"Race" in College Admission FAQ & Discussion 8

Applying to College
621

<p>If I may add my five cents.</p>

<p>I’m going to sound like a racist, but bear with me.</p>

<p>The groups that get some sort of “multiplier” or “bonus” by virtue of their skin color, ethnicity, whatever you want to call it is referred to as URM, or under represented minority. It includes African-Americans, American Indians and Latinos. It does not include Asian. The definition of URM refers to minorities who are UNDER REPRESENTED IN COLLEGES OR A CERTAIN FIELD. </p>

<p>Unfortunately, there are a lot of smart Asian people, so we don’t count as under represented. It does not matter what kind of Asian you are, even if you are 3/4 some Asian-Pacific Indian tribe with less than 2,000 members. Asians are all lumped together in one big group which is most decidedly not URM. Cuz we’re overachieving nut-jobs like that, you know, the four digits of community service, dozen clubs, one fist full of officerships, one fist full of awards and 2300+/34+ SAT/ACT. And so many get into colleges and come out all edumacated.</p>

<p>On the other hand, those smarter URM’s (many who according to standarized scores (SAT/ACT, AP, IB, GPA etc) are STILL not “smart” as Asians get a bonus. Why? Because basically there are a lot of “dumb” AA/Latino/Amerindians. Because there are lots of dumb people, the smarter ones get a boost, essentially. Richard Rodriguez (I think that’s his name) has written extensively on this.</p>

<p>Its very strange that Asians, despite suffering a similar degree of discrimination to Latinos/AA and Amerindians at least, have ended up in such different circumstances. We ended up in our China/Japan/Korea/Viet towns, built the Pacific Railroad and other public works, were treated as second-class citizens… but here we are.</p>

<p>/shrug
Alright, I’ll get off my soapbox.</p>

622

<p>That relieves me azndarkvader ^^. </p>

<p>Honestly, race shouldn’t be a factor in college decisions, but it sort of has to be, b/c otherwise URM’s would really never get a chance at the best. Most URM’s don’t necessarily come from the “best” backgrounds either, so maybe they are the “best” from what they came from. Think about it this way, if you were in their situation/lifestyle, and you scored only 100 points lower than someone else who received a 2270–isn’t it still impressive that you got score based despite your tough circumstances if that was the case? It would annoy me though, if a URM has all the same facilities I do (same high school, same neighborhood, same income bracket), but only got in because of race even though I was the better qualified student.</p>

623

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There are a lot of “dumb” Asians too.</p>

624

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<a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/downloadforms/CombinedFirstYearForms2011.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/downloadforms/CombinedFirstYearForms2011.pdf&lt;/a&gt;

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625

<p>Would the fact that I’m Asian (Pakistani) and want to go into International Relations (not science/medicine - which is also what both of my parents do) be helpful? My teacher always tells me that I have an edge for that because Pakistan is a country so crucial to US foreign relations right now. But I don’t know if being technically Asian still means that I have to be 10x better than other ethnic groups.</p>

626

<p>Dumb Asians, what dumb Asian? Oh, you mean the one who only got a 2200?</p>

<p>Point is, I with my 2350/3.9 and such may very well be passed over for the URM kid with the 2100/3.7. I’ve got lots of pity/discrimination cards to play, like Hurricane Katrina, some racist fellow students (and a teacher or two), low-income, etc. but they are nothing in face of the almighty Black Card.</p>

<p>I’m only half-kidding.</p>

627

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<p>[JBHE</a> Link](<a href=“http://www.jbhe.com/features/49_college_admissions-test.html]JBHE”>The Widening Racial Scoring Gap on the SAT College Admissions Test)</p>

<p>Half a decade ago, fewer than 1,132 black high schoolers scored at least a 700 on both sections of the SAT. Raise it to 750 per section, and the number dropped to 244. Unless there is some more recent data showing a sustained reversal in the five years that have passed, it remains that while high-scoring black students do exist, they are few and far between.</p>

