So how much would being an "ORM" hurt in admissions?

[GMTplus7]

<p>Hard numbers and not just anecdotes. Some research papers that quantify the admissions disparity among different racial groups:</p>

<p>Princeton admissions
<a href=“https://www.princeton.edu/~tje/files/webAdmission%20Preferences%20Espenshade%20Chung%20Walling%20Dec%202004.pdf”>https://www.princeton.edu/~tje/files/webAdmission%20Preferences%20Espenshade%20Chung%20Walling%20Dec%202004.pdf&lt;/a&gt;

Being African American instead of white is worth an average of 230 additional SAT points on a 1600-point scale, but recruited athletes reap an advantage equivalent to 200 SAT points. Other things equal, Hispanic applicants gain the equivalent of 185 points, which is only slightly more than the legacy advantage, which is worth 160 points. Coming from an Asian background, however, is comparable to the loss of 50 SAT points.

</p>

<p>Duke admissions
<a href=“http://public.econ.duke.edu/~psarcidi/grades_4.0.pdf”>http://public.econ.duke.edu/~psarcidi/grades_4.0.pdf&lt;/a&gt;

Table 1: Summary Statistics for Selected Variables by Race</p>

<p>White, Black, Hispanic, Asian</p>

<p>SAT (Math + Verbal)
1416, 1275, 1347, 1457 </p>

<p>Duke Admissions Office Rank
Achievement <a href=“i.e.%20GPA”>i</a>*
4.246, 3.684, 4.029, 4.571</p>

<p>Curriculum <a href=“i.e.%20how%20tough%20the%20courseload”>i</a>*
4.655, 4.302, 4.706, 4.861</p>

<p>Essay
3.432, 3.138, 3.236, 3.465</p>

<p>Personal Qualities
3.470, 3.237, 3.246, 3.427</p>

<p>Letters of Recommendation
3.804, 3.467, 3.478, 3.918

</p>

<p>The Duke data is especially interesting. Since the admitted Asian students had high rankings for “Essay” & “Personal Qualities” (i.e. leadership & ECs), it would seem to dispel the stereotype that they are bookish automatons. But you can see that they pretty much had to clear a higher bar for everything (not just SAT scores) to get admitted.</p>

<p>Ivy admissions
<a href=“http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-myth-of-american-meritocracy/”>http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-myth-of-american-meritocracy/&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.theamericanconservative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/asians-large.jpg”>http://www.theamericanconservative.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/asians-large.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;