Race in MIT admissions.

Felicidad
Mon, 19 Dec 2011 01:32:26 +0000

MIT has the best sense of humor I’ve ever seen from a school.

How many admissions officers would come up with a theoretical dragon ride to burn down Yankee stadium? Simply fantastic. Can you bring him home to Fenway afterwards? :)

On the topic: MIT is in a great position as an institution where the admissions staff can get away with using a subjective process to hand-pick the incoming class. Most applicants have stellar test scores, so that’s just about a non-factor. We can cancel out your “typical” data points, like grades and scores and even AP classes, and instead, we can focus on what makes the applicant a person. Culture (aka, the world we come from) has a pretty huge impact on who we are as people. Although ethnicities and races are blending, we’re at a point in history where our racial identities still does have bearing on our lives. Why would an admissions committee overlook it?

Also, no two people take exactly the same amount of advantage from their opportunities. I highly doubt the committee sits there saying “Hm, we can only take one of these two, and they’re the same except for race…”

Very unlikely indeed. So although this was all already expressed, I’ve been listening to TED talks and I’m too awake to sleep, so, enjoy the babbling ;D

Cheers, everyone.