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CC is a skewed population and there’s no way of knowing if people are telling the truth about their ranks. Nor is there any way to know for sure if rank is something Yale looks at or whether they look more at grades and course difficulty, not to mention the school profile.</p>
<p>“To a certain extent I think I am just a perfectionist, obsessed with doing well. I just need to calm down.” ding ding ding</p>
<p>You remind me of my son. Do you have people you can unload on (besides people here on CC)? I know my son just has to let it all out periodically because he, too, is a perfectionist and has lofty goals. He overthinks due to stress. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by second guessing Yale’s decision. Yale has so many outstanding applicants (of any color!) they don’t have to take anyone subpar. They accepted you because they thought you could do the work and take advantage of all they have to offer. You are doing the work and doing it well, and I am assuming taking advantage of other aspects of the community. If a good night’s sleep doesn’t improve your perspective tomorrow, find a way that works for you to relieve your stress.</p>
<p>I had a classmate at a top 3 law school who was African American. She told us that she didn’t check the Af-Am box on the application because she wanted to know for herself that she got into law school because of her “own merits,” rather than her race. </p>
<p>What I thought was interesting is that she thought it was important that we all know this story. Obviously, in her mind, she assumed that everyone at law school would assume that she got into law school because of her race, whether that was true or not.</p>
<p>My biggest problems with affirmative action are that many people often assume that ALL African-American students got a substantial, deal making boost from AA and that some (if not many) African-American students feel “unworthy” of their achievements because they feel they got a substantial, deal making boost from AA.</p>
<p>The best way you can defeat both problems is to do great at your college. I would think that 3As and 2Bs is doing very good at Yale. I understand that it is hard to fail at an HYP school, but then it is also difficult to get an A. If getting As at Yale doesn’t prove anything to you, I don’t know what will.</p>
<p>It might have been Woody Allen who said, “I wouldn’t want to be a member of any club that would admit me.” But he was j/k.</p>
<p>You “think” you are a perfectionist? It’s pretty clear that you are one if you can’t see that getting 4’s on AP exams, being on one of the best debate teams in Texas, having your research published as a high school student are more than enough to make you Yale material outside of your race. If anything, you are well above many of your Yale peers who may have gotten in with lower stats simply for being legacies or because their parents donated a lot of money, or because they are excellent athletes. </p>
<p>I’m disturbed actually by your level of perfectionism and you’re insistence that you’re only at Yale because of your race. It suggests to me that you see being African American as being an imperfection, one that you are attempting to exorcise by not marking down your race on your graduate school applications. This is a part of who you are, and no matter how highly you score on any test or paper, you will always be treated differently (sometimes to your benefit, sometimes to your detriment) because of it. It is not an imperfection and it is not something you can erase, it is a part of what makes you a unique human being, just as a person of Irish descent or German descent has their heritage that makes them unique, different from others. Why not declare it proudly? </p>
<p>You need to learn to accept that college is not high school. You’re not going to be a straight A student, you’re not going to be above the average every time, but that is because at a highly selective college you are at last being challenged by people of your own discipline and caliber. You should embrace the challenge, and enjoy college and what you are learning. Become an educated person who can make a difference in the world, otherwise what are all of those letter grades even for?</p>
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<p>Merged into this thread from the separate thread on the Parents Forum, for one-stop shopping for discussion on this ever-contentious issue.</p>
<p>Excellent post, SmithieandProud. </p>
<p>Once the OP gets out in the real world, no one discusses letter grades. It’s all about whether you graduated with a degree in hand.</p>
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<p>That was Groucho Marx, I’m pretty sure. But the basic idea goes back to the novelist John Galsworthy. </p>
<p>[Groucho</a> Marx - Wikiquote](<a href=“http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Groucho_Marx]Groucho”>Groucho Marx - Wikiquote)</p>
<p>I recall Dbate having an AA discussion during the application process. I also recall thinking if it were such an issue, then don’t check the box. Dbate’s self-doubt is overwhelming to me and frankly, I don’t see how he is going to get out of the box he put himself into.</p>
<p>I tell my kid to quit comparing herself to others. Her only competition is herself. That’s the best advice I can give Dbate. As talented and smart as he is, he is doing himself a disservice by obsessing over AA. If you believe it is true that others see your admittance to Yale as only Affirmative Action or you really don’t believe you belong there, then the way you carry yourself, consciously and unconsciously will make it so.</p>
