<p>@BeStillMyHeart I am curious… when you meet a person, how many of your words and actions toward him are determined by prejudice and how many are determined by the image that he establishes with the words he says and the things he does of his own free will?</p>
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<p>Where do you draw that conclusion from?</p>
<p>Every indication is that Kwasi was brought up in the same environment as other 1st generation immigrants who are highly academic. African immigrants are no less accomplished and academically-oriented than Asian ones. </p>
<p>Kwasi described his parents as “helicopter parents” in one article and says they kept him on track. How many kids are savvy enough about college admissions to even be familiar with the term “helicopter parent”? I had never heard that term before I got on CC. He doesn’t seem particularly disadvantaged, other than the fact that his parents are only middle class to upper middle class and are immigrants, something which could be said for a lot of Asians and ethnic whites.</p>
<p>The term “privelege” is completely nondescriptive; it seems to be some unchallengeable axiom that those of certain ethnicities wield this vague asset. And what you define it, it turns out it is not so associated with ethnicities, especially the subpopulation who even apply to ivies.</p>
<p>The problem with these AA discussions is that there is no consensus on the reason for AA or what it is meant to do. @Bestillmyheart seems to imply that AA was meant to compensate for injustices in other areas of life (i.e., not in school) or decades before these kids were born, but these are not reasons earlier cited on this thread, and therefore, the counterarguments naturally do not address these arguments. Consequently, in these AA threads, what we end up with is a merry-go-round where someone will address one argument, and then someone will say, “Yeah, but this doesn’t account for argument #2” and act like the first person was a jerk for not addressing it. People then move on to address that argument, and so forth. And then 5-10 pages later of posts, people will arrive back at the first argument. </p>
<p>@halogen What do you mean? I’m very intrapersonal/introverted (INTP). I don’t talk to people like that. Irl, im the nicest person. I’m very tolerant/liberal. I learned a lot in the past 8 months about racism/sexism. I see it everywhere. It’s something I can’t ignore anymore. It’s not just on this site. It’s at school. It’s at home. So, I am very hesitant when I meet a person. I always hope a person does not say something “wrong”. </p>
<p>Ask me a year ago if I see color, I would’ve said no. Ask me a year ago, if I think Affirmative Action should be a thing. I would’ve said no to race but yes to income ( I think income matters more than race still but I’m very for both). </p>
<p>The truth is, the privilege always think they are oppressed nowadays when they are not. </p>
<p>^What happened in the last 8 months that changed your worldview so drastically?</p>
<p>@BeStillMyHeart When I saw the generalizations you made about people, I was just wondering what the scope was, i.e. whether the scope is academic or pragmatic, i.e. whether generalizing about people is purely an exercise of isolated thought for the sake of thought or whether it actually affects how you interact with the world. Looks like it is the former case, if you “don’t talk to people like that.”</p>
<p>Just to satisfy the curiosity of a fellow INTP.</p>
<p>Shallow and cliche. I bet he was thinking, “Surely they won’t believe this” as he wrote how music helps him solve problems because of it’s “infinite possibilities”. Please. I’ve played more shows than him and for many years longer and I like it because it gives me the giggles when I’m in the pocket.</p>
<p>@collegealum314 I started learning about racism, sexism, etc. Kinda wish I didn’t because its EVERYWHERE. I can’t ignore it anymore. It’s not the same.That’s what I’m writing my college essay on. </p>
<p>There’s many kinds of privledges (white, straight, able, male, and rich are the main 5). Race/class is the main ones in my book. Gender is number 3.
White privedge is never having to experience true racism or discrimination based on race, and knowing that if you ever do experience “discrimination”, there will be a whole group of people (white people) to support you.
