<p>I'm just wondering if anyone knows what percentage of Native American blood constitutes an underrepresented minority. I happen to know someone who has been accepted to Princeton with sub-par stats simply because she is 1/128th Native American. I find it all pretty disgusting, but she'll get what's coming to her next year.</p>
<p>I find it all pretty disgusting too, that you assume that she was accepted "simply beacuse she is 1/128th Native American." How do you know that?</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong, she has other merits. However, I know for a fact that she applied as a Native American. 11th in class without outstanding boards is a stretch unless you're an URM.</p>
<p>You</a> should take a look at this New York Times piece. A very disheartening abuse of the affirmative action system, especially since it has the potential to completely undermine the program. Of course, perhaps it will spark an overdue rehaul of the system sometime in the future to align it more with the idea of "equality of opportunity" rather than race-based entitlement.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The results, designating the boys 9 percent Native American and 11 percent northern African, arrived too late for the admissions process. But Mr. Moldawer, a business executive in Silver Spring, Md., says they could be useful in obtaining financial aid.</p>
<p>"Naturally when you're applying to college you're looking at how your genetic status might help you," said Mr. Moldawer, who knows that the twins' birth parents are white, but has little information about their extended family. "I have three kids going now, and you can bet that any advantage we can take we will."</p>
<p>[...]</p>
<p>Ashley Klett's younger sister marked the "Asian" box on her college applications this year, after the elder Ms. Klett, 20, took a DNA test that said she was 2 percent East Asian and 98 percent European.</p>
<p>Whether it mattered they do not know, but she did get into the college of her choice.</p>
<p>"And they gave her a scholarship," Ashley said.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>i also am aware of this unfortunate manipulation of the system and can confirm the statement made by one Bloom...what a sham</p>
<p>I really don't think they should accept you on the basis of being a native american unless you can register to be one with your tribe. I live in a state with seven reservations, and i think the standard is 1/8th, though i am not completely sure on that</p>
<p>and my family has been in america since 1620. for all i know one of my ancestors could have cheated on their spouse and i could be 1/128th native american, african, asian, irish, german, russian, or who knows what else</p>
<p>My nephew, upper middle class, blond hair, blue eyes, is 1/8 Native American. No one would ever know this about him by looking at him, and he certainly has not experienced any discrimination, etc. based on this. It will, however, give him a big advantage come college (he is a good student, but this will be his hook). Affirmative action should only be used when an economic disadvantage can be shown. I would rather see a poor white kid benefit from this kind of help (lower admission stats, scholarship) than a wealthy kid of any ethnicity.</p>
<p>If I recall correctly in the book "The Gatekeepers", there was a mixed-race girl that all the schools were competing over. I know she was a good student, but her racial status had to have been a motivating factor in all the schools wanting her. I believe she was upper middle class and her mom was going from school to school negotiating the best package for her. It bothered me that they were all after her just because of the color of her skin. She did not seem like a person who had overcome any difficulties in her life...money the schools threw at her could have been used for someone who really needed the help.</p>
<p>that is absolutely ridiculous. i am 1/8 cherokee and i in absolutely no way indicated that on my application because it has zero bearing on who i am as a person.</p>
<p>and i got in just fine.</p>
<p>Wow, what annoys me is when jealous people like the OP try to find ways to explain others' acceptances to elite colleges.</p>
<p>Youre not friends with this person, nor do you know what his application consisted of. You can only try to pass judgements on what you see.</p>
<p>I'm embarrased to say that I did that at times. One time i had assumed someone got into a prestigious college because the person was hispanic until i found that that she graduated valedictorian and won several very prestigious national awards.</p>
<p>Youre simply a moron if you think someone can get in because of his or her race.</p>
<p>Stop trying to make assumptions about others whom you know nothing about. Take your jealousy somewhere else: I'm 100% sure you did not get into Princeton if you even applied.</p>
<p>No single factor will get you admitted to Princeton, the young lady most certainly had what they were looking for that year. It was a combination of academics and EC's.</p>
<p>DiamondT, I happen to have several classes with this person. I talk with her on a daily basis and I know the basic extent of her activities. Seeing as how I am matriculating at Cornell, college of engineering, jealousy is not a factor. Princeton is definitely not known for its engineering prowess. Now, what does bother me is the fact that someone who actually deserves to go to Princeton is missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime so that this person can attend. I don't have any respect for people who cheat the system.</p>
