Lately, I’ve been receiving quite a bit of propaganda from colleges in the mail and was wondering if the common understandings of admissions, namely race (ORM and URMs) and test scores (sending all or some), could be different from the viewpoint of the colleges themselves.
From what I have read and heard from this forum and other sources, it seems that the general consensus is that asians and whites are “disadvantaged” at elite college admissions because they aren’t an URM. As such, common questions that I hear include “Should I check the box for asian?” and “Would it be better if I left the race box blank?”. After some thinking, I was wondering if that by not checking the box, the applicant would not be included in the school’s statistics about race and thus would not be represented as “white” or “asian” in any of the school’s reported statistics. This way, the school is not inclined to deny the applicant who does not check his/her race box because the admitting the applicant wouldn’t raise the reported percentages of asians/whites, thus making the school look more inclusive.
The second thought that I had was regarding sending all test scores. I feel that superscoring applicants would allow colleges to report high average ACT/SAT scores and thus make themselves seem more prestigious, however, the superstore may or may not be considered for admission by colleges that don’t openly admit to superscoring.
If anyone has any feedback on my musings, it would be greatly helpful as I am still deciding as to what action would be preferred so that I will not be at a disadvantage when I do apply.
There has been extensive discussion about whether or not being Asian or white disadvantages your or not. I won’t repeat all the discussion here or opine on it. You have the right not to identify your race and you won’t be part of the school’s statistics. But the most likely impact on admission is that they assume you are not a URM for admissions purposes. Why would they want to admit someone as a ‘suspected’ URM if the candidate isn’t self-identifying as part of that community with the unique perspectives/experiences that it hopefully brings?
Colleges are open about superscoring. It’s not a dirty secret. And yes, they superscore because, indeed, they want to report the highest scores they can for their admitted students. I doubt there is a private agenda not to use the candidate’s best scores for external reporting purposes and then to secretly penalize the candidate who took the test more than once. However, if someone has taken the test 3 or more times, then I can see admissions questioning whether this person is somewhat obsessive and a bit immature, since they could be spending their time better.
My point on the race issue was that if a white or Asian did not report race, when the college releases info on their freshman class makeup there would a lower than actual representation of whites and Asians which ultimately makes the school seem more diversified than it actually is.
If they were at such a disadvantage with regards to elite colleges, then Caucasians would be an overwhelming minority in colleges. BUT that is not the case.
I don’t think any school reports diversity statistics based on who applies. It’s based on who enrolls, and that’s a whole other set of forms. Also, ad-coms weren’t born yesterday. They know self-reported data like this is very unreliable. I really don’t think they care whether you do or don’t check the box. Moreover, if race matters to them, they’ll find a way to make a judgement on it whether or not the box is checked.
@CaliCash How does that make sense? Caucasians would not be the minority at a private institution (I hesitate saying never but…). Many elite colleges are too concerned with having well balanced class that reflects the overall ethnic groups of the US. I think the point is that applicants are being grouped into to race pools of competition. Whites and asians are at a severe disadvantage in these race groups because they’ve been more advantageous socio-economically (or historically at least). This unfortunately ends up skewing results in favor of wealthier applicants. A black kid from the upper east side is going to end up doing much better than a poor white kid from the Bronx.
@tooty44 Colleges usually report about 4-8% as “unknown” or “unreported”. Check out Swarthmore’s college profile on their website as an example.
@doubledamn Oh stop whining. Whites and Asians Americans usually make up anywhere from 60-70% of elite colleges. Sometimes, much more. If they were at such a huge disadvantage, the numbers would be much lower. They are still the overwhelming majority so I’m sorry (sarcasm) that PWIs aren’t white enough for you. And there are way fewer wealthy black kids on the upper east side than poor white students.
@CaliCash I don’t think you understand what I’m saying. Colleges are 60-70% white because the U.S. population is 60-70% white. It’s because private schools want to reflect the diversity of the US. It’s not because of they have some racial “advantage” in admissions. There are literally millions more white people in America, so there is going to be a larger representation of white people at private colleges. What’s so difficult to understand about that? My point is it is inherently unfair to give certain advantages to some races and not socioeconomic consideration to disadvantaged people of a certain skin color. There are more poor white people in this country than poor black people, but because of past discrimination blacks are at a far greater disadvantage and poverty plagues a greater percent of their population. Hence affirmative action. Unfortunately lower barriers of entry for certain races does favor the wealthier. It happens in every single race, not just whites. Poor white kids tend not to have a shot at Harvard, much in the same way poor URMs do not have a shot at Harvard. I realize poor people of all races do get into Harvard, but I’m saying that for most, applying to Harvard isn’t even a consideration.
They will know if you are Asian if your parents were born in Asia as most applications ask where your parents were born and attended college. White perhaps not. However, you will have no UMR ECs. Such as national hispanic honors.
I have no problem with UMRs being considered a hook, even wealthy ones that add to the feeling of diversity at a college. While not a fan of DeBlasio I do understand when his son says stop and frisk affects him directly when he is on the subway even if most of the time he uses a Limo. I went to admitted student day at one of my acceptances and was literally shocked at the lack of diversity.
I do have a problem with kids who I have literally known for YEARS, have access to the same education I do, tutors and whatever and I know their parents and I had no idea they could check the box. As in, oh yes my grandfather who I never met and died when my mother was 1 was born in Argentina. And my worst grade ever was Spanish because no one speaks it in my family. Or variations on the theme. For the record, I DO NOT have a problem with the kids themselves or their parents checking the box, I probably would not hesitate if it was my background (it is not), I have a problem with a system that considers that a hook. As opposed to the family where the kid learns Spanish before English because they are culturally hispanic. Those are the ones that the box was intended.
My child is blond-haired and blue-eyed, but his father is from South America. His father has never spoken English to him, and my son has spent 1 month per year in S.A., every year since he was born. We cook the food from the country all the time and own many items from the country, from artisanal things to cookware. But people raise an eyebrow when he says he checks “Hispanic.” Will an admissions officer think he is trying to “game” the system, since he looks like a Swede…
