Is it true that being black is sort of like a hook?

<p>My mother said she had a friend whose daughter (who is black - in fact, her whole family is from Kenya, Africa and so is mine) went to an interview for a prep school in New York and got almost full financial support. In my opinion, this was her only hook. Do you think being black or of African descent may help your chances of getting into a higher tier boarding school?</p>

<p>Being black isn’t the hook. I would hate to think that prep schools are choosing which students get into their schools not with their qualifications, but from their skin color. Being from Kenya probably was the hook. These prep schools look for a lot of internationalism. </p>

<p>All races have an equal chance of getting in. It just depends who you are as a person that makes you special.</p>

<p>Well that being said,for Asians it is generally more competitive, as for URM such as African Americans and Hispanics or Latinos it is generally slightly easier since the schools are looking for diversity but your race shouldn’t make or break your acceptance or rejection.</p>

<p>“All races have an equal chance of getting in”
that is untrue. there was an article somewhere that someone posted here, that said that accepted Asians on average have a higher SAT (by quite a significant margin, like 80-100) than accepted students from other races… people expect more from them, it seems. and no, being hispanic or african-american is definitely better than being asian/white, at least from an admissions perspective (unless your school was like, in desperate, dire need of asians, but what’s the possiblity of that? this is from an american perspective, if all these prospectus were american but with different races… like, not if the asian was from kazakhstan or something) </p>

<p>URM is a hook, but it’s not like you’re not going to get in just because you’re black or hispanic or whatever. it’s more of a tipping factor, i think. if 2 people had similar stats but one was a URM, then that person’s more likely to get accepted. </p>

<p>this is speaking generally, obviously there are exceptions… parents, feel free to pitch in, since there’s tons of debate about URM-ism. however, one thing’s for sure, being black/hispanic/URM is a good thing. hahaha</p>

<p>An African American/Black is not getting into a Top Boarding School because of the color of their skin. They are going to have to be academically qualified as Admissions Rep’s are smart enough to know that they will end up failing out and have a miserable experience if they’re not qualified. They are not in the Business of setting up young men & women for failure. However, the goal of diversity as enriching the Boarding School experience for all students and creating a balanced student population opens the doors for blacks, Asians, Whites, Hispanics and International students. If SAT/SSAT Scores were the dominant criteria for admissions, Colleges & Boarding Schools should then just feed the information into a Computer and let it select who gets accepted and who doesn’t. That sure would suck now wouldn’t it?</p>

<p>Asians tend to be proficient Standardize test takers statistically over the rest of the population, should we have 90% population of them in Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Exeter, Andover and Deerfield? No! There are enough qualified Wealthy whites who can pay full tuition and donate to the schools endowment. Why not just accept all of them like the old days and let the Head Master call the Ivy Presidents and tell him how many students from his school he hand selected that will be attending Princeton & Harvard this year.</p>

<p>A School needs Atheletes, Wealthy development students, brainiacs, whites who are middle class & poor, Asians who score high & play Piano, Arabs, Hispanics, Blacks who have overcome poverty yet still get 95% SSAT scores, Indians considered untouchables in their own Country who dream of an American education etc… to make a well balanced school experience and environment. Everybody has a hook because it is the collective unique experiences that each person brings that enhances the educational & cultural experience of all.</p>

<p>Very well said prepveteran. Bravo.</p>

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<p>I wish I had said that…jealous.</p>

<p>Indeed, it’s a legendary quote haha.</p>

<p>PrepV, You totally left out Native Americans in your diversity list. :D</p>

<p>I’ll weigh in despite the ■■■■■-ish nature of the question – perhaps especially since my ■■■■■-o-meter is clicking like a geiger counter in Alamagordo, NM.</p>

<p>Yes, it’s true that if applicants add some hard-to-find ethnic diversity to the student population, they may find themselves getting offers of admission despite higher GPA and SSAT numbers from unadmitted applicants who are white. But before you go thinking that means “hooked” applicants have an unfair “better” chance at being admitted because they’re black, Native American or whatever ethnic hook seems to grab the attention of the Admissions Committee, ask yourself this:</p>

