<p>Hi,
can anyone clear up these two questions for me?
1. Does Stanford practice affirmative action? Is it very hard for Asians to get in unless you are extremely insane and talented?
2. What exactly does need blind mean? Does it mean that two applicants with almost everything the same, except one is very rich, and one is very poor, and the rich kid has just a little better grades etc., so the rich kid will get in? (Basically income is not considered at all for admission)</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>BUMP (10 char)</p>
<p>Stanford does practice affirmative action. Unlike the UCs, who are legally bound by the proposition (I forget the prop #) that eliminated racial preferences in all state institutions, (though they are violating it, but that's another story) Stanford being private is not so bound. They do give some degree of preference for what CC-ers call URMs which is generally just black, Hispanic, and Native American ethnicities.</p>
<p>Thanks though, but what about the need blind thing?</p>
<p>they are need blind for everyone - URM and not. I don't know about internationals, though, but they are needblind for US applicants. </p>
<p>However, in your scenario of a very rich vs a very poor (income-wise) student, who had the same academic and EC qualifications, the very poor student would be much more likely to get in at any of the top schools, because he would be seen as having made better use of the opportunities available to him.</p>