<p>mathboy: By homogeneous I mean racially, culturally. Sure there will be a variety of white and asian people. But that’s not really diverse is it?
And I’m not saying essays should have a lot of weight at all. I’m saying that this ‘talent’ that you talk about is not a fair way to admit. It’s not like they are taking people with truly sub-par scores simply for the sake of ‘diversity’. But, just working with numbers, not location, race, the essay, anything else, these people might not be the strongest applicants in the pool. You say they could ‘self-study 13 AP’s’. You realize those cost money. More than $80 a test. Some families simply can not afford that. What you are talking about is not talent. Sure, it starts with talent,natural intelligence/skill, but you are talking about what talent and money and other advantages can achieve. That’s not a fair way to admit. Colleges aren’t stupid. They know this and thus use multiple factors in admissions. It is because ‘talent’ isn’t something that is always shown with numbers and expensive awards that they do what they do.
If you don’t value true diversity, economic, racial, social, and cultural or understand that talent can’t be measured by just scores and awards, this may be a senseless discussion.</p>
<p>Logicwarrior: I don’t think it has anything to do with their not being programs for a diverse student body. It’s not like racial/economic minorities aren’t applying to these schools. It’s that looking at numbers alone, they might not be as competitive. Not completely out of their league, but just not as competitive.</p>