<p>After reading threads all over the place about what’s fair and not fair in this crazy process, I guess I’m about to get flamed…</p>
<p>I teach high school. I have had students accepted to colleges and universities with much lower stats than their peers. And here’s what I’ve come to believe: From those to whom much is given, much is expected. My own kids were born into a family of college-educated professionals. They were blessed with brains. They were blessed with parents who cared about their education and who could spend time and money on extra-curriculars. They were blessed with an extended family who also prizes education. They were able to cherry-pick our public school system, moving from gifted classes to magnet schools, etc. (Their parents also knew to look for these programs, to apply on time, dot the i’s and cross the t’s, etc.)</p>
<p>So. If a kid from a single-parent home, living in poverty, overcomes the negative factors in his life and graduates with a solid B average and a decent SAT score, and is admitted to a university that did not accept my child with the A+ average and stellar scores, I’m OK with that. Because I KNOW that kid, and I KNOW what that solid B average reflects. </p>
<p>Another thing. My kids are going to end up just fine, wherever they attend college (note the “college is a given” attitude that they have grown up with.) They’ll be able to pursue a career they find rewarding, provide for their families, and give back to the community (that’s what I want for ALL my kids - my own AND my students). There are lots of kids out there who won’t have the chances that my kids do without some extra help. Many of them have sat in my classroom. And I hope and pray they get the help they need to reach their potential. </p>
<p>My feelings on this have evolved a lot over the years. I don’t expect everyone to agree, but there it is.</p>
<p>except for the Journal for Black Higher Education has graduation stats each year and many of the public universities have low to very low African-American graduation rates. Accepting under prepared students sets them up for failure. Better to start at more realistic schools. Black grad rates at flagship state universities are anywhere from 20% to 80+%. However the schools feel good about accepting these students, even if they fail. Fulfills their PC warm and cuddlies. The poor kids then can go back to poverty.</p>
<p>I absolutely agree with the point made by the creator of this thread. If someone has come from a difficult background and has the drive and motivation to excel, they should most definitely be preferred. Their experiences and insights would add diversity to the school and generally make the college a more useful experience for everyone else.</p>
<p>HOWEVER, the idea of affirmative action based on race alone is totally counterproductive. I think the point has been made many times over, that a black person from a upper middle class neighborhood has no more to add to the usefulness of the college than a white person from that exact same situation.</p>
<p>I couldn’t agree more on both points being brought up.</p>
<p>I think AA was probably very useful when it was first put into place. However, things have changed, and it really upsets me that kids can get into college JUST based on race. If they have the merits, terrific…I’ll celebrate right along with them. But when you take someone under qualified because they’re a minority…that bothers me quite a bit.</p>
<p>As for the OP’s point…I agree totally. Well said.</p>
<p>I suppose it depends on what it means to be “qualified”. I believe a Harvard admissions dean said that if they had enough space they’d probably be fine with students with SAT scores of 1800+. Standards for admissions rose only because the applicant pool increased in respect to the number of seats.</p>
<p>But indeed I do not agree with race-based AA. I tolerate/like race-correlated AA, where it so happens that the race was a correlation with other admissions factors like hardship, discrimination and socioeconomic background.</p>
<p>I noticed that too, mom23. You spoke only on your feelings about the college selection process of a youngster overcoming hardships compared to youngsters of privilege. I am shocked someone would bring up race. I didn’t see anything in your post that even hinted at a student’s ancestry- central european? Russian? German? African? Italian? Asian? Peruvian? Nothing I could see.
I’m not certain I agree 100% with your opinion, but I respect it, and certainly won’t twist it.</p>
Well said.</p>