Class privilege is obvious. But Kwasi wasn’t upper class, he was middle class. The middle class is the poor nowadays. </p>
<p>@halogen I know everybody is different. (if i didn’t, my icon would’ve been a black man. Not a white/asian dude.) I just look at the news and it just happens that everybody that seem to oppose marriage equality are mainly evangelical Christians. I look on this board and it just happens that the people who complaining about AA/Kwasi are mostly white. I look on the news and it just happens the people who are filibustering the Equal Pay Act are men. I know there’s exceptions. </p>
<p>@BeStillMyHeart Whites may be the most privileged people in this country, but certainly not Asians. If you want to list history, how about list instances like the Japanese internment camps and the Chinese Exclusion Act.</p>
<p>@absentions Asians still have the highest income and are most desired by whites. I was talking about nowadays. Asians don’t get stopped and frisked or be asked for their papers. </p>
<p>I agree that yellow fever( not the disease) is disgusting, but that’s more of a women issue. </p>
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<p>Even if it is true, what does this have to do with privelege? What do you attribute to skills, talent, and work ethic?</p>
<p>The fundamental difference between people for affirmative action and people against affirmative action is that people for affirmative action believe admissions should concentrate on diversity and on the group, while those against affirmative action believe admissions should concentrate on merit and on the individual.</p>
<p>That’s why it is so difficult for people to come together on this issue. People value certain morals over others. People against affirmative action believe in merit and equity, while those for affirmative action believe in diversity.</p>
<p>I do agree that his essay is not very mind blowing or anything but it’s not bad either. I don’t understand why people keep claiming AA. If he wasn’t qualified to get into the schools he had gotten accepted to he wouldn’t have,regardless of his race and economic status. A SAT score like that is amazing and its quite sad that scores that are higher than that often get rejected. It’s really sad and I feel for the kids who feel like they highly deserve the spots in the admissions pools to many of these selective colleges. What does his race have to do with anything? His personality, recommendations, and possibly even interviews along with his grades and SAT score got him in. I’m pretty sure his race had little to do with it. He’s perfectly qualified for acceptance into these schools, and its unfortunate like I said earlier that other kids who also have amazing stats don’t get accepted. Obviously something stood out about him and these colleges all saw that. Give him a break.</p>
<pre><code> I feel like most of the animosity towards this is coming from applicants that were rejected from Ivy Leagues and parents of kids who were rejected. Just because you didn’t get accepted into all 8 Ivy Leagues or even 1 of them, it’s not the end of the world. You are probably still a great person overall and will be successful no matter what school you go to. It’s unfair to this kid and other kids who might not have “perfect” scores but still get accepted, for you to bash them and discredit them for their accomplishments. There’s more to life than Ivy Leagues and perfect scores! Your admission into these schools do not define you, and will not make you more successful or capable than anyone else. If you want to attend college for the right reason and be successful in doing so you really shouldn’t be worrying about this kid. Truth of the matter is a lot of these students with “perfect” scores have never experienced failure and would not do so great if they had. College is supposed to be significantly different than your high school course in both rigor and course work and sadly you won’t continue to have the 4.0 status you always had. I’m not saying it’s impossible for some, but usually your GPA does drop.In the end your passion for what you are doing and why you are doing it is what matters most to colleges. For example, imagine a kid who has never received a B on a test or assignment; they will freak out and think it’s the end of the world. I’m not saying everyone is like this, but I see it in my own school, kids feel like it’s the end of the world if they get a B on their assignment and I often wonder about their success in college. How are they going to adjust when they receive their first non A? Will they continue to think the world is over? Colleges want kids to be successful and passionate! This one girl told me that if she ever received a B on anything she wouldn’t even apply to the schools she want to go to such as most of the Ivy Leagues. Her SAT scores are great for the most part, the first time she took her ACT she received a 34. I think she should still apply no matter what.Clearly she is bright, she’s a perfectionist, highly qualified, but ultimately it’s going to hurt her a lot in college if she gets accepted into one of these colleges and takes a class that’s hard for her. She will not be able to handle that pressure, if that ever happened. Yes, these colleges want you to be able to be academically qualified, but they also probably want you to be able to handle a B or two at the college level.In the end I know someone on CC will find fault with my response, but I simply just wanted to say that it’s amazing he had gotten accepted into all 8. I hope he is happy with his decision once he makes it, and is successful in his college life. I wish the same for all of you rather you have higher academic stats or lower stats than Kwasi it doesn’t define you. If you have been rejected you have to move on people, you really do, it’s not healthy. I haven’t had the experience of rejection quite yet, I am only a junior but my admissions process is coming up. I’m just so happy that some of you posters will not be on the admissions committees to colleges I want to apply to. Yes I wish I had perfect grades, and perfect scores, my grades and scores are not bad at all but I will not get upset over admissions to Ivy Leagues. These are reach schools for everybody, and I’m very happy for the kids who get accepted to them. It’s fine to be upset, because clearly a lot of you and the people you know are qualified but it’s not the end of the world and it’s unfair to discredit others because of it. There are plenty of other highly selective schools you could get accepted to, and have great opportunities,and meet qualified applicants just like you.Just make the most of your college experience and keep up the rigor you have, it’ll take you far but the animosity and hatred will not.Good luck!
