<p>I know you all are probably so sick of hearing all the complaining about the presence of African Americans in higher education, but I don't understand how NYU over-expresses its desire for complete diversity yet only 3.7% of the class of 2011 is black. Guys, thats 165 students of the 4,436 students that make up the total class. That number is unbelievably low. You know, so many people talk about how blacks are getting into college so easily now, but these NYU numbers certainly aren't showing that. Is NYU truly lowering their standards for black applicants because they are in desperate need of them. What is this "incredibly diverse institution" doing to increase their African American population on campus. If NYU really wanted more African Americans, wouldn't they accept as many borderline black applicants. Especially those who are in between a 3.0-3.3 GPA, but show potential in some other area the appliation. I'm truly interested in what people have to say about this subject, so if you can, go on, express your opinion.</p>
<p>This is not necessarily my opinion, but my guess is that they only want to lower their standards so much, to let a certain number of borderline applicants in, but not to lower their numbers and reputation. More and more people are applying each year, and our average SAT scores are rising, meaning more people with better stats are applying. Given that, its even harder for NYU to let in more borderline people when they have so many very qualified applicants and a great opportunity to raise their numbers.</p>
<p>Because a 3.0-3.33 is not "GOOD" enough for NYU. College doesn't award admission based on potential as you stated..admission is awarded on accomplishments in and outside of the classroom. The overall african-american population probably wasnt competitive this year.</p>
<p>AA wont get you into a school like NYU if you are completely under qualified...this is proof to all the Affirmative Action cry babies who blame AA for them not getting into college.</p>
<p>ixjunitxi, do you think NYU has a 3.4 cutoff?</p>
<p>idk what NYU's cutoff is but i suspect NYU has one...they say their avg accepted student has a gpa of 3.6.</p>
<p>Strong African-American applicants have many other college choices, including ones with much better financial aid.</p>
<p>nyu doesn't have a cutoff, but "normal" applicants (african american or not) will have a hard time getting in with a gpa below 3.4 unless they have an extremely compelling story</p>
<p>they have too many extremely well qualified applicants to lower their standards (and rankings - which they are working extremely hard to improve) just to increase the number of african americans.</p>
<p>I'm sure there are many african americans with better stats (3.7 gpa and above), and the question is why these students do not attend nyu</p>
<p>Not to be stereotypical, but the fact is that the majority of African-American college hopefuls cannot afford NYU. Because NYU's financial aid isn't so great, as a result there are many, many qualified African-American candidates who simply don't apply or are accepted but cannot afford it. This isn't to say that most other college seniors can afford NYU...it's just saying that there are, of course, a greater proportion of Caucasians or even Asians that can afford NYU because there are more of those ethnicities than there are African-Americans. Of course, NYU's endowment issue is also a factor in the distribution in financial aid. There are also schools, especially HBCU's, that give incentive to African-American candidates. For instance, as a National Achievement Finalist, I qualified for Howard University's Laureate Scholarship, which would have covered full tuition, room and board, and $900 stipend for books. A lot of African-Americans will look at that and then NYU's worse financial aid package and just go ahead and pick Howard...I'm just one of the lucky few that got enough to attend the school I really wanted to go to. When I visited Northwestern, I also got a feeling that they really liked strong minority candidates. Their scholarship is strictly need-based, and I feel that many low-income high achieving background African-Americans would be more compelled to pick a school like that...it was REALLY hard for me to turn them down, because I actually liked the School of Communication's theatre major and the campus very much and they gave me a virtual full ride, not to mention that they paid for me to visit. NYU...couldn't have done that for me. </p>
<p>So, overall, for many African-Americans, NYU is simply financially out of reach. Out of the few other African-Americans that I know at NYU, only one other maybe got substantial scholarships to be there. The others' parents are upper middle/upper class that allows them to afford what many of their counterparts are not. I think NYU does really like diversity, offering initiatives such as MLK Scholars, but the endowment thing coupled with not as many African-American applicants as other schools are most likely the main reasons that NYU's black population is lacking. So, basically, an extenstion of momfromme's statement.</p>
<p>Ok I just wanted to say that 3.4 is the AVERAGE GPA meaning some people have lower GPAs and most have higher GPAs. For example to get a 3.5 average out of 4 scores it would be something like 4.0 ,3.5, 3.5 and 3.0. </p>
