<p>^Hahaha.</p>
<p>Linkin, yes, those factors help, but really, does it matter that much? Don't you think the admissions officers of all these institutions would know what's best? If the system was really flawed, wouldn't they have gotten it right by now after hundreds of years? I don't fit under any of those categories (not that good at music/sports IMO), but I think that it's good that colleges give an advantage to the people that do. Would you feel comfortable going to Penn if you were only surrounded by Caucasian and Asian studyholics? Penn's an academic institution, but it's student body is big enough that not EVERY student needs to have the academics to back it up. And you can't blame the ones that exploit their advantage because you don't know that you wouldn't do the same in their shoes. If you were a 6'8" 350 lber, wouldn't you want to use your football gift to attend the best school possible? The real world ain't gonna be fair. The CEO's of Fortune 500 Companies won't always be the hardest workers out of Wharton or Harvard. I have a friend with a speech impediment that is likely never to be a politician/good speaker no matter how much he wants to. There are always going to be people less fortunate than us, so instead of focusing on what's wrong with life, we should appreciate it for what it is. You weren't born in Uganda, afflicted with cancer, etc. so stop worrying about it, bro. I sorta understand your frustration though, and you're a good guy, so best of luck in RD.</p>
<p>I agree with you man. I love the school so much. It kills me that in some cases people can take advantage of the system and obtain something that I have been killing myself to get. </p>
<p>Eloquence, I wasn't referring to you or anyone else on this forum. Don't worry. Congratulations on getting in. Hopefully I'll be with you on campus next year.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Linkin, yes, those factors help, but really, does it matter that much? Don't you think the admissions officers of all these institutions would know what's best? If the system was really flawed, wouldn't they have gotten it right by now after hundreds of years? I don't fit under any of those categories (not that good at music/sports IMO), but I think that it's good that colleges give an advantage to the people that do. Would you feel comfortable going to Penn if you were only surrounded by Caucasian and Asian studyholics? Penn's an academic institution, but it's student body is big enough that not EVERY student needs to have the academics to back it up. And you can't blame the ones that exploit their advantage because you don't know that you wouldn't do the same in their shoes. If you were a 6'8" 350 lber, wouldn't you want to use your football gift to attend the best school possible? The real world ain't gonna be fair. The CEO's of Fortune 500 Companies won't always be the hardest workers out of Wharton or Harvard. I have a friend with a speech impediment that is likely never to be a politician/good speaker no matter how much he wants to. There are always going to be people less fortunate than us, so instead of focusing on what's wrong with life, we should appreciate it for what it is. You weren't born in Uganda, afflicted with cancer, etc. so stop worrying about it, bro. I sorta understand your frustration though, and you're a good guy, so best of luck in RD.
[/quote]
The fundamental idea of affirmative action is correct, but its implementation is completely wrong. Think about it. Is a poor URM at a disadvantage to a rich URM? But the college would probably prefer the rich URM than the poor URM because the rich URM may have family connections or a great deal of money to improve the endowment or the school as a whole. I have friends that are URMs with similar socio-economic backgrounds but lower stats and get into top schools. Is that fair?</p>
<p>upenn hates our school...REJECTED ppl who later got into hypmsc........and not just one or two but i can name like 10 to 20 in the past 3 years</p>