I AM NOT A RACIST. Let me repeat myself: I AM NOT A RACIST… wait…maybe you didn’t here me: I AM NOT A RACIST!!! With that in mind I think affirmative action is a horrible establishement that must come to an end. There is no better way to convince you than by example: ( TRue story)
My friend Cindy ( African American) got a 1300 on her SAT’s and had a 3.7 (UW) GPA with average EC’s. While she was a bright girl, she was no genius. I told her that Berkley and UCLA were probably a reach…HA… not only did she get a full scholarship to both of the most highly competitive UC’s, she was accepted TO HARVARd, Stanford, and Princeton. On the other hand… I also have a friend named Steven. Steven was better than Cindy accross the boards ( 3.95 and 1340 with some great EC’s) except, sadly, far inferior in one uncomtrollabe, hereditary way: THe COLOR OF HIS SKIN WAS LIGHTER THAN CINDY’S. Steven wasn’t accepted to Stanford. Steven wasn’t accepted to UCLA. Steven wasn’t accepted to UC Berkley. Steven wasn’t even accepted to UCSD ( his back-up) why? BECAUSE THE COLOR OF HIS SKIN WASN’t " The preffered color" for college admissions. Am I crazy, or does this seem unfair. THIS MUST STOP!!!
If you care at all about this issue ( which I know you do!) PLEASE post.
<p>Stephen would take the opportunity to go to a prestigious school based upon his race if he were so desperate to be admitted in the first place. Life sucks a lot of the time. Make the best of it. If Stephen is so bloody smart he will know that he will be successful no matter which college he goes to.</p>
<p>I agree the system is very unfair. But it's also unfair for people working for 25 cents a day in third world countries to make clothes for us, but hey, we don't complain.</p>
<p>I do have to say that the backdoor affirmative action at the UCs is very bad especially since prop 209's supposed to have banned it. But oh well, we all know life is unfair.</p>
<p>I agree affirmitive action is horrible. Cindy will have to live with a stigma for the rest of her life, as will all those that benefit from affirmitive action. What do I mean? How many times have you heard of people saying "she got in because she's mexican" or "he only got in because he's black" ? This is a disadvantage for minorities because if you have, lets say, a black student who is absolutely brilliant... 1500-1600 SATS and incredible GPA and EC's he or she will still be looked at as someone who benefitted from AA. They will always have their accomplishments called into question, which is unfair for them.</p>
<p>I don't know why people say that the UCs use AA. Anyone that has low stats and gets accepted is because of their socioeconomic status, not race. The adcoms can't even see your race or your name on your application.</p>
<p>just suck it up and deal, not everyone can be portrayed by stats, maybe cindy is just the better person or wrote the more convincing essay or is more of a leader.....who knows</p>
<p>Is joelb mental? There is no Afirimtive Action in place at the UC campuses. The only way the universities will know your race is if you tell them in your essay. The race check box in all applications is for public records. Last year The University of Michigan had to change their admissions policy because it was walking a fine line concerning this issue. Every university does not accept the highest gpa. I have plenty of friends I know that get better grades than me but probably are not the brightest and others that are highly intellectual but have a lesser gpa. Universities like interesting people. Sorry but there are a lot of boring white male elitists that do not always get their way.</p>
<p>a 40 pt SAT difference and .25 GPA difference is not a big enough difference to deduce anything and surely not enough to have caps in your posts as if it was a great tragedy</p>
<p>I too dislike the system for one very imporant reason:</p>
<p>Take doctors for example. I dn't care what the color of my doctor's skin is or their gender. BUT i do care that they be the mos tqualified. I don't want a doctor who was able to become one because the medical office needs to fulfill a skin color/gender quota and this person was the best that they could find of that type of person. </p>
<p>The same applied to any job in which my life is in another's hands (firefighter, policemen, etc.)</p>
<p>Other than the colour of their skin, I don't see a significant difference between the two. What about extracurriculars, essays, awards and achievements, and personality? Those factors may have set Cindy apart from her white counterpart.</p>
<p>Just because she's "no genius" doesn't mean she's not academically qualified for Harvard, Stanford, etc. Intelligence may come off differently to each person you speak to. Think about what you mutter to the person who looks down upon you, and compare it to what you might say to someone you feel utterly comfortable around.</p>
<p>If you think that the ultimate injustice stems from universities admitting and awarding scholarships to students of minority races and low financial incomes over well-off whites, try to remember that some of those unfortunate students might have spent their entire lives toiling in fields to regularly pay off supermarket and housing expenses that many of us throw away in a second for a mobile phone or a new pair of jeans. Isn't that a greater injustice?</p>