<p>According to college board, 70 percent of 1st years students had a GPA of 3.5 or higher in highschool. So what i'm saying is there needs to be some people below to bring the average GPA to 3.4. Otherwise the average GPA would be around 3.75 - 3.8. Of course its harder to get into NYU with a lower GPA but still give it a try.</p>
<p>Anyway good luck to everyone.</p>
<p>There aren't very many of black people here at NYU. I can account for 1 out of those 165 students of the class of 2011. And while I believe everyone should be given a fair chance, what are the lengths that NYU should go to in order to get black students? May be a rumor, but a girl from the summer drama program this year applied ED and got rejected. She was then notified that because of her amazing essay, she would be given a second interview. Again, this may be a rumor, but the girl went on to tell some of her summer classmates about this second chance, many of whom got rejected. She was black. I welcome the fair acceptance of all students no matter what race.</p>
<p>^^thats probably a rumor...they read the essay when they rejected her...what could of changed. </p>
<p>idk what she is talking about but there are plenty of black students at NYU, I am a junior and most of my classes have atleast 5-10 black students which is alot compared to most schools...</p>
<p>It depends on the department/school, I guess. There aren't too many black drama majors in Tisch, but there's quite a few in dance, as I saw at the Tisch freshman loft party. I guess who you have class with can alter views a bit on how many black people are actually at NYU...</p>
<p>i agree with ixjunitxi, there are definitely many more black people here than at comparable institutions. even at stern, where people think is mostly filled with asians, i always have at least 2-3 people in my class who are black. i think people need to STOP COMPLAINING and START WORKING HARDER. as someone said before, potential isn't regarded as highly as achievement when so many fine students are applying to selective universities. universities aren't obligated to award minorities for their sub-par scholastic records. and yet, it is still easier for a minority student to gain admission to nyu, despite the small percentage the OP is complaining about. how low can they possibly go???</p>
<p>^^NYU esp stern is def filled with Asians</p>
<p>"and yet, it is still easier for a minority student to gain admission to nyu, despite the small percentage the OP is complaining about. how low can they possibly go???"</p>
<p>this is completely untrue...what are you talking about??...ive seen plenty of NYU students get gsped with around a 3.3. Maybe i should have been more clear...many students dont get into NYU outright with a 3.0-3.3 but many are gsped. I dont think NYU lowers its admission standards for anyone, minorities included.</p>
<p>Having at least 2-3 people in your class that are black is not a lot by the way. You not being black probably do not understand how that feels. Also NYU is no just going to accept some black person who has really bad grades just because they are black. Being black only helps a little and I think that it should be considered in most cases because being as I am black I have been at a disadvantage most of my life because I have had teachers acting as if I was dumb or something making me feel like I could not do much with my life.</p>
<p>i agree with dreams16. From a black person's perspective, 2-3 students, is not a lot at all. biggyboy, you made that statement like having only 2-3 students is totally fine. Well, ITS NOT!</p>
<p>How do students with a 3.3 get gspd. Aren't usually 3.4's and 3.5's the ones that get gspd?</p>
<p>im gonna repeat what people have already said and i agree with:
nyu doesnt lower its standard of admission for anyone, including minorities (all the minorities i have seen that have been accepted have had crazy sat's,gpa's,ranks, etc they are smart like everyone else)
being a URM only helps a little, but wont get you in if you have bad grades
alot of people, either minority or not, CANNOT AFFORD NYU.
percentage wise, minorites are called minorties because well, WE ARE THE MINORITIES. there will always be fewer minorities then white people. the end.
look a the percentage of minorities distributed in the u.s.
and also, many blacks choose to go to historically black colleges because they have to pay nearly zero dollars to attend.</p>
<p>i'm not really sure what the point of this debate is.
is the OP asking if miniorities get a bigger break than the white or asian applicants.
i am mixed, half-swedish, half-jamaican, who marked white on my application... i was accepted with very LOW stats. i know that my race had no factor in my acceptance.</p>
<p>I bet NYU admits plenty of black applicants with fine high school and test score records. However, those students have plenty of other options at universities which will not require them to pay as much money, so they don't attend NYU.</p>
<p>Financial aid policies have consequences. This is one of them. </p>
<p>I would expect that a similar dynamic applies to students whose families earn 30,000 to 80,000 a year.</p>