<p>No, I’m saying lyxdeslic’s opinions are a legitimate concern and that linked article talks about why - if the US Education Department thinks this is an issue, then it’s something that is statistically significant, not just a bunch of sore losers whining.</p>
<p>even though this is supposed to be a forum to discuss our opinions, they locked the other thread to suppress our dissenting comments</p>
<p>MITChris, how many applicants were wait listed?</p>
<p>I have followed these various threads with lyx posting on them with interest. As a parent to a very strong student who also happens to be URM, (lyx, feel free to see my son’s stats to see if your rational holds true for all cases) I have mixed feelings about affirmative action.</p>
<p>Mollie, I had to chuckle actually, when you described yourself. I am probably just the opposite of you: we are a conservative Christian family with definite conservative political leanings. :-)</p>
<p>My thought is that it is very good to build a balanced class however one defines “balanced” but that, ultimately, the kids you select had better be able to do the intense work at MIT and I am sure that is a huge consideration in admissions.</p>
<p>My son loved his visit to MIT through the WISE program (weekend immersion, not Women in Engineering) because he was able to finally meet other really smart, interesting, and well rounded kids who, yes, frankly, looked like him. Most of the things he participates in are populated with students of different backgrounds than he is.</p>
<p>Still, I wrestle with “affirmative action” and philosophically, I’m opposed to it; yet, I see great value in diversity. So, I’m not sure where that leaves me!</p>
<p>One of the smartest kids I know was rejected. That dosen’t make me feel too good for applying next year lol.</p>
<p>Accepted! Life is awesome :)</p>
<p>Though, like I’ve said in other threads, I’m still in disbelief; I’m still not sure how this happened. But I’m quite thankful, to say the least.</p>
<p>congrats to everyone that got in. most of your stats are truly impressive; kids seem smarter and smarter every year. at my son’s magnet school, two people got in ystd- the asian female valedictorian with ridiculous scores/GPA and a really poor white kid who worked throughout high school to save a few thousand for college and still managed to develop olympiad-level programming skills. so in this case, the admissions office did a good job in evaluating talent; no sketchy admits from my son’s school. my son’s best friend who had perfect scores on ACT and SAT (with tons of AP’s) was rejected though :-(</p>
<p>
[Harvard</a> Targeted in U.S. Asian-American Discrimination Probe - Bloomberg](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)
</p>
<p>And they tell students to not lie? not cheat? </p>
<p>Definition of the word ‘discriminate’
</p>
<p>Why don’t Harvard and Princeton Admission Deans explain the discrepancies in stats against Asian American applicants? Are they saying that Asian American students are much less holistic?</p>
<p>When they say that they don’t discriminate against Asian American applicants, it is a blatant lie. How can they educate students to be truthful in their academic works? How can they (Harvard and Princeton) punish students when they lie or cheat when they themselves are making such offensive lies against Asian American applicants? </p>
<p>Asian Americans in the mean time should join or support this organization:
[80-20</a> Educational Foundation](<a href=“http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/]80-20”>http://www.80-20educationalfoundation.org/)</p>
<p>Honestly, all of this talk about “discrimination” is unfounded and a little childish. If you are bitter at being rejected, fine, that’s all well and good to react like a child. But this is the US Private College admissions process. It is not state run, there are no laws that say a certain quota of a certain type of person needs to be admitted, and in all honesty, it is completely up to the admissions office to decide how they build a class. Life isn’t fair, get over it.</p>
<p>moonman676, Obviously you do not feel it the same way because you are not at the receiving end of this discrimination. I hope you never enter any leadership position at college and after college. You are either not smart enough to see things as they are or you have no empathy. You should never be rewarded for such traits.
</p>
<p>these schools should just admit that they have quotas that cap the number of asians that they can let in, instead of blatant lies and half truths. if admissions were based purely on ‘merit,’ the breakdown would look a lot like berkeley’s high asian population (over 40%).</p>
<p>^ Actually admitting that caps exist is illegal per Bakke v. Regents.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Wrong. Harvard takes state money for research and for scholarships, and when you take the handout, you have to abide by state mandates. A considerable part of Harvard’s budget comes from the state.</p>
<p>so it’s legal to put quotas on certain races but illegal to admit it or talk about it- that makes a lot of sense.</p>
<p>
Well, that’s actually where I come from, so I understand. I hate to admit it, but I had a very stereotypical transformation in college from conservative to liberal. :)</p>
<p>And I grew up in a very liberal, hippy, agnostic/new agey home and, by God’s grace, became a follower of Christ at a very wild secular college. So ya never know what can happen! :-)</p>
<p>Isn’t it illegal for private corporations and companies to discriminate possible candidates for a job position based on race? Why should it be any different for private universities?</p>
<p>I am a junior in high school this year. I went to MIT admissions presentation last semester and there was a mention that MIT’s motto is Mens et Manus and hands on learning is very important. Finding out the acceptance of seniors this year, it is evident that MIT did not even consider a couple of students who did some amazing things. These students are academically good too. Students who got accepted had been very involved in math and science competitions. Sometimes the obsession of winning these competitions makes people very greedy and they hurt other people such as not share the learning material. Many people who win these science competitions such as Siemens or Intel are also lucky to find mentors who supported them. The student who got accepted from my high school, her father is a professor at a college and the student had a lot of advantage because of that. There are many students who do fabulous research but the mentors are not able to release the data for science fairs and these students are not able to participate. Just because you win Intel does not mean that you are the best science student. Unfortunately, MIT has considered these winners without really knowing that they have done things unfairly to get ahead. This is how we are creating a society of smart but selfish people.</p>
<p>Adding to my above post, grades are subjective too. In my high school two teachers teaching the same subject have a different grading system. Some teachers give a lot of extra credit while others do not. All these issues combined makes this whole process so strange.</p>
<p>@mystory: That is only true to some extent. MIT is not the only schools who take Intel winners - it is also rare for the Ivies to turn down Intel Finalists. And they rely on the prestigious program to pick the exceptional students for them: there is a reason why the Intel application is so long. From personal experience, most people who win Intel do NOT win it from working in their parents’ lab. And you also can’t state that specifically for MIT because other schools practice it as well. In the end, college admissions is not fair. But if you think about it, there is no way that will ever make it completely fair for everyone, so they have to do with the best they got.</p>
<p>I definitely won’t have the same opinions if I didn’t get into MIT. But the fact that I did shows that what I said holds true (at least in my case).</p>