<p>What you fail to realize is that ethnicity is not the only component of affirmative action. Even from the admission results from last year I was rejected from Harvard and Princeton while minorities with lower stats were admitted. Why? Probably because they came from lower incomes than I did. The current system does take into account economic status by looking at the profile of your high school that is sent in. That profile denotes how many students are economically disadvantaged and poor whites, poor asians, and poor blacks all get a boost.</p>
<p>Much historical exemplification can provide evidence to the contrary, but this exchange is becoming quite tangetial relative to the overal scope of the discussion.</p>
<p>You do not know what you are talking about. The oversight mechanism is the essay. If you look back through the threads of people who got admitted to top school and look at what they wrote about in their essays you would see that people wrote about very personal things. One asian person wrote about the hidden discrimination in the Bay Area and was admitted. That is the reason vals with 2400 get passed over for white kids with 2100s sometimes because holistic admissions really is holistic. </p>
<p>Or read A is for admission by Michelle Hernandez, she will tell you that an individuals unique experiences are definitely considered in the admission process, and that come from a disadvantaged background is a huge plus.</p>
<p>Amerindian- while I have the deepest sympathies for your friend, I have to say that what you posted is anecdotal evidence, and does not really contribute to the pro-AA argument. it is a sad story, but it is not representative of the entire race’s experiences</p>
<p>This is absolutely true. Blacks and Latinos are very often the perpetrators of prejudiced-driven horrendous acts against Whites and Asians. Anyone who attempts to deny this is clearly actively ignoring fact. I hope that no one actually believes this.</p>
<p>The reason why current AA policy does not account for this, and this is where we get VERY sociological and gets deep into race matters and stuff, is because the worst part about racism is that you have some sort of system or society that actively discriminates against a group of people and attempts to keep them powerless. While blacks and hispanics may very well be perpetrators of violence, there is no black and hispanic-dominated system that actively attempts to keep whites and asians powerless, nor has their been one historically. (Asians are part of the oppressive system, as the oppressed, which is why AA was originally supposed to help them as well.) When we talk about racism in AA, and the racism that AA is trying to correct, it is this system we speak of, not simple prejudice.</p>
<p>I know many of you won’t believe this answer, but it is the honest reason for it. A lot has been written about it in sociological writing.</p>
<p>Could you please stop. The way you write is extremely pompous and not even effective speech. I was the 11th best speaker in the entire state of Texas and I do not speak or write like that, even my friends who were number 3 and number 5 in the nation do not speak or write in that manner. I understand that you are trying to make yourself seem intelligent, but you do not need to be pedantic in every sentence you write.</p>
<p>non-urms who faced discrimination are supposed to waste an essay to write about how they were discriminated against instead of about something that is insightful and passion-filled?</p>
<p>However, AA that considers income on a far more personal level is the better context in which to consider although this is not currently instituted or as widely practiced as racial AA. The environment in which one is immersed in is undeniably a contributory factor to limiting opportunities.</p>
<p>The argument that one person’s experiences do not account for an entire race is extremely flawed when several members of an ethnic group experience similar things. Take for instance the Henry Louis Gates event, even President Obama and Eric Holder testified that they had experienced similar prejudice by cops. </p>
<p>So yes, for you this may be only an isolated incident that does not prove a rule, but taken in summation it is hard to deny that minorities are discriminated against in our society.</p>
<p>1) There are two essays for a reason.
2) If someone experienced discrimination that was worth noting then that essay would be insightful and passion filled. My essay was about being black at science fairs which included something about my love of science and discrimination. My second essay was about God and evolution, something that had nothing to do with my ethnicity, but was just as insightful.</p>
<p>well sometimes, people will just suck it up, and not point to discrimination at every turn. ahem.</p>
<p>and yes, because cops are only white. hey now. my uncle just got pulled over by a <em>gasp</em> black cop. he got a ticket. that cop was so racist. my uncle should protest even though he was going 20mph over the limit</p>
<p>The sheer reality is that advantageous individuals from minority groups still benefit at the expense of the underprivileged from historically over-represented categories. drbigboyjoe9505 concurs. Moreover, his second paragraph in response is absolutely correct.</p>
<p>No, your essays are supposed to display important and significant parts of who you are. IF you have been, and continuously are, victim of prejudice, and your life has revolved around it, then yes, you are supposed to use that essay to display this part of you (if you wish). If there was only that one time a black kid called you ugly, then that would be a waste of an essay.</p>
<p>I think a superb essay would be a white person writing about their experience growing up in a mostly black ghetto. I would be captivated by such an essay and I can assure you that any adcom would give such an applicant a second and third look.</p>
<p>such essays KEEP the affirmative action system in place. what should your being a victim of prejudice have to do with college admissions? it’s just a sob story in which the writer can declare “racism!”</p>
<p>some people are disposed to complain about every little bit of unfairness/discrimination that comes their way. for better or worse, in my culture, we are taught to be tough and keep striving. i guess others just like whining and complaining more. power to them.</p>
<p>I simply choose the words that best represent my ideas. I do not write to flatter myself and language can be much more baroque than the way I piece together ideas. I agree that it is important to not resort to extremities. Namely, to not be blatantly pretentious or to heavily resort to colloquialism.</p>
<p>Y’all have been saying how hard it is for an Asian to get accepted to Ivy Leagues and colleges of equivalent difficulty in admission decision. Well how about a female Asian with a 1800 SAT and >25 ACT and 3.953 unweighted GPA, 5 AP classes, who has moved to the U.S. less than 5 years ago?</p>
<p>Would the admission committee even take the noted fact (>5 years immigrant) into account and accept me?</p>
<p>I will review future discussion tomorrow, but I do believe that we have made many mutual understandings today, which is very positive and I thank you all for that.</p>
<p>The college ask you to write an essay to let them know something that you find important. If your life has been dictated by prejudice, or if you feel the need to demonstrate how you have been continuously discriminated against and have yet succeeded somehow, then you have the right to write your essay on that. It shows a strength of character and lets the adcom know an important part of who you are. A sob story? Perhaps. Some people actually have really difficult lives that make up the whole of who they are. Others use it to demonstrate who they are. It has as much place in the admissions process as your SAT scores.</p>
<p>Ex: One of my essays was on visiting the Civil Rights Memorial in Birmingham, AL and the other one was on privilege. For the CRM one, I wrote how I cried at that memorial but not at Dr. King’s tomb and why I thought this was the case. For the privilege one, I wrote how I had always considered myself to be unprivileged, yet always ignored all the privileges I DID have. Why did I write about these race-related topics? Because my entire high school career was dictated by it and that is who I was. Therefore, when I was told to write an essay on me, this was what I was going to write about.</p>
<p>You should make a separate chances thread if you really want to know.</p>
<p>But, do know that the adcoms will oversee a poor standardized test score if you have a strong transcript. If you can retake the SATs and ACTs, do so. Otherwise, just try and sell yourself as much as possible. They will take note that you are a recent immigrant, but it is still a competitive pool. It will mostly come down to recommendations and essays, IMO.</p>