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You can't blame someone's stupidity on his lack of opportunities.
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"Stupidity" versus opportunities? Look, I get barely 2000 on my SAT. Yet, I'm excelling here. Anyone from Monta Vista would call that fairly "stupid." How about this - I got a near perfect 4.0 in HS - of course, my schoolwork was ********. Yet I managed to thrive at UCLA, haven't I? Talk to the kids in AAP, moldau before you pass judgment. Sure, there are few black students or whatever here. Yet, the one and only black kid in my math class aced it. Talk about prejudice and casting judgments.
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You know, I never see other people complaining about anything other than lack of racial diversity. There really is a lot of other kinds of diversity - religious, cultural, economic, sexual, age, etc. Should race even matter?
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Like I said above. There are correlations - UCLA isn't admitting students solely on race. If that were the issue - tell me about the upper echeleons of rich black society proliferating UCLA simply by race. That's not the issue! Look at other "overrepresented" minorities - they're quite frankly, not the richest or most endowed. Look at AAP in general - it's not filled with Latinos and Blacks solely - it is people who have overcome certain struggles and who need a safety net!
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How does someone's skin color bring anything different? Don't tell me that blacks and Latinos have been unfairly treated by whites in the past.
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Ah, yes because they haven't? :rolleyes: It's not the determing factor. You don't know where these people are coming from and you don't know their stories. You're making a blanket statement that people that want to increase diversity and social mobility are directly against - it's people with that mindset, moldau, that allow for misunderstandings of things like holistic admissions - all under the same cynicism. Surely, we should let this proliferate. </p>
<p>God moldau. Do you know what you're saying? It's pure ********. As an addendum to your post - aren't you from rich, conservative Palos Verdes? Your parents were fond of Reagan weren't they? Didn't you also say that "No one lives under $100K?" Tell me you're aware of social inequalities - I doubt it.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, moldau, not everyone is so privileged. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>UCLA has a long history of stellar Black Alumni. Including Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, Baseball great Jackie Robinson, Nobel Peace Prize winner Ralph Bunche, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Congresswomen Yvonne Braithewaite Burke and Diane Watson, and Attorney Johnnie Cochran. </p>
<p>Now that's a list to be proud of. And there is no doubt that more famous names that will be added to that list in the future.</p>
<p>mme-lin can you say more about AAP? If my D gets into UCLA, Duke will be what it will compete with for her top spot. I think UCLA can offer much of the same, closer, and for less money , but without the diversity and "safety nets". Aside from the dubious adversity of being one of the only black people she knows, she went to a very small school without much in the way of AP's and she might need help with rigor and being more assertive about finding resources. Any thoughts? Also, are there any "admitted student activities" for URM's? April is filled with them from private schools.</p>
[/quote] Academic</a> Advancement Program (AAP) - UCLA Division of Undergraduate Education
If you'd like any sort of anecdotal information - there are quite a few of us on the board who have had experiences with it.
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If my D gets into UCLA, Duke will be what it will compete with for her top spot. I think UCLA can offer much of the same, closer, and for less money , but without the diversity and "safety nets".
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What's her intended major? Diversity? In what sense? Duke has about 6,300 students - if I had applied and gotten in, I would've gone in a heartbeat (not bashing UCLA but Duke has more resources relative to the number of students). I think you should PM DanielHagos, a current UCLA student, who chose UCLA over Duke. I don't know anything about Duke's financial aid - heck, it might even be cheaper to attend that school when grants are taken into consider (example: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Brown essentially being 'free' for students from low-income families).
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Aside from the dubious adversity of being one of the only black people she knows, she went to a very small school without much in the way of AP's and she might need help with rigor and being more assertive about finding resources. Any thoughts?
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It's difficult getting that sort of attention. It's difficult closing the gap between how prepared you were in high school (or lack thereof) compared to your peers who might've gone to chartered schools or well-renown publics even or college prep schools. I noticed the discrepancy immediately - frankly, I wasn't prepared. At least there are services (example: tutoring at AAP and much to a lesser extent, through Covel Commons) that can fill the gap... if you're motivated enough and determined to now fall through the cracks.
