<p>If you are a minority in an elite boarding school, does it decrease your chances of admission as everybody else? Especially if you're on scholarship?</p>
<p>Your question is not entirely clear, but I interpret it to mean “Does being a minority decrease your chances for admission, especially if you need financial aid?”</p>
<p>The answer is, generally speaking, if you are a URM (under-represented minority: African American, Hispanic, Native American), you have a higher chance of being admitted to pretty much any school than a similarly qualified non-URM. Most schools are trying to achieve greater diversity in their student bodies.</p>
<p>So that is to say, given two applicants with similar profiles and similar abilities to pay, URM candidate has a higher likelihood of admission.</p>
<p>SevenDad, I surmise the corollary to that is…</p>
<p>…generally speaking, if you are an ORM (over-represented minority: Asian), you have a lower chance of being admitted to pretty much any school than a similarly qualified non-ORM. Most schools are trying to achieve greater diversity in their student bodies.</p>
<p>So that is to say, given two applicants with similar profiles and similar abilities to pay, ORM candidate has a lower likelihood of admission.</p>
<p>…generally speaking, if you are an ORM (over-represented minority: Asian), you have a lower chance of being admitted to pretty much any school than a similarly qualified non-ORM. </p>
<p>Maybe Asians are overrepresented because most of them are full pay and therefore, they actually have a higher chance of being admitted?</p>
<p>@GMTplus7: I would support that corollary, but change “greater” to “balanced” in the case of ORMs. FWIW, I was told/heard/read somewhere in our process last year that Asian females represent the toughest subpool of applicants…too many extremely well-qualified ones.</p>
<p>@Weatherby: I think the ORM status of Asians in the BS applicant pools has to do with many factors, the least of which is ability to pay.</p>