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<p>(There might be typos but I don’t really care)</p>
<p>I still feel that an income-based affirmative action would be far better than a race-based one. Why isn’t that implemented? I wouldn’t feel nearly as slighted if I was passed over in admissions by an underprivileged kid rather than some rich black kid that hasn’t felt hardship more than any other kid that lives in the suburbs. Because honestly, affirmative action really only helps URMs that are already wealthy and don’t need the help, as much as proponents of affirmative action like to cite statistics on the percentage of blacks in poverty.</p>
<p>Race-based AA is inherently racist. To assume that certain races are automatically economically disadvantaged while others are advantaged is pretty racist to me. Not to mention the idea that only minorities are capable of bringing “diversity” to the table is sickening. The main thing race-based AA succeeds in doing is creating a sense of doubt as to who actually earned their spot in an institution and who got there because of his/her race. If race-based AA weren’t a thing, would people be questioning why this young man got into every Ivy to which he applied and writing his accomplishment off as a byproduct of his race? The current system of AA creates a kind of diagnosis bias that most benefits wealthy people who just happen to be URMs while undermining the legitimate accomplishments of other URMs. Before anyone writes this off as typical “white person” rambling, I’d like to point out that I’m South Asian. </p>
<p>@Koolmars96 You’ve got a great attitude and a good perspective on life. That’s going to take you far. </p>
<p>@koolmars96 People continue to say “something must’ve made him stand out” but no one has yet to say what that “something” was. Was it the viola? No, he didn’t compete, so he is a lot like those thousands who play viola. Was it track? No, lots of people do track and he wasn’t especially good (i.e., not good enough to be recruited so not anything that would tip admissions). Was it volunteering for research at Stony Brook? No, talk to the thousands of kids who do research. Was it the SAT score? No, 2250, while being in the top 1% of students nationwide, is hardly special in Ivy applicant-land. Was it the GPA or class rank? No, he was ranked 11th at his school, something rather ordinary in Ivy applicant-land. Was it his personality? No, lots of people are passionate, ambitious, nice people. The kind that apply to Ivies are typically the charismatic, change-the-world types. Was it his essay? We already established that it was good, but not great, typically of an Ivy League applicant. Was it his recommendations? From what we’ve heard, they’re pretty good, but again, many applicants will have great recommendations.</p>
<p>What else can you point to that could make you understand why he was able to be admitted into all 8 schools? Oh yeah, the EXPLICIT statements by these universities that they consider race. Viewed in the context of other URM applicants, he looks very impressive. That is why he got in.</p>
<p>At my school, a kid that was pulling a C in Calc BC, got a B+ in AP Econ, and had only NHS president and all-state debater got into Wharton REGULAR DECISION. He was a URM. Think back to your days in high school and objectively look at who actually gets into Ivies. If you went to a public high school, chances are most of those kids were URMs. It is no accident this occurs.</p>
<p>Also, I find the attitude of “don’t be bitter about your rejection” to be insulting. Bitterness is what gets change to happen. In the French Revolution, people were bitter about how they were poor while the royals exploited them. In China, people were bitter about the corrupt regime of Chiang Kai-shek waxing fat on kickbacks while they starved. In the US, people were bitter about how King George taxed them. In the Civil Rights movement, people were bitter about how they weren’t getting theirs. Whenever something unjust like racially-based admissions forces one to accept less than they deserve, the people get angry. And it is their right. Your attitude sounds just like that of Booker T Washington, who told his fellow blacks, “don’t get angry about discrimination. just pull yourselves up by your bootstraps!”</p>
<p>@BeStillMyHeart : " Asians still have the highest income and are most desired by whites. I was talking about nowadays. Asians don’t get stopped and frisked or be asked for their papers." </p>
<p>The “highest income” that Asians enjoy can’t be attributed to skill, talent, and hard work? As for how “Asians don’t get stopped and frisked or be asked for their papers,” have you tried being South Asian and going to an airport? </p>
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<p>Because it makes no sense.</p>
<p>What problem are you solving by AA based on income?</p>
<p>@Kerkolus Except the purpose of college isn’t diversity. It’s education. I don’t see how having diversity promotes better education. To promote better education and better students, admissions should be purely merit-based. The best way to measure this is through stats - scores and numbers, IMO.</p>
<p>@BeStillMyHeart I honestly don’t understand what “yellow fever” and white men’s desire for Asian women have ANYTHING to do with this discussion. How does that make Asians more privileged?</p>