My Friend got a Phone Call From the Harvard Undergrad Minority Recruitment?

[xrCalico23]

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I am trying to distinguish athletes/legacies from race. Race does not necessarily put you into a different pile with a different distribution of admits.

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<p>I do think that race, in addition to many other factors, puts you in direct competition with people of specific categories.</p>

<p>An interesting article written by the former dean of admissions at Reed, which was cited elsewhere on ColegeConfidential this afternoon:</p>

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Perhaps the most controversial and high-profile aspect of institutional self-interest concerns the students we admit. Who gets admitted and why? The simple answer to that question is the applicants we want the most. But colleges and universities seem to say, or imply, that only “the best” or “the most qualified” get chosen. Does every (or any) college simply admit the most qualified applicants? Who defines most qualified? During my stints as an administrator at Bennington, Vassar, Duke, Boston College, Oberlin, and Reed, I have seen, in nearly every case, a version of admission by category, with the categories determined by institutional needs and priorities.</p>

<p>Most applicants compete not with the whole applicant pool but within specific categories, where the applicant-to-available-space ratio may be more, or less, favorable than in the pool at large. Categories can exist for athletics, ethnic diversity, international citizenship, institutional legacy and loyalty, musical and artistic needs, component schools or special academic programs, and in some cases, even gender. Students in the selected categories, which vary from institution to institution, have a “hook” because they help meet institutional needs.

[Reed</a> College | Admission | Reed College Admission Office](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/admission_messages.html]Reed”>http://www.reed.edu/apply/news_and_articles/admission_messages.html)</p>

<p>I find it interesting and relevant to this current debate; perhaps you would like to check out the issue in greater detail.</p>