<p>While i am not condoning his actions, may i ask, what makes you believe your friend is less qualified?</p>
<p>I dont know but the way you have an answer for how to avoid every possible suggestion (of he he could get caught) offered, makes me believe you have either thoroughly researched this idea or you are your friend</p>
<p>g2g4gold, </p>
<p>How do you know what he filled out on his application? Did you see his application? I feel pretty certain that you did NOT see his application. If he said he filled in that he is African American, that doesn't mean that he did. Or perhaps he is of mixed race that you don't know about. No matter what, you truly do not know what he filled out for sure, nor his entire racial background. </p>
<p>If he filled out the application falsely, it will likely catch up with him and he will be in trouble with the school. If that is the situation, let it run its course. </p>
<p>You say that others (yourself?) lost out on a spot to a "likely less qualified" candidate. Who is to say he is less qualified? You? Or are you implying that he was only accepted due to his African American status? Hmmm. </p>
<p>In my opinion, your attempts to contact Columbia says a lot about YOU.</p>
<p>He may have been implying that he may not have gotten in had he not checked off the African American status. This is not to say he was accepted SOLELY because of his race, but it sure gives a large enough boost to push him over the edge (if he was a borderline applicant).</p>
<p>Christ! I just wanted an answer, not to be accused of anything.</p>
<p>I know he did because he said he did, and while that's not 100% I don't see why anyone would lie about that. Who would tell a schoolmate they lied on an application when they didn't?</p>
<p>I AM saying his African American status helped quite a bit. His grades weren't high, he sat around and played computer games all day, and though his SAT's were fine and I don't know about his essays that's just not right. If I didn't get in, I at least want to know there are more qualified applicants going there.</p>
<p>It's wrong, it gets me riled up, and I want to see something done about it.</p>
<p>To do anything else is condoning poor behavior, if you're calling me a poor person for wanting justice you're not looking at the whole argument.</p>
<p>g2g,
Your argument that this friend would not lie to you and say he filled it out a certain way when he didn't, makes no sense because if he filled it out that he is African Amercian and he is not, then he is a liar and so why are you saying he doesn't lie? Which is it? </p>
<p>You have no idea why he got in. The fact is, he got in and you didn't. You are angry. You are jealous. You think it is unfair. Many qualified candidates are denied at schools like Columbia. The fact that some get in and others do not, does not imply that the admitted ones are more "qualified." Many factors go into such decisions. You very well may be qualified and the luck of the draw was not in your favor. That is part of the elite admissions reality. Disappointing? Yes. Unfair? No. Deal with your own business and not that of this friend. If he did something wrong, natural consequences will follow. If you contact the school out of bitterness, I feel you are doing something wrong. You are not competing with this kid. Your admissions result was about you and nobody else. I'm sorry it was not as hoped. That should be the end of that.</p>
<p>You picked a poor argument about the lying, if only because he has a much larger motivation for lying on the application and none for the other.</p>
<p>I am angry, and I am jealous. He really had nothing going for him except his marked race, there shouldn't have been any ambiguity about his decision. Now, can we stop arguing about my values and get back on the original question?</p>
<p>You say he had nothing going for him but his marked race. Who are you to say? Columbia would not accept someone just for their race alone. </p>
<p>Also, how do you know this guy isn't part African American? </p>
<p>Let's say that you are 1/8 Hispanic. And let's say you get into Stanford. Do you wish everyone to say you had nothing going for YOU except the race you marked?</p>
<p>
[quote]
g2g4gold, </p>
<p>The way you are probing this board for answers offering all these diff types of scenarios of how he could pull it off, it makes me wonder.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I agree. I am wondering why the interest in these if's and but's scenarios about ethnicity on an application and if this is something g2g4gold is inquiring about for her own purposes?</p>
<p>He might have been North African and didn't know that was considered Caucasian.</p>
<p>"I'm sure he'll get in trouble for it eventually. All it takes is for someone to TELL Columbia about this and have them check up on him. I would actually recommend that someone do this before he even enters as a freshman..."</p>
