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That’s a point that many of us struggle with.</p>
<p>Forgive me if any of my arguments have been rehashed. I have not had the time to read the entire thread and the past discussions as well.</p>
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<p>And therefore a plurality of white upbringing is to be preferred? Or should colleges set aside an equal balance of 25% Asian, 25% White, 25% Black, 25% Hispanic? There. Now we have an ideal mixing pot of “perspectives.” But wait, I believe I left out Native Americans and mixed races. So perhaps it should be 16.66% Asian, 16.66% White, 16.66% Black, 16.66% Hispanic, 16.66% Native American, and 16.66% Potpourri. There. We now have a <em>perfectly balanced</em> set of perspectives.
I hope one can see how ridiculous this is.</p>
<p>By extending the argument to the extreme, I hope to show that the argument that “too many Asians is bad” is not really valid because there is no basis for us to judge whether one balance of race is better than another balance of race.</p>
<p>I reject the notion that, say, 40% Asian is any worse or any better than 60% white. Because there’s no way to distinguish whether one ethnic balance is better than another, we ought to turn to pure meritocratic standards.</p>
<p>I have always found the entire concept of “diversity” to be entirely nebulous: a masterwork of admissions obfuscation. </p>
<p>First let us ask ourselves who benefits from “diversity” and affirmative action (assuming for now that such a concept even has a benefit)?</p>
<p>URMs obviously benefit: many candidates get in who otherwise would not; this is a zero-sum game, though, and has nothing to do with benefits stemming from diversity (because their benefit comes at the expense of others who do not, the net benefit is zero)</p>
<p>So what then is the supposed net benefit of diversity? (again, this is only assuming that a person can even contribute to diversity on the basis of skin color) Let me tell you. Diversity benefits the white and Asian plurality who would not be “exposed” to so many URMs otherwise. URMs are used as a means to an end: the end is “the broadening of white/asian/non-URM perspectives” (again, we are assuming this even exists). In college admissions, URMs are used as a tool.</p>
<p>^This of course, ignores the many arguments that undercut the idea that there even is a tangible benefit to diversity in the first place.</p>
<p>I am still confused.
Are admission counselors still look at race using any method when I apply for college, even I do not declare it?
So, what is the best field to answer for “race” question?
Also, I want to know where should I make complaint when a private institution acting racist?</p>
<p>^ The questions immediately above, as I post, are answered in the first dozen or so posts of this LONG thread, the FAQ posts. I’ll be rewriting and reposting with updates as soon as I can cram time for the rewrite into my schedule. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, this op-ed </p>
<p>[Elizabeth</a> Warren’s Wetumka roots - Opinion - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://bostonglobe.com/opinion/2012/06/04/stockman/Y2mMvbAEEwxbkucaiQNxrO/story.html]Elizabeth”>http://bostonglobe.com/opinion/2012/06/04/stockman/Y2mMvbAEEwxbkucaiQNxrO/story.html) </p>
<p>illustrates one of the problems with race-conscious classification of American citizens.</p>
<p>Thanks. I will be checking occasionally.</p>
<p>But Elizabeth Warren had high cheekbones, and Harvard just wanted a native indian on staff with no proof.</p>
<p>What’s the importance of “diversity” anyway?</p>
<p>I grew up in one of the most white areas density population wise in the country and I turned out just fine. I don’t think I would be a better person if you all of a sudden had made my city less white.</p>
<p>Seriously, everyone brings up how great “diversity” is, but where is the cold hard evidence that shows how great it is?</p>
<p>I don’t care if the college I go to is 99% white or 20% white. I just want to surround myself with kind, intelligent human beings who contribute to a positive community.</p>
<p><a href=“%5Burl=http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/14532714-post947.html]#947[/url]”>quote</a> What’s the importance of “diversity” anyway?..
