<p>Well as a minority I couldn't disagree more with creolan. I think diversity shouldn't be considered during admissions. Admissions is taken as a case by case basis where the dept chooses the most suitable candidates. Choosing candidates based on anythin other than their relevant merits is grotesquely unethical.</p>
<p>Diversity adds little to a grad program. The real goal is to give incentives for QUALIFIED people who are from low-income families and the such to apply. However, under no circumstance should anyone be given any form of preference. </p>
<p>You aren't going to get a more relevant grad experience in a dept just because the students are from diff backgrounds. It makes for more interesting conversations and the such but thats abt it.</p>
<p>bump.</p>
<p>keep the discussion going!</p>
<p>IMO, affirmative action should only be allowed in college applications.. giving those from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance to go to as good a college as they deserve.. as for PhD applicants.. even the URMs have already been to college and are given equal opportunities as non-URMs.. so I don't think URMs deserve any AA advantage anymore.. I think 4 years are enough for even those who come from the most disadvantaged backgrounds to catch up with everyone else.</p>
<p>Here's what I've seen, FWIW:</p>
<p>It pretty much comes down to who the prof. wants to work with, and most professors seem to do a good job of picking well-qualified students (in the sense of stats & compatibility to research interests). There are a few, however, who accept a disproportionate amount of petite females, good-old-boys, americans of african descent, asian males, students-from-prof's-home-country, etc.</p>
<p>It's quite obvious that there are non-meritocratic qualities to the admissions process for grad school, but they are not the same as for undergrad. The personality of the advisor also plays a role in what types of students he attracts. I know a chinese professor who 14 of his 15 graduate students are chinese. I also know an american professor who all 5 or 6 of his students are american.</p>
<p>Although the graduate admissions process doesn't focus much on URM's for reasons enumerated earlier, it comes back full force when looking for faculty positions. There is a huge tug-of-war for URM professors amongst the top universities.</p>
<p>Call me naive but I don't see esteemed faculty members playing a stupid game like tug of war. I mean do they all pay money to congregate to the same location to play this game? Total waste of resources.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if there's an official guideline schools need to adhere to... but many programs want diversity and will make conscientious choice to admit people from all backgrounds.</p>