"Race" in College Admission FAQ & Discussion 11

<p>Last year my school did a very intense mock trial of Fisher V UT and I was one of the two lawyers for Fisher. The majority of people ended up siding with Fisher. But that did not happen in the real Supreme Court case. There are valid arguments for both sides. I personally believe a better system should be put in place that has a similar goal.</p>

<p>Improving your writing skills will yield a great deal more concrete benefit than worrying about this.</p>

<p>Thank you! I think it should be illegal to ask for race of a student completing an application. If you think the admissions are bad, just look at scholarship opportunities. A rich hispanic or black kid has many more scholarship opportunity as a poor white kid. But if someone was to make a scholarship for whites only, there would be outrage.</p>

<p>Deal with it the world isn’t fair.</p>

<p>I can understand that it’s frustrating and annoying, no doubt. But you also have to understand being in the minds of the school, as well. Just like @klkl3045 said, racism is no where near nonexistent and it probably never will be. 50 years ago there would be a very minuscule amount of minorities in universities. It looks bad for a school to have 2% minorities in their school. Yes, some of those minorities were probably less qualified than some other students who did not make it in, but you have to understand what those minorities are doing for the school. </p>

<ol>
<li>Better image. </li>
<li>Students will be more willing to apply</li>
<li>People are more willing to donate money to the school.</li>
</ol>

<p>To me, I think the most important reason why I partly think AA is fair is because seeing a black or hispanic person (rich or poor) at a top university gives others HOPE. If they see only whites, indians, and Asians attending a school, they’re going to think, “I can’t do this. Not possible.” </p>

<p>So, yes, I completely get your point and respect it, but you also have to understand what it’s doing for our nation and society. I spoke to this little black boy this summer at my mom’s office and he AND his sisters all said he was too dumb to go to college, and they said this without a doubt. Kids like that aren’t this way because they are “dumb” it’s because they lack a role model. Do you know how worse it’ll be if they see only certain races in colleges and a very small number of their own? Children like that won’t even try. The more minorities they see making it, the more they will want to do the same.</p>

<p>IT’S 2013, racism is almost nonexistant. </p>

<p>False.</p>

<p>Look up Tim Wise’s speech called “Pathology of Privilege” and his beliefs on affirmative action and why it is beneficial and you’ll understand why it is ultimately beneficial and - contrary to popular belief - promotes equity.</p>

<p>To the negative comments, i live in california, which is one of the most diverse places. which is why i get hit pretty hard by it. and life isn’t fair…? that’s like saying to women back in the 20th century that you’re inferior, deal with it… it calls for change. i just was curious to see how many people were with me on this, and tbh there are people who share my views and i feel like im gonna push for this. and when i say racism is almost nonexistant… i mean that if you publicly say anything racist. you will most likely face alot of opposition. i’ve stood up for minorities before and i always will but this doesn’t change my viewpoint on affirmative action</p>

<p>But here’s where I have a problem with this, people assume that Indians, whites, and Asians, all have these picture perfect families and we’re all SO smart and our families are SO educated. I know friends who have had abusive parents (Indians especially, we get whooped), alcoholics, drugs, etc. I personally have a connection with this because I am not your typical ‘genius’ Asian kid. I struggled to get where I am. I’m not the stereotypical asian who picks up SAT books and just reads them and never goes out with her friends.</p>

<p>I think that Affirmative Action shouldn’t be based on Race, but rather income bracket. That is a much better measure of the extra hardships that more disadvantaged applicants have to face to achieve the same level of achievement.</p>

<p>Last post was @Mtlover, (I respect your opinion) :)</p>

<p>Well, folks from the BlueRoses thread, now it’s arguing as usual on the racism thread, often focused on Aff Action, its sins and perceived threats. No offense to those regulars; I just hope BR can move forward with confidence and D’s best interests in mind. See what D thinks at Thanksgiving and then when she hits Dec break. Best wishes.</p>

<p>Racism is over? Just look at this and you will see that racism (and incredible stupidity and lack of taste) is alive and well:</p>

<p>[Georgia</a> sheriff?s deputy allegedly wears blackface at Halloween party | theGrio](<a href=“http://thegrio.com/2013/11/13/georgia-sheriffs-deputy-allegedly-wears-blackface-at-halloween-party/]Georgia”>Georgia sheriff's deputy allegedly wears blackface at Halloween party - TheGrio)</p>

<p>@pandabear53 I understand that, but you have to also understand that the MAJORITY of these races were given sufficient amounts of opportunities to get a proper education. At the end of the day, it’s just one out of a million (exaggerating) who actually aren’t educated . And that’s just the reality unfortunately.</p>

<p>It’s so unfair that you live in the US and have enough money to actually consider going to college.</p>

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<p>How many people sided with the dozens of minorities with better stats than Fisher who also didn’t get in? Do you know that Fisher was not getting in regardless? Most don’t.</p>

<p>To all those who think that they’re discriminated against: Consider that if all racial groups pursued college with the same zeal and obsession like overrepresented groups, then the race for seats would ramp up even more, making it more difficult for everyone. If this were ever to happen then the over represented populations would experience a classic reversion to the mean and no longer be over represented.This essentially means that at present it is easier to gain acceptance and not, as some groups like to complain, harder.</p>

<p>If you want a serious answer, just think about how everything is run. Not enough people anywhere care about doing things thoroughly, people are more concerned about looking like they do things. For example NCLB is a stupid program, but it exists because it’s a way that states can pretend to increase progress by lowering benchmarks. The same thing is true about affirmative action, no one really cares about helping minorities (if they did, there’d be a lot more poor blacks in these colleges than wealthy african american children - and please don’t make the politically correct error of assuming american blacks = african american because that’s just a convoluted phrase that has led to so much ambiguity), they just want to look like they do.</p>

<p>No need for the hostility on some of these posts, its just a discussion. and @Petersuu; sweetie, don’t make assumptions regarding my financial status. You don’t know me or my family, thanks. Thanks for all the feedback! appreciate it. Again, when i say racism is over, i don’t mean its all gone, or its nonexistant, but those who do display any form face alot of opposition and hate.</p>

<p>Regardless of all this conversation, i agree that some posts have shed a light on some things for me but there’s no escaping the fact that i may not get in even though i am competent, in order to encourage the future generations of minorities. this whole AA hits close to home because my sibling who was literally SO intelligent (valedictorian, lots of ECs, all 5 ap test, 800s on subject tests, 2270 on first try of SAT) got admitted into SPRING semester of berkeley, while the previous year, the valedictorian with less impressive statistics who was of mexican descent got admitted into harvard.</p>

<p>@pandabear53 I think my argument wouldn’t have relevance to you if you didn’t care about the future generation of minorities. I know everyone needs to think about themselves first, but think about those children for one second and maybe it can open your mind a little bit. I’m sorry about what happened to your sibling, but did you ever think that the essay had to do something with it as well? Essays can be everything.</p>