Advantage to be a URM?

Shrinkrap
Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:23:49 +0000

“First, the data set used is now several years old”

Yes. The article says the data is from 83, 93, and and 97.

“added weight in admission decisions to applicants who have SAT
scores above 1500, are African American, or are recruited athletes”

I also believe the 230 point advantage was primarily for blacks scoring above a certain threshold. Was it 1200 on the old SAT?

“The penalty for scoring less than 1200 on the SAT is significantly greater for African-American and Hispanic students than the penalty for white students who score less than 1200 (Model 2). Similarly,the reward (i.e., increased likelihood of admission) that is produced by scoring more than 1300 is significantly smaller for African-American and especially for Hispanic students than the reward for white students who score more than 1300. Thus, we find that the underrepresented minority advantage is greatest for African-American and Hispanic applicants with SAT scores in the 1200–1300 range”

So one or two percent of blacks taking the test in that era?

And this was interesting…
“This would mean that the admission advantage for African-American
athletes, for example, is equivalent to the sum of the separate bonuses for
being either African American or an athlete. Our results point to a different
conclusion. Models 5 through 7 show that having any two out of the three
preferred characteristics (underrepresented minority student, athlete, or legacy)
confers an admission advantage that is less than the advantage that results
from adding the separate bonuses. For example, the main effects for ‘‘African
American’’ and ‘‘athlete’’ in Model 5 imply admission advantages equivalent
to 240 and 210 SAT points, respectively. But the interaction term for being
both African American and an athlete amounts to the loss of roughly 110
points.”

Irrelevant on most of cc, I know, but for the record, it also said “Underrepresented minority student status made almost no difference to admission chances at the less selective four-year institutions attended by 80 percent of students”

Does anybody know how many blacks are in the freshman class at MIT this year?