<p>Were most or even many of those 244 students from poor households? I doubt it. Almost surely, they came from wealthy backgrounds: highly educated, well-paid professional parents; private schooling; and oh yes, private test prep. That’s one of the less pleasant realities of racial preferences that many of its supporters willfully ignore. They talk the talk about wanting to help the poor and downtrodden, but the policy they pick essentially grants all the spoils to people who are anything but poor and downtrodden.</p>

628

<p>Would colleges reject me if I put “Homo sapiens sapiens” as my race?</p>

629

<p>sigh i guess the only way to get into college is to change my last name from chang,zhang,wang to white, rodriguez, gonzalez, or momah</p>

630

<p>in principle its just so messed up. we’re all humans right…regardless of race just a couple trivial genes are different. but what makes someone born and raised in asia by asian parents different from someone born and raised in america by white european parents is culture. it’s all culture… race has very little to do with it. on applications and some merit based scholarship programs, all that matters is what race you are. the problem is that you can’t really evaluate culture… AA is just so broken and hypocritical. AA has good intentions, in my opinion, but it’s like a temporary solution. it’s paint that covers up in appearance a problem that will still exist anyways. AA is just making things worse.</p>

631

<p>The school is a business. It must do whatever is right for the bottom line, long-term and short-term. The only way to change the admission policy is to donate to school. Money talks. Or change the law by outlaw any preferences based on race. That, again, requires political capital. Fortunately or unfortunately, that is how our political system works.</p>

632

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<p>Earlier this month, Arizona joined California, Washington, Michigan, and Nebraska as states whose voters have chosen to ban the use of racial classification in the public sector.</p>

633

<p>Will being Armenian help me in the college admissions process? I marked off Caucasian & other, Armenian, on the Common App. My last name is Armenian (-ian ending). The only reason I’m asking is because I did some research and apparently there’s a UVA (my first choice) scholarship for Armenian students, paid for by an Armenian couple, and I didn’t really realize that it may be considered a minority until now. Will it at all help me? Or is it just the same as being a Caucasian applicant?</p>

634

<p>bump 10char</p>

635

<p>It’s Caucasian.</p>

636

<p>I figured, although Armenians truly are a minority: 500-800,000/300,000,000. Sigh.</p>

637

<p>You are not a minority, but you still qualify for that scholarship. :-)</p>

638

<p>Anotherparent is right. You are not a minority. The U.S. isn’t Turkey or the Soviet Union.</p>

639

<p>Well technically, maybe not to colleges, Armenians are a minority (by definition) in the country–of course the U.S. isn’t either of those, exactly why it is a minority. Maybe you’re referring to the fact that Armenians didn’t suffer the genocide here in America. Sure. But that doesn’t make us any less of a minority.</p>

<p>I’m just tired of minorities, especially those from affluent families being some of the kids I go to school with, getting into college over much better qualified Caucasian, Asian, and Indian applicants. I can name several instances. This isn’t always the case. I realize that some minorities are severly disadvantaged due to their socioeconomic situation. But there are also many Caucasian students in that situation as well. </p>

<p>I apologize for being so politically incorrect, but I hate affirmative action. It’s a racist institution. To hear about students, students who are not at a disadvantage whatsoever, getting into college based on their race rather than their merit makes me incredibly angry. Doesn’t it make them angry as well? SAT scores have been shown to strongly correlate with the amount of money a family makes as do grades and such. I’d be much happier if those in lesser socioeconomic situations, no matter their race, rather than those who are of minority race, were allowed the advantage. Or even to just give students numbers rather than label them with a name and a race, oust the SATs, and forget the whole idea of letting a certain crowd get into college easier.</p>

<p>I’ll stop, because I know I’m going to get a lot of heat for this, but I’m not the only one who feels this way. Nearly all of the Caucasians (and Asians, and Indians) I know feel this way, while my minority (I’ll be honest–I’m referring to Blacks and Hispanics) friends acknowledge their advantage. Happily, of course.</p>

<p>Sigh.</p>

640

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<p>Wait a minute, you hate it because philosophically/politically you don’t agree with it or because you personally are not getting some advantage from it?? Sounds like the latter to me.</p>

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<p>Really? Is that why there’s a thread here on CC about race and college admissions which is in something like it’s ninth iteration because it’s so humongous??</p>