, and geography play such a large role in shaping a person, only diversity in these aspects can lead to a diverse student body.</p>
<p>Of course individuals have different opinions, but if they were all raised similarly then their opinions are going to vary much less than a group of individuals who were all raised differently and in different places with differing access to education and money and other activities.</p>
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Also: Many people in this thread seem to think that GPAs and SATs are the be all and end all of college admissions. They're not. More and more admissions at top universities are holistic, meaning that they take into account scores, personal qualities, essays, and extracurriculars. They want interesting kids, different kids. (GPAs also vary region to region school to school. A 4.0 at a mediocre high school is not the same as a 4.0 in a competitive high school)
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This would work, but we are talking UMD. It is not the most selective school nor is it going to look at a whole lot more than GPA and SAT and some EC involvement. The OP also got into the most prestigious program at UMD, so he was obviously a strong applicant and not shafted because of his race. Maybe he was never invited because UMD uses quotas for different schools, areas, Zip Codes, etc to make sure all of the invites are not the very top students who would tend to be from the rich parts of the DC and Baltimore suburbs.</p>
<p>Dude, he got passed over for a UMD scholarship? Weak.</p>
<p>Just kidding.</p>
<p>I was under the impression we were talking about a private institution. But yeah, state schools are very different. And if he was out of state (which I don't know) he was a lot less likely to have gotten in. But I don't think state schools are allowed to use quotas by zipcode. I know UVA has to admit a certain percentage of its incoming class from within Virginia, but I have no idea what the deal is with Maryland.</p>
<p>(I live in a DC suburb and go to a 'rich private school')</p>
<p>Affirmative Action was never meant to guarantee spots to lower-achieving URMs over higher achieving whites or asians. Instead it was meant to tip the balance between two comparable applicants in order to improve diversity.</p>
<p>Although many people seem to believe that affirmative action is the only way undeserving individuals get into college, there are actually several: legacies, the uber-rich (development cases), celebrities and their children, children of faculty, and athletes.</p>
<p>The average scores of recruited athletes and legacies are significantly lower than those of 'regular' admits.</p>
<p>Also: Many people in this thread seem to think that GPAs and SATs are the be all and end all of college admissions. They're not. More and more admissions at top universities are holistic, meaning that they take into account scores, personal qualities, essays, and extracurriculars. They want interesting kids, different kids. (GPAs also vary region to region school to school. A 4.0 at a mediocre high school is not the same as a 4.0 in a competitive high school)</p>
<p>When UC-Berkeley stopped using AA, it's Asian population soared. 40% of the undergraduate students at Berkeley are asian. Is this number inflated because of the high number of asians in CA, yes. But latinos, an equally high percentage of the state population, are incredibly underrepresented.</p>
<p>Wouldn't you rather learn in an enviornment with more than one type of person? Doesn't learning require that you experience different opinions and points of view in order to better form your own beliefs?</p>
<p>And, in closing, if one were to objectively analyze every suit and complaint about AA, one would inevitably conclude that it all comes down to the same thing: I didn't get in. I'm upset. And it's not my fault.</p>
<p>"Affirmative Action was never meant to guarantee spots to lower-achieving URMs over higher achieving whites or asians. Instead it was meant to tip the balance between two comparable applicants in order to improve diversity."</p>
<p>Yes. But does that make the fact that race is the factor right?</p>
<p>"Although many people seem to believe that affirmative action is the only way undeserving individuals get into college, there are actually several: legacies, the uber-rich (development cases), celebrities and their children, children of faculty, and athletes."</p>
<p>now, I for one, don't think any of those are right -- but I'd probably be more understanding of colleges wanting athletes. however, they are not directly pertinent to the topic being discussed.</p>
<p>Yes, but I wanted to make the point that other 'priority groups' take spots as well, perhaps even more spots. </p>
<p>And, yes, race is a factor. But it certainly isn't the be all and end all.</p>
<p>Being white is not the reason you got rejected from a school. If you were a great applicant for their school, they would have taken you.</p>
<p>Last year an incredibly over-qualified girl was rejected from all but her two safety schools. She matriculated to Oberlin and hated it; she's currently int he process of transferring. But she never said "I didn't get in because I'm white." Instead she said "I didn't get in because I'm a girl" And indeed, if she'd been a boy, she might have gotten in just because of the numbers game.</p>
<p>The OP was not even rejected from his school. He simply was not asked to interview for a scholarship, a scholarship that may have been geared towards minorities, or needy students, or kids with 12 toes. Who knows.</p>
<p>Using AA as a scapegoat for one's own misfortunes and shortcomings is simply pathetic.</p>
<p>Yes, but I wanted to make the point that other 'priority groups' take spots as well, perhaps even more spots. </p>
<p>And, yes, race is a factor. But it certainly isn't the be all and end all.</p>
<p>Being white is not the reason you got rejected from a school. If you were a great applicant for their school, they would have taken you.</p>
<p>Last year an incredibly over-qualified girl was rejected from all but her two safety schools. She matriculated to Oberlin and hated it; she's currently int he process of transferring. But she never said "I didn't get in because I'm white." Instead she said "I didn't get in because I'm a girl" And indeed, if she'd been a boy, she might have gotten in just because of the numbers game.</p>
<p>The OP was not even rejected from his school. He simply was not asked to interview for a scholarship, a scholarship that may have been geared towards minorities, or needy students, or kids with 12 toes. Who knows.</p>
<p>Using AA as a scapegoat for one's own misfortunes and shortcomings is simply pathetic.</p>
<p>I have no idea if Maryland has quotas for zip codes, but someone coming from lower MoCo (Whitman, Wootton, Churchill) will have more local competition among top applicants than say someone coming from the Eastern Shore. UMD may give some preference for a student from rural MD or other parts of the state over places like Montgomery and PG county where tons of people apply. The OP is applying from Montgomery County which already has a bunch of top applicants and was already accepted to UMD's most prestigious program. He just did not get invited for a scholarship. I know people who only got into Honors and were invited for the scholarship. It is a general full tuition scholarship that is very prestigious and pays for everything for 4 years so I can see why the OP is upset, but there are a bunch of other opportunities for money that he can go there for very little anyway if he lucks out.</p>
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Affirmative Action was never meant to guarantee spots to lower-achieving URMs over higher achieving whites or asians. Instead it was meant to tip the balance between two comparable applicants in order to improve diversity.
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This is not what it does. A far more likely outcome is that it tips the balance between poor white/asian kids with medium level scores and with parents of lower socioeconomic status (so they have lower EC opportunities) and relative high achieving URMs with the same scores.</p>
<p>Civil rights used to be about treating everyone the same. But today some people are so used to special treatment that equal treatment is considered to be discrimination. </p>
<p>Banneker key scholarship/ Merit scholarship ( I interviewed on march 14 , I only saw a handful of minorities, So I dont know where the OP got his/her numbers from??????? The top 2% applicants got the interview.</p>