Race and Background

College Admissions
#1

<p>How important is this to the admissions process these days? Could it really impact admission at competitive schools or only lower ranking schools?</p>

<p>I run some scenarios by you:
Legacy (when does it matter? siblings? parents? grandparents?)
First in your family to go to college
Low-income household
Race (which races have the biggest advantage affirmative action wise? Asian? Black? Hispanic?)</p>

<p>Are they cases where it doesn't work? (ex: low income but they're at a good school so it cancels out?)</p>

<p>Your help is much appreciated!</p>

#2

<p>All of the factors you list are an important FACET of the application at many competitive schools. And of course there are cases where it doesn't work - many low income and legacy applicants get rejected from selective schools. For all kinds of reasons. When it comes to the most elite universities, there are no guarantees, unless your name is Bush, Kennedy, Rothschild, etc.</p>

#3

<p>There are no magic wands. All these categories still have to meet the college's expectations, fall within range re: stats, activities and the personal characteristics the school values. Forget the myths. At top schools, plenty of kids will be "competitive" before these factors are considered.</p>

#4

<p>I'm not implying that it is a magic wand. I'm wondering how much of an effect it has.</p>

#5

<p>Being asian is pretty much regarded to be a detriment, because asians are treated as "over-represented". I understand that if they only picked the top kids, without regard to race, the University of California campuses would be almost entirely asian.</p>

<p>On the other hand, in some areas of the country, schools might be looking for asians, because they are under-represented at that particular school.</p>

#6

<p>Are any of those factors significantly more helpful than the others?</p>

#7

<p>I'm just curious. Will you change your race to black and move to a low income house if it helps?</p>

#8

<p>...really? Is that necessary? I'm trying to get as much information about admissions as I can just like everyone else on this site. Answer the question appropriately or not all, please.</p>

#9

<p>I notice you are spamming all the forums about legacy impact, etc. So let's look at each:
Legacy - definition is up to the schools but usually parents only. Not useful for lower ranked schools.
First Gen - usually only useful for top ranked schools
Low-income household - ditto
Race - the same. Asian is usually over represented in top schools.</p>

<p>Most of this is available in the common data set for each school. Try looking them up.</p>