"Race" in College Admission FAQ & Discussion 10

<p>Honestly, Asian heritage can hurt you because of the sheer number of applicants, but the main problem is that he fits into the stereotype of the narrowly academic Asian. He is doubtless talented, but there are many talented applicants. I know a similar person: she takes advanced APs, is a straight A student, leader of a bunch of clubs, and wins prestigious violin competitions, but got rejected by the Ivies and Stanford. Perhaps doing sports would have helped them stand out- as an Asian heavily involved in sports, I sure hope so- but nothing is guaranteed when it comes to college admissions. But I think the student in the article’s sentiments about sports are wrong, and strike me as petty too. You have to show commitment and passion, not treat it as another activity on a checklist.</p>

<p>It is unfortunate.</p>

<p>But there is such a thing called “essay” I’ve seen a lot of people like
northstarmom and windcloudultra to say that these people get rejected mostly because of essay. They become confident and blow of essay. And those who get 2400 are expected to have good ECA and some other thing because most people who get 2400 are rich. </p>

<p>It is unfortunate that when an Asian student get rejected, most people say universities reject that student for becoming asian. But not many people are going to say that to a white student who got rejected with 2400 that he was rejected for becoming a white race.</p>

<p>And, I read in one thread that one student with perfect score (got that in 6th grade) and enrolled into Duke. But people said he was a HYPS student.</p>

<p>That’s the point. Most people say that top schools provide opportunities. He simply didn’t got into because those 4 schools reject more than half of the perfect SAT scorers who apply. Don’t think I’m saying these words to get through this. (I’m an Asian)</p>

<p>It is naive to think that having a 2400 in and of itself means you deserve or are entitled to admission to any selective university. But I can believe that as well as believe that there is no role for racial classification in admissions. It is a stretch to go from “the SAT isn’t everything” to “racial classification has to be considered.”</p>

<p>Thirty-five years after the Supreme Court set the terms for boosting college admissions of African Americans and other minorities, the court may be about to issue a ruling that could restrict universities’ use of race in deciding who is awarded places.</p>

<p>[url=&lt;a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/court-may-limit-race-college-admission-decisions-133238785.html]Yahoo![/url”&gt;http://news.yahoo.com/court-may-limit-race-college-admission-decisions-133238785.html]Yahoo![/url</a>]</p>

<p>So what about this? Will affirmative action end?</p>

<p>The top comment on that article sums it up nicely.</p>

<p>“Yep…I know it sounds crazy…but let’s admit the most qualified students…regardless of their race. What a novel idea!”</p>

<p>Universities strive for diversity in many ways. One of them is by gender. Following the idea expressed above, then many liberal arts colleges would have a disproportionate number of women and many of the STEM programs would be largely male. But some universities look for more balance in their admissions process. Why is it wrong to do that for race or culture or SES or …</p>

<p>The Economist Magazine: [Time</a> to scrap affirmative action](<a href=“The Economist | World News, Economics, Politics, Business & Finance”>Time to scrap affirmative action):</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I’ll only be pro-affirmative action if it can be shown that it has impacted the Black community positively in any substantial way.</p>

<p>Princeton is one of the most ethnically diverse schools in the nation.</p>

<p>This proses the question:</p>

<p>Often times, it is stated that affirmative action is only taken into consideration when weighing two academically equal students (GPA & SAT). I find this claim to be hard to believe because it is a rarity for so many minorities to be able to match respective majorities and ORMs (Asians) in academics. </p>

<p>Rather, it seems more likely that the school has a “soft” quota for ethnic groups, and URMs compete amongst each other for a spot within that quota - instead of competing with the general pool of applicants (which for socioeconomic reasons are often more academically proficient).</p>

<p>I know that “hard” quotas are illegal, but I don’t understand the process otherwise for the inclusion for such ethnic diversity within a school like Princeton.</p>

<p>By the way, I am black so this question isn’t designed to criticize affirmative action. Rather, I simply want to understand the process why which schools, especially competitive ones, select URMs. </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>[University</a> Enrollment Statistics « Office of the Registrar](<a href=“University Enrollment Statistics | Office of the Registrar”>University Enrollment Statistics | Office of the Registrar)</p>

<p>If you go through Princeton’s Common Data Set year-by-year, and pay attention to the B2 Data: Racial/Ethnic Category of Admitted Students, the number of “Black, Non-Hispanic First Year Admitted Students” numbers anywhere from a high of 124 students (2005-2006) to a low of 86 students (2004-2005). I imagine the numbers vary based upon the applicant pool. Over the past 12 years, there seems to be a floor and ceiling to those numbers, but I don’t think you can arguably call them soft quotas.</p>

