<p>“I don’t see the boost helping much unless you were already a very good candidate.”</p>
<p>^^ Not really. The competition has gotten so keen that theres’ a real disconnect b/w students who are fully capable of success at top colleges and those w/ the stats to make admission more likely than not. By that I mean there are plenty of kids with relatively modest academic profiles (3.4 gpa, 1250 SATs) who could be make it through many of the top colleges in 4 years and w/o really struggling. Indeed, many of those successful applicants/graduates from a generation or two ago probably wouldn’t have the stats to be admitted today. </p>
<p>Many applicants and their families would be surprised by the comparatively weak profiles some today’s successful black applicants present. These students, however, are not neither unqualified nor poorly qualified to do the work; they just present a less competitive academic profile in an increasingly competitive applicant pool. </p>
<p>The colleges understand that one need not have a weighted gpa of 3.9 and SATs of 1570/1600 to do the work, but if you can fill most of your seats w/ candidates presenting that profile, why not. So most of the seats go to students w/ the truly stellar profiles, but some students with more modest profiles are also admitted - - those who are still solid enough to do the work and who bring something extra to the table. One of those extras is urm status.</p>