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Er sorry, I didn’t mean to imply this was the case. President’s scholarships definitely don’t go to while people. I am not sure of the exact categories but I’m guessing along the lines of Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, and possibly Pacific Islanders. </p>
<p>I am not sure what other criteria they look for in Presidential Scholars. </p>
<p>Also, I don’t want to get in a whole big argument that could easily ensue here, but I think Caltech deals with race in admissions pretty well considering the complexity of the issues involved. They don’t use affirmative action in rewarding admissions which is probably good considering the academic level you have to be at right when you get here. Because of that, though, Caltech admits porportionately few URMs (compared to population or other schools), and so I see little problem in trying to make sure every single qualified URM applicant comes here. Indeed, Caltech would have a very hard time without this because it lacks the “critical mass” of URM student populations that make the campus comfortable enough to attract other URMs. </p>
<p>Hence, the Presidential scholarship is not some strange tool of paying back past atrocities, but rather it’s a diversity increasing tool. And really, it achieves that without sacrificing much at all for other students, so I fail to see a problem with it.</p>