"Race" in College Admissions FAQ & Discussion 4

[u_ername]

<p>It’s not new, it’s old. very old.</p>

<p><em>waits for the merge</em></p>

[Northstarmom]

<p>yoitzzjasonn,
If someone said they didn’t want to go to Berkley because it’s majority Asian, and they wanted “some rainbow, if you know what I mean,” you’d call them…?</p>

[Youdon_tsay]

<p>^^^^^ lol!</p>

[Youdon_tsay]

<p>Somehow NSM slipped in there, but I was lol’ing at the merge comment, not hers.</p>

[StitchInTime]

<p>From the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights web site:</p>

<p>

[Race-Neutral</a> Alternatives in Postsecondary Education:
Innovative Approaches to Diversity](<a href=“http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/edlite-raceneutralreport.html]Race-Neutral”>RACE-NEUTRAL APPROACHES IN EDUCATION:)</p>

<p>Americans overwhelmingly agree that diversity in our schools, neighborhoods, workplaces, and community organizations is enormously positive. In the past, many educational institutions have tried to reach this important goal by giving preferences to certain individuals based on their race or ethnicity. People of goodwill have reached different conclusions about the merits of these policies. But there are serious and important reasons for educational institutions to look for new alternatives. Policies granting preferences on the basis of race and ethnicity raise constitutional questions and are increasingly being overturned in the courts. Moreover, voters in various jurisdictions have passed state and local initiatives restricting the use of racial preferences. These legal and policy trends mean that we must work together to look for new solutions.</p>

<p>This publication describes innovative “race-neutral” programs being implemented across the country. Educational institutions will find that there are dozens of race-neutral options available to them. They will also find that the early results from these programs are promising. Moreover, the initial positive results are only the beginning; the full advantages of many of the race-neutral alternatives described in this publication will not be fully felt until they are seriously implemented and several classes of students have been able to benefit from them…</p>

<p>…ADMISSIONS APPROACHES</p>

<p>Several state university systems have created race-neutral policies to determine which students are admitted and which are not. Presently there are two new major categories of race-neutral approaches to admissions. The first is a preference based on socioeconomic factors. The second is the class rank approach. Class-rank plans guarantee admission to state universities to high school seniors who graduate within a specified percentage of their school’s senior class, and, in certain cases, fulfill certain other basic minimum requirements. Below is a description of these various approaches.</p>

<p>**Socioeconomic Approaches **</p>

<p>Some educational institutions are replacing preferences based on racial or ethnic category with preferences based on an applicant’s socioeconomic status. In other words, university admissions committees might favor students who have performed well despite having faced various social and economic obstacles. Advocates of socioeconomic preferences argue that a student from a single-parent family living in a neighborhood with high concentrations of poverty who has a B+ average and a 1000 score on the SAT is likely to be more resourceful and capable than a student from a wealthy suburban home who has had access to expensive after-school tutoring programs and has achieved an A- average with a 1200 score on the SAT.</p>

<p>The definition of socioeconomic disadvantage often begins with three key factors: parents’ education, family income, and parents’ occupation(s). Other factors are also often considered, including a family’s net worth, family structure, school quality and neighborhood quality (for example, many argue that a neighborhood of concentrated poverty and high crime rates is not conducive to homework). All of these factors are quantifiable and can be made readily available when students complete their applications for college and for financial aid…

</p>

[chaosakita]

<p>

But yes, most of “Asian” students are rather quiet. So are east Europeans. From black & Anglo white standard, Asians are quiet. From Asian standard, …

</p>

<p>“Most?” What on Earth do you mean by “most?” Sure, it’s a limited perspective, but out of the dozen of Chinese friends I have, there would be two or three I would describe as “quiet.” I don’t think American-raised Asians really are that much more quiet than people of any other race.</p>

[tokenadult]

<p>^ Some of the silly racist comments I see in this thread about “Asian” people are among the reasons why I would like to see the United States get out of the business of categorizing citizens by race.</p>

[timothyhunt]

<p>I am born in American but my parents were born in Pakistan…I was wondering what I should put down on the common app for my Demographics?..I’m sure its either white(because it says middle eastern) or its Asian…but i am kind of afraid to put Asian only because I heard Asians have a less chance of being accepted at the ivys…I am pretty sure that refers to Koreans, Chinese,etc that have the less chance but if someone knows for sure please let me know!..Thanks!</p>

[tokenadult]

<p>

I am born in American but my parents were born in Pakistan.

</p>

<p>You are “Asian” by the federal definitions (as noted above in this FAQ and discussion thread, into which your question was merged). </p>

<p>You have two choices: </p>

<p>a) report your “race” as Asian, </p>

<p>or </p>

<p>b) report no race at all, which is the right of all college applicants. See the first few posts in this FAQ thread for more detailed information. A lot of colleges admit a lot of students each year who don’t mark a response on the optional race questionnaire.</p>

[FiddlinEcon]

<p>chaosakita, maybe I went too far. Well, yes, I also have met not quiet Chinese American young boys in my S’s middle school. What I wanted to say in that post is stereotypical view on “Asians” as single Race/Ethnicity is wrong and much exaggerated by prejudice. Ah, was I in the same trap?</p>

[tokenadult]

<p>The new thread is up, </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&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>now that this one is very long, so this thread will now be locked. Enjoy the discussion on the new thread.</p>