<p>It'll probably be more fun to do it once he's in college. I have heard of people kicked out of med school because it was found out that they didn't report every transcript when they were applying. Nothing like accumulating 100k in debt and ending up with nothing.</p>
<p>^Ahahaha! That works too. I was just trying to make him give up his spot now, so someone more deserving could have it. But hey, letting them know later isn't too bad of an idea either ;)</p>
<p>I don't think it matters whether it was his race that got him or not. Or that the OP is jealous. The fact is that he lied. It was a big lie too. He used something he didn't have to his advantage. Now, I know race doesn't get someone into a school. It may or may not have been the difference between rejection or not, but I'd still at least tell the counselor because it's a clear violation of the academic code of Columbia. A liar is a liar and he should get punished for it.</p>
<p>merber!!! whats up man</p>
<p>i can assure you all that g2g4gold is definitely not lying. I'm pretty sure he was admitted ED as a recruited athlete (yes?), and just wants to clear this up</p>
<p>S-P-I-T-E-F-U-L.</p>
<p>Seriously, just let it run its course. He'll probably be caught eventually. While what he did WAS wrong, I think it's even worse to capitalize on this to hurt someone you probably see as a rival. Let Columbia deal with it, not you. As others stated, they'll find out at some point.</p>
<p>"i know a guy who marked that he was black but wasnt, and he was accepted to columbia."</p>
<p>How do you know that he erroneously marked that he was black?</p>
<p>He could have lied to you about doing so.</p>
<p>He also could be African American, but you just aren't aware of it. I'm black and know some African Americans who even have blond hair, pink skin and blue eyes. How race is decided in this country is very arbitrary. The old "one drop rule" (meaning if a person had any black African ancestry no matter how distant, they were characterized as being African American) means that many people who consider themselves to be "African American" actually look "white".</p>
<p>Just curious, what is the minimum fraction you need to be (1/8, 1/16 etc) to "legitimately" claim that race/ethnicity on college apps? Is it really as Northstarmom says, "one drop"? That could really get complicated, wouldn't it?</p>
<p>When it comes to being considered African American, as long as you've had a black ancestor, you can consider yourself African American.</p>
<p>Historically in this country, black people were so looked down on that only an insane person who was not black would falsely claim to be black. The one drop rule was because being black was considered to be such a horrible thing that a person was considered to be tainted if they had any black ancestor. </p>
<p>Even now, I find it hard to imagine that someone would lie about being black when they aren't. I am sure that there are many more people with black African ancestry who are passing for being pure white than there are people who are white who are trying to pass for being black in order to try to boost their chances at top colleges.</p>
<p>^^ No Northstarmom's comment is not correct. People with one drop of african blood...do not consider themselves african-american. If anything people would consider themselves bi-racial or multi-racial, not african-american. </p>
<p>On the common app it clearly says check all that apply , so you could check every box by all means....but having a spec of african blood will not make you solely african-american</p>
<p>" No Northstarmom's comment is not correct. People with one drop of african blood...do not consider themselves african-american. If anything people would consider themselves bi-racial or multi-racial, not african-american."</p>
<p>Not all people feel the way that you describe. There are light skinned families that have considered themselves to be African American for generations who have gone out of their way to marry other light skinned, straight haired people of black African heritage so that their children would be very likely to also look "white". Yet, those people consider themselves "African Americans," not "whites".
New Orleans has been known for having black people like that. </p>
<p>When it comes to "white" looking people of black African heritage, there are African Americans who have one black and one white parent, but who always called themselves "African American" because they favored the black parent over the white one or because their white family members rejected them.</p>
<p>So do multi-racial or bi-racial people have an admissions advantage over "pure" African American or are all of them lumped into the "URM" category?</p>
<p>As for the OP's story, I wonder how firm the grounds would be for expulsion. I mean the student could claim it was an innocent error- he just checked the wrong box. Like accidentally entering the wrong digit on the telephone number. After all, Columbia isn't admitting him just because of his race, right? Do the colleges ever actually tell the admitted student that he is being admitted on condition that he is of a certain race?</p>