<p>@BCSbuster</p>
<p>I frankly have absolutely no idea what the absolute percentage of minorities who would’ve gotten in without affirmative action is, but I’m pretty confident its very high. </p>
<p>I’ve met plenty of brilliant people at Stanford of every race. I’ve also met a handful of people for whom I wonder, “How the hell did this kid get in?”, but they’re also from every race. </p>
<p>I honestly don’t believe its possible for there to be such a dramatic difference in the average academic capacity of different races that a large percentage of Stanford students are there solely because of affirmative action. If there is such a huge difference, I think it could only mean that the social mechanisms that discriminate against and depress the achievement of minorities are much more pervasive and powerful than I would like to realize. In that case, I think affirmative action is the best approximation of correcting these societal injustices that an admissions office can institute.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, I could be completely wrong, and ethnicity, ancestry, and in-born abilities have a far greater impact on our capacity for achievement than I want to realize. However, I refuse to believe we are so bound by our pasts.</p>