"Race" in College Admission FAQ & Discussion 8

Applying to College
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<p><a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/National_IQ_Lynn_Vanhanen_2006_IQ_and_Global_Inequality.png/800px-National_IQ_Lynn_Vanhanen_2006_IQ_and_Global_Inequality.png[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/National_IQ_Lynn_Vanhanen_2006_IQ_and_Global_Inequality.png/800px-National_IQ_Lynn_Vanhanen_2006_IQ_and_Global_Inequality.png&lt;/a&gt;
Global iq map-2nd image (color code) doesnt work, but pretty much the more dark blue (purple is the highest) the higher average IQ, then tanish is lower, and reds (dark red is the worst) are lower.</p>

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<p>More developed countries have more IQs, so?</p>

683

<p>AA was not started to “compensate” for the slavery years ago.<br>
(as if getting a kid into college is even worth the pain that his grandparents went through)</p>

<p>It was done to give less fortunate students, who grew up with less opportunities than their richer peers, a chance to go to college.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, colleges sometimes believe that race defines socioeconomic status.
There are rich Hispanic(not a race, but just saying), Black, and Native American students who are helped by AA.
There are poor Asians and Whites discriminated against by AA.</p>

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<p>^ AA is also classed-based and poor Whites and Asians get a boost also</p>

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<p>College admissions decisions are a complex process. </p>

<p>This is an interesting article about the origins of the current process.
[Getting</a> In : The New Yorker](<a href=“Getting In | The New Yorker”>Getting In | The New Yorker)</p>

<p>Here’s a representative quote (note the 550-600 level on the SAT was based on the version given decades ago and probably refers to the score on an individual component):</p>

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<p>and the chinese came over when slavery was ending, and last point then i am done because this is going no where. AA solely based on skin color does not work, simply admitting lower scoring and lower gpa blacks will not help. Slavery 250 years ago is not the reason they have lower gpa’s then white/asian students and they need to get over the past and stop dwelling on it unless AA will always exist.</p>

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<p>^ Read up on the history and you will see why slavery still have a impact, most Chinese people didn’t come over until the 80s, and the ones who did come over during the 1800s still have family concentrated in the Chinatowns and ghettos to this day</p>

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<p>@scales1994
Yes, but not too much.
Most admissions are need-blind, so colleges can only see socioeconomic status of a poor Asian or White through his:
essays (why must a poor Asian or White have to write his essay on his monetary troubles?)
ECs (“ohey he’s poor so he couldn’t do that EC” or “he’s just lazy so he didn’t do that EC”)
parent’s jobs (mild assumptions made here)</p>

<p>Meanwhile a Black, Hispanic, or Native American merely has to check a box and colleges already assume lower class.</p>

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<p>I am Chinese. My family didn’t partake in the enslavement of African Americans, so why are we paying for it? Anyone who claims that aa is here to make up for 250 years of slavery should note that many many people in the US today had nothing to do with it</p>

<p>And the united states discriminated against the Chinese with the Chinese exclusion act, the only race/people ever legally barred from entering this country…</p>

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<p>Because the majority of Natives, Hispanics, and African Americans are lower class, and the majority of Asians and Whites are middle-upper class, also Asians still significantly outnumber African Americans at top colleges, also significantly less number of African Americans are applying, so with the increased admittance rate, AA aren’t really taking anyone’s spot</p>

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<p>^^ That didn’t affect the Chinese people that were already here.</p>

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<p>Oh, for goodness sakes - there are all sorts of factors that go into who gets accepted at which school. Race or Socia-economic background is just one of them. Why do people get so upset about them? Is it because they keep hearing these mostly apocryphal storied about a wildly unqualifed students getting into great schools, or is there a bias/prejudice that people swear they do not have.</p>

<p>When ever you see something like “Kid with amazing grades/scores does not get into good schools”, or the opposite “Kid with not so great grades/scores gets into good schools” there is always a factor you cannot see - usually a great rec or essay. This is the same for all kids - white, black or anything in between.</p>

<p>Beyond that, there is all sorts of things that might affect. My daughter’s favorite school is 30 miles away. It is an LAC. They want a gender balance, but way more girls apply, so boys are admitted at a higher rate than girls. They also would like geographical diversity, so that is another mark against her. She has a very strong application - including recs and essays. A boy from the midwest with lesser qualifications might make it in before her.</p>

<p>There are any number of things that might get a less qualified person into a school. Reflect why you get so upset to think that someone of another race might have a slight advantage.</p>

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<p>^ thank you anotherparent</p>

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<p>You are welcome scales :-)</p>

<p>BTW, to the original poster. On reflection, I do not see your question as racist or offensive, but I do see it as ignorant and simplistic.</p>

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<p>Why can’t private universities just do what the University of Michigan does?</p>

<p>UMich cannot use AA because it is a public university. So they increase their outreach programs. Their diversity hasn’t changed because of that, despite the passing of the law.</p>

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<p>And it’s worth noting that, without AA, African Americans would still be admitted at a higher rate. Why? Because colleges want DIVERSITY!</p>

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<p>I think a lot of us anti-AAers are sick of the whole “diversity chant”.</p>

<p>Who cares if it’s a taco or a hamburger?<br>
They’re both ****ing sandwiches.
Admissions officers eat the taco because there are so many more hamburgers.
Martin Luther King Jr. would be disappointed.</p>

<p>Skin color has even less of a difference than the variance between a taco and a hamburger.</p>

698

<p>I guess you want all Asian and White colleges, you are Japanese?</p>

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<p>I am a Hispanic boy who is 1/2 Mestizo (partially White and Native American) and 1/2 Chinese.</p>

<p>If all the students are bright and interesting, I wouldn’t mind if they are all the same color.
Colorblind for life.</p>

700

<p>There’s a problem with that philosophy, having a nearly homogeneous anywhere can cause unwanted effects, even if you are ‘color blind’, such as… racism</p>