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Also, are there any "admitted student activities" for URM's? April is filled with them from private schools.
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Not quite but there is some sort of summer program specifically for URMs preceding their freshman year. I would contact AAP for more information. </p>
<p>That was great! Thanks. By diversity I mean my daughter knows few Black people and fits in fine wherever, but when she gets invited to "diversity" things at privates she is dumbfounded when she meets "people like me". I think that means with similar backgrounds and interests ( they all know what it means when your told your not Black enough ....even by your White peers...) AS WELL AS skin color, family history and dynamics. As you know, Duke is like 10 percent Af-Am, most with 2000+ SAT's, and the south is very different from LA. And at the risk of being "bashed" for raising a well off URM who gets into "good" schools, I'll add there will be no need based aid from Duke. We will pay full price. I went to UCLA. BTW, for a Child Psychiatry Fellowship, and know about being unprepared. I would LOVE more anecdotes about AAP and PEERS. Berkeley really "sold" it's " Science /Engineering Diversity coalition" last weekend.</p>
<p>There's an AAP sponsored summer program called FSP; you take classes and live as a college student for either 1 or 2 sessions (not sure), with the guidance of AAP counselors and mentors. You get to know a lot more about the resources UCLA has to offer (which gives you an advantage over other freshman when you start your academic year), hang out with A LOT of other URPs (hey, I'm Asian and I got into AAP. Low-income FTW). </p>
<p>From my friends who've gone to FSP, they regard it as a very rewarding experience. They're still friends with the people they met during FSP, and it gives you familiar faces to look forward to come regular year.</p>
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and holistic admissions is just a loophole that sounds more appealing to the public to admit people who normally would not be admitted. its not hard to guess their race. the uc essay prompts are begging minorities to write their race and the demographics of where they're from also can give you hints
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<p>I wonder if I shortchanged myself by not writing anything about my race or economic circumstances in my application essays then. I just talked purely about my interest in my major and academic accomplishments. I didn't think it would be interesting to regale UCLA with anecdotes about growing up a poor Mexican, and the transfer prompts didn't seem to invite that either.</p>
<p>I really felt the lack of diversity in UCLA when I went on the campus tour (twice, once in 2005 and once last month). I felt bad when I went to the cafeteria during lunchtime and saw that in the whole crowded room, the only visible Hispanics there were the janitors. :(</p>
<p>^^ UCLA is 14% Hispanic, higher than schools like Stanford, Harvard, etc. So comparatively, that's very good. I think you just happened to see a group of people where there just weren't many Hispanics.</p>
<p>Not to start a debate, but I need help with an AP govt. project, which deals with researching the use of Affirmative Action in college admissions.</p>
<p>Does, or does not, UCLA/UCs use race as a determining factor in college admissions? If you have specific info please provide the link. thank you!</p>
<p>I've been taking some practice tests with my study guide and those put me at the low 2200s high 2100s. So when I retake the test, I'm looking to be at least 120 points higher than the score you see.</p>
<p>As for the GPA, there's nothing I can do but try and inch it up with college classes and hold on to the good grades I have now. I have a year however, so I'm not so worried about my prospects when I applied.</p>
<p>Oh, and for anyone who wants to know why I started this post.</p>
<p>I had gone to UCLA for a Model UN conference in November and it was around 10 on a Friday night. A basketball game had just ended so there were quite a few students in our part of the campus in addition to the participants in the conference. My history teacher, our club's sponsor, had come out to see us. He was quick to not only notice how few black kids there were at the conference (in 3 days we counted 4 out of 1200 kids) but how few he saw among the UCLA students. Then he asked me if that bothered me and I said that it did but that what he pointed out is the norm, but I'm just not average.</p>
<p>Hey, you're black, you should apply to like Harvard. A black girl in my school had like a 3.8 GPA and she was the only one who went to Harvard. (she was VP of ASB though.)
I'm just saying you should aim higher esp. with those SAT scores.</p>