What would you rank the following gender/race combos in order from most to least competitive regarding applying to boarding schools? For example, would a Asian male have a higher chance of acceptance than a caucasian female?
{} — List (NOT IN ORDER)
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Native American (MALE)
Native American (FEMALE)
Hispanic (MALE)
Hispanic (FEMALE)
Asian (MALE)
Asian (FEMALE)
Caucasian (MALE)
Caucasian (FEMALE)
Black (MALE)
Black (FEMALE)
This is how I would order it. Thoughts?
Asian (FEMALE)
Caucasian (FEMALE)
Asian (MALE)
Caucasian (MALE)
Hispanic (FEMALE)
Black (FEMALE)
Hispanic (MALE)
Native American (FEMALE)
Black (MALE)
Native American (MALE)
If you are asking if race is ONE factor that could affect admission outcomes, the answer is yes. But how is this “ranking” helping you? Can you change what race you are?
I am aware, just curious.
Most boarding schools try to balance gender, so gender becomes neutral. Schools publish their diversity mixes, so if you are interested in a particular school, you can probably find that breakdown. None of this data will tell any individual how competitive s/he will be in any given application cycle as each school builds a different class each round compensating for “losses” due to graduation and attrition and “gains” they wish to make to create the communities that best exemplify their unique missions and cultures. One school may be looking for Asian male football players one year or more female day students another year. The exercise you pose is futile.
The fact that schools are looking for ‘positions’ to fill doesn’t really compare to the overall representation of each race both on campus and in applications… I think what’s at hand is the matter of applicant pools. For example, the sheer number of applications coming in from Asian students from China and Korea makes it much harder for someone in that pool to stand out in context of their race.
Many in this forum will recognize that being a URM (underrepresented minority) will help you a lot - to the extent of being a hook.
Yes, I have also heard that there are a higher number of female applicants resulting in a more competitive application pool. Is this true?
@scareddwarf Can I find lists of URM for different prep schools online?
American Indians/Alaskan Natives, African Americans/Blacks, Mexican Americans, and Puerto Ricans
The fact is that underrepresented minority applicants have a significantly higher advantage in admissions at elite prep schools and colleges. Gender is a very soft factor because most schools strive for a balance from year to year but generally 50% +/- of admits every year will be one or the other: The gender factor changes from year to year as schools try to offset imbalances. Then you have geography as another soft factor. Being a great candidate from New England makes it much harder in general because the schools want geographical diversity. We were told several times that being a white male from New England is perhaps the most competitive group. Being an URM trumps everything including sports. I suspect but do not know that the numbers of applicants from URMs is very low overall as a % of applicants.
Yes to the above. The most competitive groups are asians (international and NE domestic, specifically, the international Chinese male pool? is very selective) and NE white applicants because there are just so many. URMs are really most minorities other than asians.
Look, admissions is competitive any way you look at it. Before trying to figure out gender/race combos, you need to figure out which “bucket” of seats you are chasing at a given school and then totally guess how many are applying for those particular seats–which you will never know beforehand, much less how competitive YOU are for one of the few seats in that bucket.
For example, the year our son applied to Choate, the incoming class ended up being 112 boys and 112 girls, so he really didn’t have a shot at 224 seats, he only had a shot at 112 regardless of anything else he might be bringing to the table beyond chromosomes. By the time he matriculated and we attended the AD’s opening speech, we realized that our son was in a bucket of fewer than 10 seats because the class was broken down into:
Male/female
Foreign/domestic
Domestic geographical
Boarding/day
Full pay/FA
Diversity
Legacy (development)
Siblings
Athletics and other talent (music, academics, etc.)
Each applicant admitted was there because s/he filled a bucket need, but those buckets ended up being pretty shallow–and Choate is one of the bigger schools. So, keep this in mind as you play your game.
All anyone can do is put together the best application they can and let the chips fall where they may. Anything else is pointless. Now, go out and play.
@ChoatieMom beautifully stated.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Totally agree. On that note, I think nothing else can be said that will be meaningful. Closing thread.