<p>If a white person was given a choice, would s/he try to get in boarding school by being born black, Native American or whatever…?</p>

<p>Understand that the very reason certain groups garner “hookiness” is because, on the whole, the road to whatever it is that it takes to put up garish SSAT and GPA numbers is a helluva lot tougher for members of these other groups. For example, I know two brothers my age – white – who get into Exeter (and later Ivies) because of their background: being identified as exceptionally gifted by a teacher in a mining town where they were knocked around plenty by a rough-and-tumble home environment. Oh yeah, they had a hook. And, as far as I’m concerned, it’s for purely selfish reasons that I’m so glad they had that hook and not me.</p>

<p>The notion that it’s an advantage to be from an URM is laughable. When people say or think it’s an unfair advantage, what they’re really thinking is “If I could go through my life exactly the same way, with the same family, same community, same teachers, same guidance, same grades, same SSAT scores and have nothing at all change except for the box I check on my application as to my ethnic status, it would be easier to get accepted if I was ________.” In that case, yes, they’d be right. That thinking does make perfect sense – but only in the make-believe world they’re implicitly assuming into the picture.</p>

<p>So, before anyone goes wishing they had a “hook” or begrudging others who have one, understand that the concept of “hook” speaks more to the journey involved than it speaks to the isolated moment at which a box on an application gets ticked. And I think people who dislike the concept of “hooks” focus on that box-checking moment without fully grasping the dues typically paid by the people who are doing the ticking.</p>

<p>I’ll add that one cannot tell what road one traveled by the box checked under ethnicity.</p>

<p>Agree with that 100%. I’m assuming they read the apps to get the full picture, but, yes, if it was all about which box gets ticked: not good.</p>

<p>A recent television ad for the insurance company shows a committee meeting where one member says something to the effect that ‘I would be an excellent salesman if I were a short, green lizard with an accent.’ I suppose the lizard could be considered to have a ‘hook’.
One fantasy question to consider is ‘Would you want to exchange places with a lizard in a world of cats & hawks?’
A more important question is ‘What can you do to extend yourself and become an excellent salesman despite your perceived lack of a hook?’
Perhaps your diligence and creativity, in and of themselves, could become your ‘hook’.</p>

<p>Sorry Pulsar! Native Americans as well.</p>

<p>Nice D Maker! Another angle to make a valid point.</p>

<p>As D’yer said and this is my own personal reflection. My D worked her butt off and I was able to afford to send her to a top day Prep School, get her the best tutors for the SSAT Test, expose her to International travel, provide a safe affluent community for her, etc… However, I ask myself, what if she had to go to a school with a 50% drop out rate, where parents don’t show up for PTO Meetings, where teachers are not the most qualified and are apathetic, where motivated minorities who speak properly are called acting white, and the community was teeming with poverty and violence, and I couldn’t afford to get her the best Test Prep. Would she still be able to overcome all of that and get good grades, score high on the SSAT, remain motivated and end up with an acceptance at a Top Boarding School? I can’t say for sure the answer would be yes. I actually doubt it!</p>

<p>the truth:</p>

<p>if you’re black and more qualified than other black applicants then you’ll get in</p>

<p>competition for asian kids are the most difficult since so many of them are over-qualified</p>

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<p>Give us a break and take some rest! CC crowd is way smarter than you think. :)</p>

<p>im glad to be accepted as an asian @_@
curious to see the acceptance rate for asians in comparison to other races/ethnicities…</p>

<p>What african country are you from bshopeful?</p>

<p>That’s an interesting question, somnusc. Exeter is something like 24% Asian. I don’t know how many Asians are international or are Asian Americans. Without knowing that, plus how many applicants fit into each category, it’s kind of impossible to know. Let’s say that half of the 24% are Americans (I have no idea what the actual number is). Asian Americans make up less than 5% of the US population. That would still make them extremely over represented as a group. From what I understand, the toughest category to be in is an international Asian because there is the normal very fierce competition coupled with very limited spots.</p>