"They got in because they're black"?

ItsJustSchool
Tue, 25 Nov 2014 02:24:30 +0000

@Iamthegoat, did you see this article:

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/01/programmer_privilege_as_an_asian_male_computer_science_major_everyone_gave.2.html

On Slate.com. It touches on the some of the racial stereotypes that you imply exist. As you are no doubt aware, at many campuses asians are represented in greater concentrations than they occur in the general population. In other words, the acceptance rate for asians is currently greater than the average acceptance rate, just as it is for URMs. Do you believe it is because asians, as a race, are superior than the average applicant, and should be admitted at even greater percentages?

There are other things besides SAT scores (you are using 2000 as an iconic threshold of some sort to characterize candidates) that matter to a learning experience, a diversified campus which speaks of divergent worldviews is one example.

In addition to that, the privilege as described in the referenced Slate article and also reinforced in books by Malcolm Gladwell, for example, suggests that the depth and richness of experience for some populations is enhanced beyond their native capability. Simply put, if you put handicaps on some and enhancements on others, and then stand at the finish line and make assessments, those with the enhancements will outperform those with the handicaps. Think of a barefoot runner wearing wrist and ankle weights racing someone with high-technology running shoes. Assessing at the finish line would not give a fair comparison.

So, if your metric is diversity of worldviews and life experiences while still having the ability to compete at the level required to succeed at the school, you may have a different take on this. If you are the one feeling like the door is being cracked shut to your “people”- whether by race, gender, national origin, etc., you may feel that “stats,” or my analogy of “assessment at the finish line”, should be the metric for admissions.

In addition, there is the argument of “academic reparations” for past insult to specific communities.

I think it is a complex landscape, and is not a simple issue of comparative evaluation of objective measures.