<p>If you are African American, have a score of 2300+, have a GPA of 4.0, good LORs, ECs etc, you could get into at least one top 10 school. They are not doing any favors since you are good enough. They would like you to come so they can show diversity.</p>

<p>Princeton does a poor job enrolling urms. </p>

<p>Information from CollegeBoard.org </p>

<p>Percentage of Blacks or African American and Hispanics
Princeton 7, 7
Dartmouth 7, 8
Harvard 7, 9
UPenn 7, 9
Brown 6, 10
Cornell 6, 11
MIT 6, 15
Stanford 6, 17
Columbia 12, 15</p>

<p>There are enough qualified urms for these top schools.</p>

<p>[Ivy</a> League Schools Don’t Reflect U.S. Minority Ratios - NationalJournal.com](<a href=“http://www.nationaljournal.com/thenextamerica/education/ivy-league-schools-don-t-reflect-u-s-minority-ratios-20121019]Ivy”>http://www.nationaljournal.com/thenextamerica/education/ivy-league-schools-don-t-reflect-u-s-minority-ratios-20121019)</p>

<p>“The Ivy schools generally fall short in mirroring the national minority population, which 16.7 percent Latino, 13.1 percent black, 5.6 percent Asian, and 1.7 percent Native American, according to government data.”</p>

<p>In this 2012 survey, Princeton does rank last in the Ivy League for the percentage of African American Admitted students: [Black</a> First-Year Students at the Nation?s Leading Research Universities : The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education](<a href=“http://www.jbhe.com/2012/12/jbhe-annual-survey-black-first-year-students-at-the-nations-leading-research-universities-2012/]Black”>Black First-Year Students at the Nation’s Leading Research Universities : The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education)</p>

<p>@gibby, so does the NBA</p>

<p>Gibby,</p>

<p>Do you have a link to a similar chart showing Hispanics statistics?</p>

<p>^^ Sorry, I don’t.</p>

<p>Dunno . …but it consistently accepts about 14% legacies . . .</p>

<p>It is difficult to make accurate comparisons of a university’s commitment to diversity based simply on the number of URM students attending each university.</p>

<p>Berkeley has more Asian Americans than Princeton. Does this imply that Princeton discriminates against Asian Americans or that more Asian Americans apply to Berkeley?</p>

<p>All the universities listed are within ±1% in the percentage of AA attending except for Columbia. Columbia’s urban environment may be more attractive to AA.</p>

<p>Stanford is in a state with one of the highest percentages of Hispanic Americans. I would expect Stanford to enroll more Hispanic Americans than Dartmouth.</p>

<p>The President of Princeton has stated that the university would like to increase their yield of AA and has worked to make the university more attractive to AA. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education has ranked Princeton University as the best Ivy League university in relative success in attracting, enrolling, and graduating African-American students as well as their progress in bringing black professors to their campuses. [Ranking</a> America’s Leading Universities](<a href=“http://www.jbhe.com/features/36_leading_universities.html]Ranking”>http://www.jbhe.com/features/36_leading_universities.html) </p>

<p>Hispanic Magazine ranked Princeton as one of the best universities for Hispanic students.</p>

<p>The President of the university Shirley M. Tilghman gave a speech on Diversity as an Educational Priority. [Reflecting</a> America: Diversity as an Educational Priority<em>-</em>Office of the President](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/president/speeches/20110125/]Reflecting”>http://www.princeton.edu/president/speeches/20110125/) </p>

<p>As an attempt to answer Blueworks question: I would expect that if Princeton received a increased percentage of AA applicants the number of AA to be accepted to increase. A recent article in the NYT reports on a Stanford sociologist’s research demonstrating that students from upper income families have better grades, higher test scores, and more ECs than students from lower income families. [No</a> Rich Child Left Behind - NYTimes.com](<a href=“No Rich Child Left Behind - The New York Times”>No Rich Child Left Behind - The New York Times) This country needs to expand early education for all children so that all students are more competitive to attend selective universities.</p>

<p>“Berkeley has more Asian Americans than Princeton. Does this imply that Princeton discriminates against Asian Americans or that more Asian Americans apply to Berkeley?”</p>

<p>FWIW: In 1997, California banned using race, ethnicity or gender in admitting students to public colleges and universities. The year after it did so, the percentage of admitted asian americans soared at Berkeley, and at other state schools. So, yes, when any college uses race or ethnicity as a criteria for admission, they do discriminate. That is what the current Supreme Court case is all about: [Court</a> may limit use of race in college admission decisions](<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/court-may-limit-race-college-admission-decisions-133238785.html]Court”>http://news.yahoo.com/court-may-limit-race-college-admission-decisions-133238785.html)</p>