<p>Dizzymom, you might want to keep in mind that many URM's are also athletes. Plus, the 44% minority admission figure that Princeton is citing undoubtedly includes Asians, Indians, children of immigrants, and other groups that are traditionally high performing. It's in Princeton's interest as far as PR to fudge on the use of the word "minority" somewhat -- they want to look like they are very diverse -- but in the end the percentages of minority students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds is much lower. </p>
<p>Stats don't tell the whole story either: there are many fewer blacks in the applicant pool than whites, so a number like 46% admission often reflects the lengths that the college has to go to in order to maintain only the 8% representation they have in the overall student body. Princeton's entering class will probably still be 63% white or close to that -- so if you are going to look at what your chances are at ENDING up at Princeton... well, being white, rich, and coming from the Northeast still counts for a lot. </p>
<p>Finally, I'd like to note that my daughter attends a west coast public high school that doesn't offer any athletics. We had one kid admitted to several Ivies + Stanford this year, a kid who went to Yale the year before, and another who went to Harvard the year before. Two of the kids were class valedictorians, I think the other was Salutatorian or close to it -- so I think class rank is pretty important.</p>