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If diversity is so important then why don't they try it on the football field or the basketball court?
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<p>Asian people are not, as a general rule, disadvantaged economically. They certainly have the means to access necessary training, etc. to become professional athletes. Obviously sports recruitment is based entirely on ability, not available opportunity. Minorities have the ability to succeed academically but are not given the opportunities. You're kinda comparing apples to oranges here, my friend..</p>
<p>I agree 100% with leah377. As a minority, I can see why some people are anti-affirmative action, but there's no need to be making slanderous assumptions about minorities. Maybe that black student got the interview over you because they had another thing going for them, like a great essay or extracurricular activity. You should know that GPA and SATs aren't the only things considered in college admissions. I'm just tired of people who make downright offensive accusations, such as saying that minorities only get in over whites because of their race/ethnicity.</p>
<p>I dislike affirmative action, but to address the original poster's claim that most collegiate sports are played by blacks/hispanics - do you realize how many college sports are oftentimes inaccessible to them? For example: tennis, golf, squash, water polo, etc. I'm fairly certain that there are more white college athletes than there are black or hispanic collegiate athletes.</p>
<p>That being said, I still detest the system in place. If you want a good system, base it not on race, but rather on the socio-economic circumstances of the applicants.</p>
<p>I really don't care about the system, I see its justification, advantages, and unfairness: I find this system to reflect that of today's society where we try to "push" certain groups to that of others, the equality of results. That said, had I been in that situation, I would've never blamed my rejection to affirmative action, but more on other factors such as recommendations, essays, and other factors. Sure, AA would've no doubt had some influence the decision, but I'd rather blame this on myself to maybe improve myself.</p>
<p>Affirmative Action was never meant to appease everyone. There will be those who dislike it because they were supposedly victimized while those who benefited will usually never realize the system. That itself, the fact that there will be losers and winners, implies the system is not "flawed" from its original intent :)</p>
<p>When you got rejected, another applicant got accepted who maybe needed that scholarship more.</p>
Look at this graph: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:1995-SAT-Education.png%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:1995-SAT-Education.png</a>
As families of all races are given more opportunities, Asian SAT scores skyrocket relative to their URM counterparts. Because of affirmative action, a Black or Hispanic would be happy with a 2000 SAT but an Asian knows that even a 2300 is not enough to get him/her into the college of his/her dreams. Asians set higher goals and consequently the gap increases. Essentially affirmative action does the opposite of what it's supposed to do.</p>
<p>His only EC is Christian club, while I have won numerous awards in the math and science competitions sponsored by the university itself. Not to mention I had a summer research internship there. That person also personally told me that his essay "sucked". </p>
<p>When I make controversial posts, I make sure that I have all the evidence to back it up. And you say I'm making offensive accusations? Look who's talking!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It should be based more on economics than race/ethnicity (I wonder-why do we even have to put race)...for example, a girl I know lives in a very nice town, has a nice car, and her parents are both doctors. She is counting on getting into college because of her race-she openly says it to everyone. On the other hand, I have a white friend who lives in a very bad part of a bad town, has a single mom working 3 jobs to care of her. So, I don't think that's necessarily fair. On the flip side, unless the case is severe (like, one girl is valedictorian and the other is not in top 20%, much lower sats, ecs, awards, etc) or if you know the person, you can just be like, They only got ___ because of their race. A difference of 50 pts on the SATs is not life-changing, just as a GPA difference of .2 isn't. </p></li>
<li><p>Merit aid---is merit. What does need have to do with it? I really don't get the argument of "well, they need it more"-that's why there are need scholarships! The argument about money behind a kid-there are enough people out there who can have all the money thrust at them and still fail and fail and fail and do badly on tests, etc. I see it everyday at my school, mother gets private tutoring for Sally at $100/hour for 3 hours/day 3 days/week. The same way you could give me the best running shoes and clothing, and shave my head-I still wouldn't be a fast runner.</p></li>
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<p>You are sounding quite self-righteous, if I may. So you didn't get into the university. Maybe you should get off CC and focus on trying to get in somewhere else; don't start bashing people just because you didn't succeed. If your extreme cockiness was in any way shown through your application, that may be the reason why you didn't get in and the black student did. Take the racist bashing somewhere else, please!</p>
<p>as a urm...id like to say that affirmative action is not always in the right...a good asian friend of mine was recently rejected into a top 10 school that having been hispanic/black, he would have been an automatic acceptance...then i come onto cc and see that a black male from djibouti got accepted with a sat score that was about 500 points lower...that is when affirmative action crosses the line inmy mind...i think its important for colleges to pursue diversity but be cautious about who they reject for whoever else they accept...howeever, i think affirmative action and diversity are important nevertheless or we would have just whites/asians attending top colleges...no matter what any of you claim i dont think you would enjoy that type of education.</p>
<p>I definitely agree that some components of AA need to be altered, but I just don't see how that gives people the right to start bashing or making assumptions about the entire minority population. Most students getting into college due to AA have been and continue to be as qualified as their non-minority counterparts, especially in top colleges.</p>
<p>amen... This whole race thing is bullcrap. However, seeing how there are a lot of different race marriages and births, this problem won't be as definate... I just hate how everyone concentrates on the color of the skin. Isn't whats on the inside most important?</p>
<p>Haha, seriously this is pathetic!! what is wrong with the youth of America. Excuses for everything.</p>
<p>I am an african american student with a very privelaged background i had a 3.94 gpa and i scored a 1510 on the old sat's did plenty of ecs and had what i would consider good essays. Yet i was rejected by Cornell of all places.(happily at NYU Stern i might add) However a buddy of mine, who is also african-american, i played AAU basketball with from a very unprivelaged background single mother, had barely any ecs ( he worked alot to help his mother) and an alright essay (i know this because i revised them ) got in with a 3.7 and a 1430 on his sats. There should be no way he got in over me. </p>
<p>Thats where affirmative action kicks in it allows URM students with underprivelaged backgrounds the abillity to attain higher education.</p>
<p>Olive_Tree I don't want to start a fight here. </p>
<p>I came on here to let out my frustration that a student with significantly lower stats that mine got a scholarship that I wasn't even considered for. The fact that he's Black only confirmed my suspicion that affirmative action is the culprit for this injustice. I have nothing against his race.</p>
<p>I'm not racist. I merely put up some facts that supported my argument. Even if you don't agree, don't call me names.</p>
<p>the part of underpriviliged backgrounds is not true in even close to most cases...most urms that get into top schools i believe are from the middle class being that their races distinguishes them from their asian/white counterparts</p>
<p>There is limited racism in our society today, and anyone who voices a racist opinion is generally condemned for it. So if there's no racism, what's the reason for AA?</p>
<p>AA implies that minorities have no innate ability to do as well as white people. This in itself says that whites are superior. Yet minorities support AA, no matter how undeserving they are of it, because it gives them an edge above white people. Now, by accepting the advantages inherent in AA, minorities are perpetuating the stereotype that they are lazy.</p>
<p>And so, when I say or anyone else says "Blacks and Hispanics are inferior," we are completely justified, because that's how they like it and that's how they want it to be.</p>
<p>affirmative action isn't there because latinos and african americans are dumber (this is not true at all). AA is there because statistically, latinos and african americans do not have the same resources available as your average upper middle class family.</p>
<p>i think affirmative action should be based on socioeconomic status, and the reason its not probably has something to do with the fact that universities and colleges are businesses (someone brought this up before)</p>