[/quote]
</p>
<p>[Real</a> Diversity!: Food for Thought on the Courage of one’s Convictions](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/7720005-post35.html]Real”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/7720005-post35.html):</p>
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<p>^Wanting to say that for years, but thought it too harsh. Instead, I asked diversity advocates if white flight has been reversed. Even that they did not find amusing.</p>
<p>I taught my children to observe people. Look at what they say and what they do, then judge them on the discrepancy. Works for me.</p>
<p>You my have to excuse my cynicism here, but I think that diversity in colleges is sort of a political thing, in a sense. A college must have some amount of diversity or, as Sting and The Police would say, “accusations fly”. Personally, I want a good balance in the college I go to. I want a 60/40 split on either side, but not an 80/20. I’m used to some degree of diversity in my high school, so I’d like to keep it that way- just enough diversity for me. I think that a lot of what kind of diversity split one prefers mainly depends on what they got used to in high school. That’s my two cents, anyway.</p>
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<p>[No</a>, they do not find it amusing at all.](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1155321-colleges-racist-271.html#post12919035]No”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1155321-colleges-racist-271.html#post12919035)</p>
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Maybe some white folks will choose this option so that their children can have a URM advantage.</p>
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<p>I believe a now inactive CCer did just that.</p>
<p>Diversity is great and essential. If colleges think they can achieve that noble goal by looking at whether a box is checked and filling a quota based on such checked boxes, they are sadly mistaken.</p>
<p>I think the problem with AA is that it assumes too much from the race of a person. Simply stating “I am white” tells you nothing besides the fact that I am white. Just because I am white does not mean that I am rich, and just because someone is Asian does not mean that they are studious. So when a college decides to admit a black student over an Asian student simply because he or she is black, they are making a decision based purely on race, and this is the definition of racism.</p>
<p>Now you could argue that this kind of racism is necessary in order to achieve diversity. However, the benefits of diversity are not rooted in racial diversity, but rather, in ideological or cultural diversity. There are no advantages of having a diverse student body if the only differences between each student are physical.</p>
<p>Conclusion: Stop trying to create diversity based on race and start trying to create diversity based on ideas. Race =/= diversity.</p>
<p>Honestly, I didn’t even put my race down on the places that where “Optional”. It probably wouldn’t have mattered, but I didn’t want to take chances (I’m East Asian). I really think that affirmative action is obsolete in terms of racial achievement when the next generation grows up. Getting in solely because of their merits actually makes the minority inductees feel better about themselves.
I’ll see the Pharmacy people at Rutgers next year?</p>
<p>@fostered and rwhitefangs</p>
<p>You two are right on the money</p>
<p>It’s the summer before my freshman year in college, so I’ve let my concerns about affirmative action/racial preferences rest for a while, but something has triggered them again. Two quotes in particular seem incredible to me, and I just want to write my reactions to them, having googled them by memory. </p>
<p>First, this passage in “The Price of Admission” by Daniel Golden contains a quote from a high school counselor named Beverly Lenny, I believe.<br>
The link to the page with the quote is: [The</a> Price of Admission: How America’s Ruling Class Buys Its Way Into Elite … - Daniel Golden - Google Books](<a href=“The Price of Admission: How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite ... - Daniel Golden - Google Books”>The Price of Admission: How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite ... - Daniel Golden - Google Books)
Please bear with the author in the following passage, as I did, although the book as a whole is slightly awkward to read, containing multiple writing errors. I also can’t endorse the author’s attitude toward Asians. I find it forced and too general.<br>
““What is the most difficult group to get? K-L, the Kim-Lee group. That group is the hardest to write recommendations for…You get a group of them. Every single child has had music lessons. Every single child succeeds well in math. Every single child has done community service in a hospital. Every child has done Chinese or Korean studies on Saturdays and is fluent in that language. You’re writing the same letter again and again.“
Lenny acknowledged that the failure of college admissions staffs and high school counselors to probe below these superficial similarities and get to know Asian American students as individuals may reflect unconscious racism. As a “white melting-pot woman,“ she said, it may be harder for her to communicate with Asian students than it would be for an Asian counselor.”
I would just like to point out that there is something very wrong with this picture. I do not know when going to Korean school or participating in the same activities as one’s peers has been a (major? Existent?) factor in a recommendation letter.<br>
Did Lenny just say that she cannot probe below the superficial similarities she sees? That is, that she displays subconscious racism? Did she say that she doesn’t know her students as individuals?<br>
I am ignoring faults in the book as a whole and venting about this passage alone. </p>
<p>Link to the news story with the second quote:
[Some</a> Asians’ college strategy: Don’t check ‘Asian’ - Yahoo! News](<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/asians-college-strategy-dont-check-asian-174442977.html]Some”>http://news.yahoo.com/asians-college-strategy-dont-check-asian-174442977.html)
“A college like Yale “could fill their entire freshman class twice over with qualified Asian students or white students or valedictorians,” says Rosita Fernandez-Rojo, a former college admissions officer who is now director of college counseling at Rye Country Day School outside of New York City.
But applicants are not ranked by results of a qualifications test, she says — “it’s a selection process.””
I want to get my thoughts together on this one so will not post them right now. </p>
<p>[Moderator’s Note: As announced earlier, this FAQ thread has now closed, as there is a revised FAQ thread </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1366406-race-college-admission-faq-discussion-10-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1366406-race-college-admission-faq-discussion-10-a.html</a> </p>
<p>available now with newer information. See you there.]</p>