<p>yeah right with a near 10 percent unemployment rate i kinda wish we were like India and China in some respects!</p>
<p>Well, sorry to tell you but life is unfair my friend. Maybe the black applicant had some intangible that you did not posses and like everyone else, you probably looked just like some of the other high achieving asians that do not show much passion for anything but getting good grades and high test scores. It has been proven that college grads with more people skills fair better in the job market than book worms who are impersonal. You are going to a great school! Leave this topic alone because you are looking at it all wrong. I’m sure once you get to BU you will realize that people are much more than their numbers and are far more complex than what you might think.</p>
<p>Why blame this on AA? Maybe this is simply an outcome of the fact that these schools are highly selective? Causation does not prove correlation!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>tell, me what does this say, then?
DPRK and Iran are decades behind us militarily, as is most every military power in the world. The US is the most advanced military in the world and will be so for a very, very, very long time. How many other nations have ICBMs? Few. Stealth? None. Very-long-range bombers? Russia. Highly computerised and integrated mechanised infantry and armour systems? NATO. China will not catch up to us. It is a laughable assertion to thing that DPRK or Iran would. </p>
<p>Why are there so many foreign doctors? Because their parents came over and raised their kids in America and they have grown to be successful. Moreover, many of the students coming out of Asian nations are performing poorly at their western-oriented jobs because they, unlike American students, haven’t been taught to apply what they have learned. </p>
<p>I agree that affirmative action fails students in your plight. I think it ought be socio-economic based. But your vitriol is hateful, ignorant, and makes you look like a fool.</p>
<p>Im not denying that they are highly selective but Im just saying that many times they accept kids for the wrong reasons, i mean my intial example of my peer who was accepted to UChicago, i mean ive known this kid forever, and I just cannot understand why or how he was a better applicant than me. And as far as this lacking a personality bull **** can we please stop! I am by no means a book worm. I was captain of my debate team, mock trial team, part of the simulate congresional hearing team and model united nations team, all while working, surely all of my ECs can show you I am passionate about law. so this uninteresting book worm crap is dumb! and i know that all asian kids are not boring book worms so thats just racist rude and ignorant!</p>
<p>Sorry my friend, that’s the world we live in. Don’t be distressed over the short term implications of AA. I believe that in the end it will work out for the better. Asian or black students who work hard will reap the benefits of their labor. Having a degree from a particular institution does not make or break your life. I have never known an Asian who fails at life because he or she was affected negatively by AA. </p>
<p>Our society has deemed that since there is an inherent unfairness in the current system that is adversely affecting African-American students it will take actions to remedy the situation. Private institutions that want to serve a social interest will do what they have to in order to fulfill their goals. If you don’t believe in the way they go about doing it, then don’t support those institutions in any form, including applying to them. Public institutions are held accountable by the state they serve and thus could be affected by your vote or political activism. </p>
<p>Things are never black and white (no pun intended). Take time to study the issue and come to your conclusion gradually and be ready to amend it if you have to.</p>
<p>and IBfootballer I would caution you about being so complacent and believing this patriotic rhetoric the government feeds its citizens to make them feel safe. We are not light years ahead of anyone. First of all we do not know the truth about anyones military capabilities, because no country is fully forthcoming. Russia is a known proliferator so if they have arsenal that is competitive with ours, then we can not rest assured that no one else has their technology. And for your info the US has just discovered that DPRK has long range missiles capable of reaching Hawaii. So you might be a little too complacent, we are not that untouchable.</p>
<p>nicsagenius - I understand your personal pain but you may want to take a close look at the drop-out rate of Black Males in public high schools. Beating those odds often says something about the student that GPA and SAT stats doesn’t fully reveal. I don’t like the system - suggest a better fairer one, otherwise…</p>
<p>Just a little background. I’m the Dad of this screen name, a white male who grew up ultra poor and still didn’t qualify for enough help with college to make it even remotely possible. Trust me no one cared about or advised me or many of the other disadvantaged poor white males of my generation. It was Very Hard to see AA and girls get attention and the help they needed. </p>
<p>Fast Forward 34 years and I have been lucky enough and worked hard enough to see my S off to college. I have loved every moment of being a parent and have watched many of my Son’s friends navigate high school. From what I have observed the one thing that makes the biggest difference for students is the expectations that people have of them. In the public High Schools around here very little is expected of poor white males but even less is expected of poor black males. I think you could even make a case that unsupported students get bored, start to express themselves, and that the boys (often larger and therefor perceived as more threating) are suspended quickly or even encouraged to drop out. With a overall drop out rate of 40% the chances of a poor black male getting through a public HS with a fairly good GPA is very very small and as of now AA is one of the systems we use to help.</p>