<p>In theory, I believe Dbate is much smarter than that, but he is standing in his own way.</p>
<p>If Dbate didn’t belong at Yale, he would not have been selected. It is that easy.</p>
<p>I’ve resolved to myself that it doesn’t matter how you enter it only matters how you exit. To that end I swear I am going to graduate summa cum laude. If any of you are here four years from now, remember I made a promise. Because I am going to graduate summa cum laude, no matter what.</p>
<p>You know, Dbate, it’s ok if you don’t graduate summa cum laude. The GPA bar for that is quite high at Yale. Promise yourself that you will work as hard as possible and learn as much as possible. That’s what really counts. I tell QMP the same.</p>
<p>And for the moment, promise yourself that you’ll get off of CC and use the reading period for all it’s worth!</p>
<p>Dbate has unrealistic high expectations, and his negative self-confidence is annoying.</p>
<p>Listen to what I and other parents have said: </p>
<p>Stop comparing yourself to other students, and focus on doing your best. You are in college now. This is the period in your life where you should enjoy yourself. When you look back, you will realize you obsessed over trivial things.</p>
<p>Dbate, I had to come here to let you know something. Anybody who gets into Yale NOWADAYS, does not get in because of Af Action. You did not read the essays of those who got 2400s and 3.98588393 GPAs. A good number of them BSd their essays. Walk into the building at Hillhouse and ask anybody. Its a joke. Of course you will not see the essays and names.</p>
<p>For some schools like Penn, their medical and dental schools pay for HALF tution for blacks and latinos. No questions asked. You not putting your race on paper would not help you, and certainly leave money in their pockets. If Penn is giving this much money, why can’t Yale and Harvard do better? Why would you leave your race out on your application?</p>
<p>You should know that we as colored persons have a slight disadvantage when it comes to income. My tuition and etc is being paid by a private pocket from Wall Street. Why? Because I was stupid enough to NOT apply for financial aid. Why did I not apply? I did not tell my parents I was applying to Yale. We do not have money to pay for Yale; we are poor African immigrants. It was either Yale or SUNY Bing, and Bing is WAY cheaper than most public schools. Putting your race as AF American is going to help you and you only.</p>
<p>Do you know what Michelle Obama’s position was when she got into Princeton? She was 32nd. 32nd Dbate. This is a lady leader in America now, and she got a very good education because the Adcom decided to give her that chance. If the 2400 and 4.0 applicants were chosen to go to Yale, and the other applicants were sent away, guess what the diversity at Yale would look like?</p>
<p>It is very important that you make the best of your Yale education. I would be honest, I started to love Yale because of the Beinecke Rare Book library. I go there at least once a month to see what is available. I really look like a fool asking the attendant that I just want to see something “interesting.” But thats why i applied there, apart from the fact that I would be taught by Nobel Prize recepients. Do you know what that means?</p>
<p>This means that as the factoids are being thrown at you, the professor tells you that “So and So did research on this. His research showed this and that. Oh! He is the Calhoun College Dean, so pay him a visit. Oh! He stays just outside the medical school. Pay him a visit.”
How many schools can boast of this? This is what we should NOT be missing out on, and you are benefitting from this because you are Yale, not because you were admitted via Affirmitive Action. Leave Clarence alone, he is a very smart proud man. He is a deep thinker and strict conservative. I am conservative too, but his pride is what makes the two of us different. He should have marched alongside MLK.</p>
<p>Enough said. You are a very good student. I will say that again. You are a GOOD student. Nobody at Yale is the best student, and I am saying this because when we are juniors, you would see that the proud students begin to pop up, and the secret societies begin to pick their Dons. The earlier you deal with the fact that you are a strong student, the higher your happiness meter would be come 2012.</p>
<p>Various figures about Hispanic persons in the United States were reported in news stories today: </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/11/us/politics/AP-US-Young-Hispanics.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/11/us/politics/AP-US-Young-Hispanics.html</a></p>
<p>You could actually write the country on the application? I thought it was simply a category you cchoose from???</p>
<p>The Common Application goes beyond the federal requirements and allows applicants to specify details about country of origin. (That has always been something you could write about in a college essay, if you like, or have someone mention in a letter of recommendation on your behalf.) All that is required is a format like that used by the University of North Carolina (post #1, the thread-opening post).</p>
<p>I understand that it stands for under represented minorities, but do these only cover African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans?</p>
<p>Are Asians no longer an under represented minority? What about biracial?</p>
<p>Asians are considered over-represented minority</p>