"Race" in College Admission FAQ & Discussion 11

<p>I’m guessing the 1870 is reserved for athletes and students at the top of their class in urban schools, not kids from suburban schools. Again, at our upper middle class suburban school, the kids that get into Cal are in the top 10 (not 10%) out of 800. Two years ago, one of our valedictorians didn’t even get in. UCLA took her though.</p>

<p>Actually the 1870 is the 25% mark which means that 25 % of the students who are matriculating in that class had less than 1870 on their sats. </p>

<p>I’m assuming that Cal has about 6 thousand freshman so I would think 1500 students would be less than 1870. That’s going well beyond URMs and athletes. </p>

<p>Why would URM’s have lower SAT’s at cal? No affirmative action.</p>

<p>No, you’re not African American. The accepted definition (I can’t find the link right now) is someone descended from the black peoples of Africa. </p>

<p>uh, no, not in American terms, you wouldn’t.</p>

<p>No, since your ancestors were European.</p>

<p>No you are not</p>

<p>Had a white colleague from Zimbabwe, his kids put down African American on their applications. </p>

<p>no one said one cannot lie. historically, Americans have used the one-drop rule to determine race. </p>

<p>having said that, genetically, we’re all Africans at some point in our past, but let’s not get ridiculous or encourage fraud.</p>

<p>Americans use the Jim Crow rule of 1/8th black equals black. That’s how a man, abandoned by his black father, raised by his white mother can be called our first black president. But my colleague wholeheartedly believed that his kids were being completely honest. I agreed with him.</p>

<p>Hi. I am a white make applying to college this year. However, my mom’s whole side of the family is from South Africa. On the common app, it asks African American or Black. Would I be considered African American?</p>

<p>Hello,
I am in my junior years of high school in New Zealand. I can see that most universities require a school transcript that outlines my GPA. May I ask if my grades in small junior school exams will be counted? Or only my senior grades are counted?
Many thanks</p>

<p>Your grades from freshman year thru senior year are counted. </p>

<p>I know that this has been asked before, but I never found a straight answer - are non-Arab Middle Easterners (I’m thinking specifically of Turks in this case) considered a URM?</p>

<p>No Middle Easterners are considered “underrepresented minorities” because [thanks</a> to the marvels of government approved racial classifications](<a href=“Glossary - NCES Statistical Standards”>Glossary - NCES Statistical Standards), all “original peoples…of the Middle East” are considered white.</p>

<p>@youngandtired You are African American. I would put it down f I were you. Just to show how terribly flawed the names attributed to ethnic groups and races are.</p>

<p>Nope, the category is “South African American.” Or White SAA. The fuller definition for “African American” relates to “origins in the Sub-Saharan regions.” </p>

<p>The use of race in consideration of college admissions, arguably, hurts low income families of majorities /overrepresented groups the most. For example, why is it that an asian from a low income family with parents who have not even completed middle school still be considered lower than a person who is of a minority/underrepresented ethnic group with the same stats? </p>

<p>There is much mention that diversity is a factor that would sway admissions, but what if a college is over 85% White and it still admits Asian American applicants at 10% and other URMs at 9% acceptance rates while accepting 35% of its White applicants? What would this data say about a college’s admission practices?</p>