<p>hey guys, thanks for all the posts.</p>
<p>its a bit saddening to see that my race will play a part in whether I make the cut or not.</p>
<p>thanks,
rohin</p>
<p>Arwen, Your anger is misplaced and you need to read more carefully. I specifically said that if the prep school kids qualified for Questbridge, that they were probably on scholarship at the expensive prep schools.</p>
<p>I am also fully aware that students doing EPGY and CTY and so on get scholarships, because my own kid was only able to do those things because HE got scholarships. </p>
<p>So calm down.</p>
<p>Rohin, the point is that your race is a likely non-factor, just as it is for "Caucasian" kids.</p>
<p>arwen15 if you are going to a prep school how are you academically disadvantaged? I see some prep school in this years crop of Questbridge students and of course they are going to have a better education and resources than someone who goes to a crappy public high school.</p>
<p>There are prep school students who come from very limited economic backgrounds. I know one. He is at perhaps the most famous prep school of all, and I am sure he is there on a full ride scholarship, because there is no way his parents could afford to send him there at list price.</p>
<p>No one is saying that they aren't economically disadvantaged. When you are going to a great school no matter how you got there you are NOT academically disadvantaged. To me its the same thing as competing with "normal" students except they have the hook of being economically disadvantaged.</p>
<p>^ No, not the same at all - to do as well in high school as others who grew up with more resources, you have to have been quite exceptional from k-8 and really made the most of every opportunity and generally had to overcome many small and large disadvantages. </p>
<p>It starts with not having a house full of books when you are young, to having parents who may have worked multiple jobs so didn't have time to read to you or help you with homework, or been able to afford computers at home so you had to find a free one in the library and only have access to it during library hours which may conflict with the extracurriculars you enjoy and need to build a strong EC profile, to not being able to afford the summer camps and travel teams others could go to to develop their talents..... the list goes on.</p>
<p>It's not the same at all. If you walked in other people's shoes for a day, you would see that.</p>
<p>Um I'm a QB finalist and I basically disagree with everything you posted. First if you had the ability to get into a prep school w/scholarship you must have not been lacking in K-8 resources. As for summer camps - K-8 doesn't matter and there are many scholarship opportunities out there for 9-11th grade (personal experience). Maybe you can't pay for tutors, or SAT prep but honestly if your going to an excellent school you probably don't need that extra edge. The computer thing is valid but I bet if you polled most QB applicants most of them have at least one available at home or at a family members home.</p>
<p>
[quote]
1) athletes, 2) legacies, 3) development candidates
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Athletes work for it. Legacies don't. Developmental candidates definitely DON'T :( Minorities.. well, it can be argued either way. Many minorities who actually benefit from AA and get into top schools don't really "work" for their race. It's what they were born with, and many of them, especially those who are competitive for Ivies, actually come from really comfortable socioeconomic backgrounds. So I understand the feeling of discomfort. To be honest, I'm a bit jealous of URMs as an ORM myself, but what can I do? If I were an URM, I would definitely milk that to its full advantage, so I can't in good conscience blame anyone who puts htemself down as Hispanic or Black or w/e even if they come from privileged backgrounds and aren't really different from their jewish and asian peers.</p>
<p>I think it helps quite a lot, to be honest. I read somewhere that being Asian is essentially the equivalent of LOSING 200+ points off your SAT score, and being Hispanic/Black is the equivalent of GAINING 300 points or even more (can't remember). That's a 500 point setback for Asians as compared to URMS from the very start. I mean, SATs are only one factor, but those numbers go to show you how much of a "boost" you get if you are a certain race, and how much of a disadvantage you have as an ORM...</p>
<p>Don't you think the admissions reps would discount your Hispanic URM status if both your parents went to, say, Harvard Law School?</p>
<p>amb3r,</p>
<p>Athletes may work for it, but they still get it with lower scores than the average student. Also, many athletes that get in are students who do sports like squash, crew, etc. I don't know of many public schools offering squash. Do you?</p>
<p>If people want to use a sport as a hook, they can. So why shouldn't a URM do the same thing? Maybe URM's didn't "work" to be a specific ethnicity, but it has shaped their lives and allows these students to bring a different perspective to campus discourse.</p>
<p>Athletes work for it, but lots of kids put in as much work and do not get the same results and therefore do not get recruited. Innate physical talent is a big factor. </p>
<p>And, of course, lots of kids work very hard and succeed at pursuits that do not result in recruitment and preferred status. When was the last time you heard of the orchestra conductor or theater director being allotted a number of admits or tips like the soccer coach?</p>
<p>This has been debated every which way, but let's face it: when it comes to admissions, talented athletes simply luck out compared to equally talented and dedicated kids who pursue something other than athletics.</p>
<p>soooooo... i didn't put my race on my common application at all (i'm white), could this hurt me in any way in the application process?</p>
<p>Allow me to repeat myself: </p>
<p>
[quote=tokenadult, in this thread]
Self-reporting ethnicity is OPTIONAL on the Common Application, which is what Harvard uses as its main application form. (I haven't checked the Universal Application, which Harvard also accepts, on this point, but you could look it up.) Harvard is required by federal law, like all colleges in the United States, to track voluntarily self-reported ethnic data on students. Harvard's U-CAN page</p>
<p>U-CAN:</a> Harvard University :: Page 1 </p>
<p>reports, based on that federally mandated data tracking, that 15 percent of its students are "race unknown," so evidently quite a few applicants to Harvard decline to self-report their ethnicity and yet are still admitted.</p>
<p>Bottom line: don't worry about it. Self-report or not as you wish. Recognize that students from a variety of ethnic groups--including whatever one you would claim for yourself--are admitted to Harvard each year. On the other hand, admission to Harvard is just plain competitive, so lots of outstanding students of each ethnic group you can imagine are not admitted each year. Do your best on your application, apply to a safety, and relax.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>To specifically address the OP's concern, you can be of any race whatever, and get into Harvard, and you can be of a race entirely unknown to Harvard, and get into Harvard. But not everyone gets into Harvard who applies, because of the sheer number of applicants. So apply, indicating your ethnic group or not as you wish, if you are interested in Harvard. If you apply to Harvard in this year's single-deadline admission cycle, definitely also apply to a safety</a> college, preferably before you submit all your Harvard application materials. </p>
<p>Good luck. Don't worry about it.</p>
<p>I've heard that because they must report race to the government, they simply "guess" if need be from your last name. Otherwise, they will put decline to state or other.</p>
<p>Middle Easterners get screwed. We look like minorities, get treated like 'em....but are technically Caucasian.</p>
<p>wait, i thought middle easterners are categorized as "asian american/asian/pacific islanders"</p>
<p>Well I know for a fact that Persians are as Caucasian (under definition) as possible. The UW app even specifically mentioned Persian under Caucasian.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Otherwise, they will put decline to state or other.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Allow me to repeat myself again. Harvard reports 15 percent of its enrolled freshmen in the most recently reported class as "race unknown," and that's after first reporting all the international students (9 percent of the class) as a separate category.</p>
<p>Won't they recognize your last name?</p>