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<p>He sounds like just another boring and average Ivy League applicant…</p>
<p>Unless Njisom13’s high school has a lousy track team, I don’t see how being “the god of [his] track team” makes him “just another boring and average Ivy League applicant.”</p>
<p>xxk4ixx: If you could arguably put Hispanic down, you probably should. Don’t listen to people who say it doesn’t make a big difference because every little bit matters to competitive colleges. Hopefully your last name isn’t too Asian though…</p>
<p>tokenadult: oops! Thanks for correcting me (post 640). We had been having a discussion about Ethiopia here, and I misspoke.</p>
<p>As someone who interviews for an equally competitive school, you would lose that bet.</p>
<p>The problem with this thread and all the speculation about what does or does not go on in admissions is that you discount that there are plenty of applicants of all colors with good scores and comparable EC’s that get rejected each year. If we have 16,000 applicants and 1,000 spots, some percentage of those we reject will feel slighted.</p>
<p>Admissions look at test scores often to get a feel for ability to do the work. But after that, time after time after scores are screened, it becomes the least consideration. So does race - and a lot of URM’s cognizant of the negative affect of affirmative action don’t fill out the box. Schools, cognizant of the litigious nature of applicants scorned, tend to de-emphasize race and look at other intangibles to achieve diversity on campus. Saying the school wants diversity is just a way to get students comfortable with applying.</p>
<p>EC’s, leadership, passion for something, sustained excellence at something are key.</p>
<p>And given your example of a white and black student with 2400’s - if all is equal and neither had outstanding EC’s - competitive colleges might reject them both in favor of someone with slightly lower scores, but more “meat” in other aspects of the application.</p>
<p>So this “speculation” about favoritism is unhealthy. And even if it were not, anecdotal information suggests that test scores - within a range - MAY predict college success, but those at the lower end of the acceptable range tend to do just as well (and sometimes better) than those with perfect scores. </p>
<p>College is more than a test score. A person is more than just a number.</p>
<p>ExieMITAlum,</p>
<p>I don’t deny that the number of qualified applicants to MIT or any other elite school exceeds the number of spots in the freshman class. I caution that I don’t believe that all applicants are equally qualified or even qualified, but I ardently believe that at least one strong applicant will be turned down because of capacity restrictions.</p>
<p>But how does this “capacity problem” justify the use of racial classification in undergraduate admissions? Your post seems to suggest that racial classification is downplayed by not only the applicants but also the administration. If racial classification is so unimporant as to be actively de-emphasized, why use it at all?</p>
<p>I think it’s highly disingenuous to insinuate that there is no favoritism for the so-called “underrepresented” minorities. Even the most misleading definition of affirmative action–giving equally qualified minority candidates a tip over equally qualified white candidates–patently describes a system of “racial preference” or “favoritism.”</p>
<p><a href=“%5Burl=%5D#648%5B/url%5D”>quote</a> The problem with this thread and all the speculation about what does or does not go on in admissions…</p>
<p>…So this “speculation” about favoritism is unhealthy.
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</p>
<p>In the spirit of empiricism (as opposed to “speculation”), can you offer evidence to support the following assertion?:</p>
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</p>
<p>^ That’s a good follow-up question. Some colleges [admit</a> lots of students who decline to self-designate race or ethnicity](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064033868-post6.html]admit”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064033868-post6.html), but perhaps there are still patterns as to which students do and which do not self-designate race. Because colleges differ in their reported percentages of admitted students who are race/ethnicity unknown, maybe colleges differ in the characteristics of their applicant pools, or maybe in their treatment of such students in the admissions process. Which colleges publish data that make clear exactly what they do about such issues in the admission process?</p>
<p>@Exie, most URMs I know love to fill out the box indicating their ethnicity, because of the advantage they get…I hate when people try to pretend that there’s no favoritism because there SURE AS HELL IS.</p>
<p>UCs don’t use reverse discrimination, so top UC’s like berkeley has 42% and LA has 38% Asian.</p>
<p>Privates like Ivies, stanford, MIT etc have around 15-20% Asians since they use reverse discrimination.</p>
<p>i hate reverse discrimination so much because asians are a minority that are HURT from this discriminatory practice… :-(</p>
<p>JUST DONT MAKE RACE A FACTOR IN ADMISSIONS its just that simple
i have no idea why colleges are so obsessed about having native americans on their campus</p>
<p>^ A flaw in the comparison above between Ivies, Stanford, MIT, etc. and the UC campuses is that all of those (even Stanford) have more of a national draw of applicants than a mostly California draw. One would expect California state colleges to draw mostly Californian applicants, and they do. California has a different percentage of Asian students, by far, from most other states, so the UC campuses have a race balance that would not particularly be expected in all colleges all around the country, even if all colleges admit students without regard to applicant race. </p>
<p>But the way to clear this up would be for more colleges to publish more detailed data about exactly what applicant pools they have, and how they treat applicants in the application process with or without regard to race.</p>
<p>A revival of a 2007 thread just now prompts me to ask, what is the latest word on how colleges are treating applicants who self-designate as American Indian or Alaska Native? How are colleges following up, if at all, if a student indicates that race among others on a college application this year?</p>
<p>I am currently a junior in high school, and I am planning on applying to multiple colleges next fall. My grandmother is a registered member of the Chippewa tribe - she has documentable proof of this. Does this render me able to check both white and American Indian on those applications that allow for more than one to apply?</p>
<p>Presumably yes. If they call you to verify then you will have no issues in proving that you are telling the truth. It might even help you out in admissions.</p>
<p>Review of a new book: </p>
<p>[Book</a> Review - The History of White People - By Nell Irvin Painter - Review - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/books/review/Gordon-t.html]Book”>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/books/review/Gordon-t.html)</p>
<p>Tokenadult, I read the article. It was informative, to say the least. However, I feel that my inquiry is case-specific, and I was curious what your opinion was on the matter. Is there a minimum amount of American Indian blood that you must have?</p>
<p>For certain universities (I believe Stanford and Cornell do this) you have to send in a copy of YOUR tribal identification card. Thankfully I have mine, albeit the picture on it is from the fifth grade, haha.</p>
<p>Are you sure that those two universities require a tribal identification card for the applicant? If so, do you know where I can find that information? The reason I ask is that I plan on applying to both of those schools, so it is of the utmost importance that I am made aware of their policies specifically. I thought that Cornell used the common application, which has a line that asks if you (the applicant) are a registered member?</p>
<p>Actually, that might have been with their old applications. I still think that they would greatly prefer it if you had a tribal ID card because I’m sure there are people every year who lie about their heritage.</p>
<p>That is understandable. However, I would be able to provide my grandmother’s tribal identification card, which would prove the legitimacy of my claim. I myself am not one-quarter Chippewa, so I would not be eligible for membership. Upon submission of the documentation requested by admissions, do they inquire as to how much American Indian blood you have, and if so, what is the threshold at which you are considered to be able to claim American Indian ethnic status on your application?</p>