<p>But let me tell you a little bit about this person, who I'll arbitrarily call Laura. </p>
<p>Laura has mediocre SATs, no athletics, modest academic achievements, and modest ec's. Out of the 450 students in her school, she is 11th. She does TV studio and has run (unsuccessfully) for a JSA regional office. Laura applied to all of the ivy league schools as a Native American and picked the name with the most prestige not even caring if it was a good fit for her.</p>
<p>Don't misconstrue my thread. It's a response to someone who has deliberately cheated the system by falsely claiming URM status, nothing more and nothing less.</p>
<p>This is why I'm not in full support of the Affirmative Action system. Rather than being based on race, I think it should be based on economic status / living conditions... What does skin color have to do with anything?</p>
<p>i got in because my identical twin got in ED, and i applied regular (frankly i had decent boards, ****ty rankm, ok ap's, really good ec's). you have to play your cards in this admissions process. i think the most qualified people should get in no doubt, but getting into a top college is war. cheating is not allowed however. getting lucky is indeed acceptable.</p>
<p>"santas Helper :This is why I'm not in full support of the Affirmative Action system. Rather than being based on race, I think it should be based on economic status / living conditions... What does skin color have to do with anything?"
well you guys are missing the point of affrimative action... Affirmative action gives underepresented minorities a chance to go to prestigious schools. WHY? Because most poor people are poeple of color, minorites were denied a good educationa round a half a century ago, the specialized and licsened fields lack minorites (btw this excludes asians no offense, most bad and underachieveing schools are populated with minorites; therefore they have a poor academic backround. Myself ebing an African American know what it is like... I came from a very poor and underachieving middle school and worked my way to a top tier high school (mostly asians) the fact of the race distrubtion in my high school and other specialized high schools in NY (i.e. stuyvesant ) prove that most minorites aren't getting a top notch education. Therefore, Affrimative Action is a primative solution to try to correct this problem in America... and i belive it helps break the sterotype of ugnorant uneducate dminorites like mexicans and black</p>
<p>sorry for any typos.. im too lazy to proofread....</p>
<p>So....keep in mind you won't get accepted if they didn't think you wouldn't excel at the school...</p>
<p>"Because most poor people are poeple of color, minorites were denied a good educationa round a half a century ago, the specialized and licsened fields lack minorites"</p>
<p>Most poor people are people of color... Well then why not make affirmative action for poor people? Is a poor white person any different from a poor black person? Second, how does sending a person to the ivy leagues based on their skin color break any stereotypes? In my opinion, it makes it WORSE! For the rest of their life, people are always going to say, "He got in because he was black/latino/etc..."</p>
<p>Not trying to be a troll or anything, but it's the way I feel.</p>
<p>Affirmative action by socieconomic status is as SantasHelper alluded to, a much fairer manner of dealing with the issue of poverty and lack of opportunities among many applicants. In this way, ALL individuals who lack the opportunities to fulfill their potential due to financial and environmental reasons can be given a boost in college admissions. Statistics show that blacks, hispanics, and native americans have a greater proportion of individuals below the poverty line than whites and asians. However, there is no reason a poor hispanic should be given an advantage over a poor white person. Both individuals deserve the same educational advantages and opportunities.</p>
<p>I think that if the Ivy Leagues do this, they will upset the old guard</p>
<p>It's like Mercedes C class. It's sooo cheap, however, it upset a lot of S class owners because they want Mercedes to be a status symbol</p>
<p>So, i don't think everyone will be using this</p>
<p>i believe i got rejected from harvard and yale because i checked 'finaid', which i shouldn't have</p>
<p>I have always believed in affirmative action, but I didn't know that someone who was 1/128 anything could manipulate the system. What if this student is also well to do and has manipulated the financial aid system as well? Affirmative action is not rich white kids pretending to be poor minority kids. Surely these schools don't just believe anything an applicant says or writes. On the other hand, if a student has not interviewed and shows up looking white and seems to have had and to still have advantages that poor students don't have, it would be a done deal, wouldn't it? The school could check into the students finances, but would they ever reject a student for having pretended to be a minority student? Perhaps these schools are just not vigilant enough on these matters. How many of you think that this is going on?</p>