<p>" Li, who has a perfect 2400 SAT score and near-perfect SAT II scores, was rejected this past year from five of the nine universities he applied to Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania and accepted to four: CalTech, Rutgers, Cooper Union and Yale."</p>
<p>Maybe his lack of social skills played a role....haha</p>
<p>I believe a PRIVATE institution can select or reject anyone they choose to.</p>
<p>He's not suing on the basis of his rejection. He is not suing to get in. He's suing because he is against decisionmaking based on race. It's an easy excuse to dismiss this case as a bitter, presumptuous student. Yeah, Li probably fits that description. But I think he still has a valid point and it's too easy to ignore the point and just concentrate on Li himself.
The evidence he uses from a study done by Princeton professors is pretty compelling regardless of Li's personal characteristics.</p>
<p>The article didnt mention that two other students from his school got into Princeton, one of which was an Asian American who also emigrated from China at the age of four.</p>
<p>The study doesn't matter. A private institution should be allowed to take anyone they want to - be it only blacks or only whites or only asians or only hispanics or any mix... Princeton has a stated affirmative action policy for minorities, and it has every right to abide by it.
P.S. Personally, I am strongly against affirmative action, because I think it does more harm than good. But still, I support every private institution's right to admit whomever or whatever it chooses. State schools are another matter...</p>
<p>skysongx, I just got one more post than you!</p>
<p>Whoah, how did that work? I could swear my post was before either of yours. Haha :)</p>
<p>A private institution can do whatever it wants, but it risks losing federal funding (which is in the tune of hundred of millions per year) if it violates federal guidelines. If this thing makes it to the supreme court, a conservative bench could rule against the inclusion of race in admissions descision. It can't make Princeton take the applicant, but Princeton could lose alot of money, more than it can afford to.</p>
<p>Ernie, even private colleges get federal exemptions and such. That's why the courts ruled that Harvard could not stop army recruiters from coming on campus and trying to recruit students. Because of the special treatment private colleges get from the government, they still have to follow government rules. Just because an institution is private doesn't mean it isn't subject to some regulation. That is why the Supreme Court ruled that no college can discriminate based on race by using mechanistic standards (like quotas). Now Li is arguing that no college can discriminate based on race AT ALL. He wants the rules to change and frankly I'm with him. He may be a sore loser and a prick but he has a point.</p>
<p>Well, churches and charity organizations and other religious institutions get federal tx cuts/exemptions, and there are plenty of, say, "black" charity organiztions that nobody is suing...
Well if Li wins all race-based affirmative action is out. That will be a huge fight...</p>
<p>Eh? Black charity organizations? What has that got to do with anything? Just because an organization is meant for black people doesn't mean it discriminates against white people...as long as they're not banned...and no one does that anyway</p>
<p>Well, asians certainly aren't excluded from Princeton!</p>
<p>My last post was probably confusing:</p>
<p>"Just because an organization is meant for black people doesn't mean it discriminates against white people...as long as they're not banned"</p>
<p>Princeton does not "ban" asians, but Li still claims asians are discriminted against.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"removing consideration of race would have little effect on white students, but that Asian students would fill nearly four out of every five places in admitted classes that are currently taken by African-American or Hispanic students."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>but if you think about it, Li's case does have a bit more merit than previous cases. Unlike former white people who filed lawsuits, Li is asian. Asians are considered minority in almost everything, except college admissions. Does it really seem fair to "handicap" one race because those people work very hard? </p>
<p>This is what I am basically saying. Asian people are NOT naturally born smart. They need to study as hard as anyone (yes, even African Americans and Hispanics) to get good grades and high scores. It is not some sort of innate ability or unfair advantage that they possess. So HOW is it fair to make their achievements less effective or impressive in college admissions?</p>
<p>I totally agree with PK...it's so unfair. I work so hard</p>
<p>actually studies have shown that asians posess a higher IQ on average, closely followed by whites and so on
Officially, race is only something known when it is voluntarily declared
I wonder if Princeton can use race as a factor if the applicant doesn't declare a race but their name or other factors give it away</p>
<p>If Asians only make up 4% of the general population and the Princeton Asian population is 18%, wouldn't he have a hard time proving he's being discriminated against?</p>
<p>He'll have a hard time proving he was discriminated against, no matter what. That having been said, if he and others were rejected because Princeton decided that 18% was more than enough Asians, yes of course that counts as being discriminated against.</p>
<p>overall, i'm just glad that the issue was brought up. regardless of outcome, it should make admissions officers think twice about discrimination, no matter how subtle.</p>
<p>I don't know what the fuss is about. Affirmative Action is just basically an institutionalized and statiscally supported way to say that Asians and Caucasians are inherently better than Blacks and Hispanics</p>