<p>I would like to see AA based on something other than race, but it would be hard to have AA based on “the expectations that people have of the student”.</p>
<p>Good Luck to you, I’m sure you will do fine… But I’m not so sure about a lot of other kids.</p>
<p>To obstinate:
NO, my mom did not plan my high school career. </p>
<p>Anyways,
AA holds back the borderline asians and lets in the best of the best. To fill up the rest of the spots, these universities admit these black kids, who have a very low chance of succeeding in college. The best will still prevail…sounds like OP is a borderline student.</p>
<p>To nicsagenius, nowhere did i say that Asians are boring. YOU just made a generalization that all of them are, which is just not true. I know of some boring blacks. To bell curves, I believe there is an extremely small number of the underqualified blacks you speak that are so grossly unprepared for college that they flunk out. There are signs in there grades and test scores to show that they are incapable of handling the work at the best colleges. I tend to have more faith in the adcoms to choose black applicants that they KNOW can handle the work. Never have i heard of an AA failing out of a highly selective school recently. In the past that was an issue when they were letting in AAs who were blatantly unprepared for a college level education let alone an Ivy League one. However, this problem has been remedied.</p>
<p>I think it all worked out for the best. You probably wouldn’t enjoy your time at one of these affirmative-action schools. :)</p>
<p>OP, you do realize that the SAT is incredably biased against African Americans as a group, right? So it’s not very fair to compare your SAT score to your friend’s when the test is fundamentally put in your favor. That’s the reason why adcoms sometimes forgive an African American student of any socioeconomic class for having a low SAT score.</p>
<p>^^^
What? If anything, it’s biased against asians who are doing this in a second language.</p>
<p>Maybe the admissions officers found out that the OP didn’t believe in AA and THAT’S why he/she was denied! </p>
<p>Kidding.
The decisions of admissions officers are a mystery. You will never know for sure why your counterpart got in and you didn’t, so stop whining about it. You’re going to BU; you should be happy with that. Isn’t UChicago where fun goes to die?</p>
<p>I personally think that special favor should be granted to poor students. The Ivys have already helped out, eliminating the parental contribution for under $60 K families. AA doesn’t prevent hard work from paying off; it just throws a bit of diversity into the mix.</p>
<p>So Oxsoralen would improve asians’ chances.</p>
<p>“So the kid who has never had to work a job in his life and had his mom plan out his entire high school career with a 2350 SAT/4.0 GPA is somehow working harder than the low-income kid in the projects with a 1800/3.7 yet has to work 40 hours a week and support his family?”</p>
<p>“Of course they’re just as intelligent, that goes without saying. The sad fact is that, in general, black students are economically disadvantaged (due to a long history of racial discrimination, surprisingly!) and therefore don’t necessarily have 8 hours a day to study for their classes and SATs, and don’t necessarily live in the nice part of town with the good schools, and don’t necessarily have that wonderful sense of self-entitlement that you have. But let’s not leave the Native Americans and Hispanics out of this. Surely you’re mad at them too?”</p>
<p>Then why is affirmative action based on RACE and NOT socioeconomic status? Should the rich black kid have an advantage over the poor Asian kid?</p>
<p>Look, the whole disadvantaged argument does not apply to affirmative action. Right now colleges are using affirmative action so that they have more colors around campus.</p>
<p>As much as you disagree with affirmative action…your top notch colleges are all private universities. They can choose whoever they want. If they want to have a varied color spectrum on campus, that’s their choice.</p>
<p>Understand this: in the majority of high-end universities, the minorities aren’t the ones taking the seats away from Asians. Their percentages are still relatively low.</p>
<p>The enormous number of qualified Asians applying to these colleges causes this problem. They can’t admit everyone. The fact of the matter is, they want diversity.</p>
<p>And…never use the phrase “should have been chosen.” How do you know what college criteria are? These are highly selective colleges. They will “select” anyone they want.</p>
<p>sarahdisk123…I’d have to utterly disagree with your point that the SAT is biased against African Americans. The basis for your generalization comes from data showing that minorities score lower than whites on certain portions of the SAT (English). </p>
<p>Are you saying that the SAT English portions should be changed to fit African Americans and minorities? You are taking an American Standardized Test. It is based on American English and wording. If you haven’t mastered the language…too bad.</p>
<p>IBfootballer, you’re patriotism blinds. Sadly, the United States is not a untouchable god in any way. We’re on our waning phase right now. The rest of the world is not.</p>
<p>“As much as you disagree with affirmative action…your top notch colleges are all private universities. They can choose whoever they want. If they want to have a varied color spectrum on campus, that’s their choice.”</p>
<p>Of course they can do whatever they want. But do you think it’s right?</p>