<p>I think it would.</p>
<p>What would be some downsides?</p>
<p>your opinion?</p>
<p>Search the CC forum for "affirmative action". There are lots of interesting opinions out there. Fabrizio and DerrickA, posters who no longer frequent CC, are very informative.</p>
<p>If colleges didn't take race into account, the demographics of top schools would look like this:</p>
<p>45% White
45% Asian
10% The rest</p>
<p>Colleges use affirmative action to ensure under represented minorities will have an equal chance in college admissioin.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Colleges use affirmative action to ensure under represented minorities will have an equal chance in college admissioin.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Which isn't fair. College admissions should be based on how well you did and in what circumstances those results came from. Being black doesn't automatically assume you are poor, and from the ghetto. Why should a black kid from Bel Air get in over a white kid from a poor neighborhood?</p>
<p>Affirmative action based on race makes zero sense. Socio-economic stance should be considered, but nothing else.</p>
<p>Who says colleges are supposed to be "fair?" They are supposed to be great and interesting learning environments, not some prize earned by the highest scoring applicant.</p>
<p>mj93, I believe fabrizio still stirs from his eternal slumber every so often to fight in Ragnorak-esque battles whenever a topic morphs into an AA superthread. I have seen his fearsome visage many a time upon these forums, although the most recent AA super-thread died out about a month or two ago.</p>
<p>imagine if legacy, celebrity and athletic status were also ignored.</p>
<p>"Which isn't fair. College admissions should be based on how well you did and in what circumstances those results came from. Being black doesn't automatically assume you are poor, and from the ghetto. Why should a black kid from Bel Air get in over a white kid from a poor neighborhood?"</p>
<p>DerrickA smells resurrection in the air...</p>
<p>I kind of agree with Bay on that, and ensuring that URMs are represented at a school makes that school a better environment.</p>
<p>LOL .. now if only fabrizio would surface</p>
<p>DerrickA, some of your earlier battles for easy reference:
AA Thread - <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=339404%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=339404</a>
Why is diversity good? - <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=338729&highlight=diversity+good%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=338729&highlight=diversity+good</a></p>
<p>I don't care to argue about this much, but sometimes when people mention AA, there's this huge idea of "Some less deserving minority can take my spot" and not "Another applicant of the same race that was more appealing to the college can take my spot."</p>
<p>I would love to see a day when it didn't matter what race a person was and education systems were more equal in the country. That way schools could focus on other ways to promote diversity. Race is just the easy button right now. When it is no longer race, it will be socioeconomic status. When it is no longer that, it may be religion. There will most likely always be something that filters certain students out, and there will always be someone who feels they got the bad end of the deal.</p>
<p>OP, please use the search function. There have been many intelligent discussions on this topic.</p>
<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=260920%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=260920</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=260420%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=260420</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=290114%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=290114</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=289628%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=289628</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=290716%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=290716</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=262725%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=262725</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=349839%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=349839</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=366857%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=366857</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=393154%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...d.php?t=393154</a></p>
<p>
[quote]
There will most likely always be something that filters certain students out,
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The purpose is to allow some of every type of student IN, not to keep certain students OUT. Huge difference.</p>
<p>True, filters certain students in.</p>
<p>But by allowing students in who wouldn't ordinarily be, you have to by definition keep other students out to keep room for them.</p>
<p>I mean, those admissions slots can't just appear out of thin air can they?</p>
<p>There are no students admitted who "wouldn't ordinarily be." And yes, each time any student is admitted, by definition another student won't get to attend. That is how all college admissions work.</p>
<p>"Colleges use affirmative action to ensure under represented minorities will have an equal chance in college admissioin"</p>
<p>I think someone is confusing equal chance with equal result.
Given the same qualifications and socioeconomic background, a white or asian candidate is far less likely to be admitted to any elite institution than an identically qualified URM.</p>
<p>Bay:</p>
<p>By "wouldn't ordinarily be" I mean admitted without affirmative action. Naturally, they wouldn't be admitted without affirmative action.</p>
<p>I would definitely prefer it if colleges didn't look at race. It'd make things far more balanced than they are now. I can't tell you how many times I go to the "chance me" forum, read about a guy with great qualifications who wants to go to hyps, and people are like "safety....oh wait you aren't black, you're asian, nevermind. reach"</p>
<p>"I can't tell you how many times I go to the "chance me" forum, read about a guy with great qualifications who wants to go to hyps, and people are like "safety....oh wait you aren't black, you're asian, nevermind. reach"</p>
<p>Can you TRY to tell us how many times? Are you saying on most threads it is first assumed you are Black, and therfore "safe"? I haven't noticed that. It seems Black posters ( or those who mention it), are seem quite rare. If it is common, it's nice to see great qualifications are assumed as well. I haven't noticed that either.</p>
<p>I'm not saying it's phrased like this, but what I'm saying is that being black gives you a big bonus with regards to college apps.</p>
<p>I mean look at this: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=392855%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=392855</a></p>
<p>All of the responses are very positive, and suggest a match/slight safety. While for an asian male with the same stats, I guarantee you the responses would be "reach" "reach" "strong reach" "reach".</p>
<p>For comparison:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=81150%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=81150</a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=257008%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=257008</a></p>
<p>It's depressing that in this day and age, a thing as small as the color of your skin makes such a large difference in your chances of being accepted to your dream college.</p>