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<p>Again, if a university allocated 40% of its seats to African-Americans, Hispanics and American Indians, then these groups would not be underrepresented and thus no longer be URMs. At most, these 3 groups total 30-31% of the population.</p>
<p>I just caught up on the thread and I want to say that I think you have to be willfully misunderstanding PGs consistent position of being pro-elite educations while maintaining that there are many more elite institutions than simply HYPSM. </p>
<p>I would agree with that stance. I am pro elite education, if that’s your thing, as a student, but I do not think that an amazing education is only to be had at 10 or so universities. I would say, just as a reference go and look at the admissions rate thread by gadad. It’s indicative of some serious selectivity at a wide array of colleges and universities throughout the country.</p>
<p>Places for every kind of kid wanting to study anywhere in the United States.</p>
<p>I would add, since we are all over the map on this thread, 
the University of Edinburgh and McGill could be added with no problem to that list, as well.</p>
<p>Carry on.</p>
<p>Poetgirl -Now can you go encourage a Nepalese kid to pick Chapel Hill.</p>
<p>The Oxford and Edinburgh reps travel together and mock US universities. Edinburgh person says we were twice as old or more than your oldest university (1200AD or something).</p>
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<p>No, actually the “question,” or issue relevant to this thread, was talking about your race in your application essay or other application materials. If a college explicitly states that it considers race as a factor in admissions (like Harvard et al do), then it may be relevant to discuss your race, regardless of what it is, depending on what sort of racial <em>need</em> the college is looking for.</p>
<p>While most colleges have no dearth of White students, there is probably no college in the country that is not interested in Native American applicants. Thus, Suzy’s allusion to NA with the headdress/Elizabeth Warren comments is very much appropriate as an attribute that might have helped get her in.</p>
<p>My sons have a great-grandmother who was a registered member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. I thus propose that this category be added to the Common App checklist box as a minority. And one ancestor was a baron. Let’s add that, too!</p>
<p>As it happens, they both also have slivers of American Indian blood, but their thoughtless ancestors ran the fellow out of town for the unwed-mother scandal without first stopping to get his tribal registration information.</p>
<p>Aren’t we all minorities in one way or another?</p>
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<p>Is this on the Chapel Hill Board? Or are you running me around, Tex?</p>
<p>I will go and see.</p>
<p>Sorry for the diversion, but LoremIpsum’s comment about the ancestor who was a baron reminded me of a high school graduation prank pulled by a local student. The students had to write their names on file cards, to be read by an announcer, since there was no required seating or procession order. Joe Smith listed his name as “Baron Joe Smith.” It was duly read out by the announcer before he registered the fact that “Baron” was not actually Joe’s first name. Now all the cards have to be vetted ahead of time.</p>
<p>How do Caucasian kids with typical suburban lives respond to an essay prompt like “Discuss how you will bring diversity to our campus.” Seems to me that question is biased against them. As someone pointed out up-thread, “How are you unique?” seems a bit fairer. Although neither of my kids would have had an easy time with that one either, being pretty mainstream. Clearly, there’s no one else just like them. Shall I sing a Barney song now? Special, special, everyone is special… But that’s not to say they felt there were any overwhelming distinctives worth writing about that separated them from their high achieving high school peers and which would not have shown up elsewhere on their application.</p>
<p>I heard all it takes is a broad forehead to make the claim LI. :D</p>
<p>poetgirl - Nepal board… That is the exotic far away land.</p>
<p>I can’t find the kid from Nepal, Tex. I have to say I love Chapel Hill and I love Nepal. I could draw a venn diagram. 
They actually do things like this on the MIT board and post them.</p>
<p>Okay, I will try to find the Nepal Board.</p>
<p>TheGFG,
Yes, one of my kids experienced the challenge you described with the University of Washington application, which reads:</p>
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<p>My kids are mainstream American white kids from a West Coast suburb. There is probably nothing “richly diverse” about their background, experience or viewpoints that is different from your average UW applicant. This was one of the most challenging essay prompts. I don’t remember exactly what my kid who applied wrote about, but she did get in, anyway.</p>
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<p>Actually, every child born in America for the past couple of years IS a minority. We are headed towards being the first minority majority country in the world, and by the time admissions are going on for the kids born this year, there will be no one who is not a member of a minority.</p>
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<p>I agree–the first question is biased against them–but is that bias enough to offset the advantages a typical suburban Caucasian kid has generally enjoyed compared with kids from disadvantaged backgrounds or for whom their ethnicity might have caused them to be judged during their childhoods? (I guess this is the Suzy Weiss problem, to bring the thread around to its original point.)</p>
<p>I don’t like “How are you unique?” either, because everybody is unique. It irks me when I hear people say something or someone is “more unique,” because there is no relativity to uniqueness.</p>
<p>I agree that PG has been consistent. But she still mentally draws a line of demarcation, below which she’d feel that the colleges and universities wouldn’t be likely to have a critical mass of driven, smart kids–places where the bright cohort aren’t “thick on the ground,” to quote her. Where exactly she’d draw the line, she hasn’t said with great specificity. That vagueness protects her from an accusation of being elitist from the parents of the students who attend schools several places below that line. The group of applicants she criticizes have specified exactly where their line is. They may indeed have narrowed their acceptable choices more than we think is wise, but do you seriously think we’d all be able to agree on where the “right” place is to draw the line? </p>
<p>I’d contend that drawing a line, but just drawing it a little farther down the list than the Ivies plus MIT, Stanford, (or a slightly expanded group), could still be viewed as elitist. The only difference is the standards used (or maybe the shape drawn. PG could be making a wider circle than others, if we want to avoid the ranking concept.) PG’s standards are simply different–some might say lower–than those employed by those other people she labels as unsophisticated. Perhaps bogibogi feels that ANY line drawing at all above a certain level of educational adequacy is elitist. After all, would the parent of the kid who wants to be a dental hygienist feel her D is any less smart for attending the excellent program in dental hygiene at the community college, instead of going to the state flagship to major in communications? It’s all relative.</p>
<p>Seems the U Washington essay prompts would be an effective mechanism to ferret out ethnicity/race from the kids who wouldn’t otherwise self-identify by checking the Race box.</p>
<p>^^The UCs have similar essay prompts asking you describe the “challenges” you have faced. It’s their work-around to get applicants to disclose their race/ethnicity and thus circumvent California’s ban on Affirmative Action in public school admissions. White kids from prosperous families who haven’t had any big challenges to speak of are often at a loss how to answer that prompt.</p>
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<p>Difference is the DAR and being a member of the aristocracy are both highly privileged groups affiliated with those who historically enjoyed great advantages in all areas…including university admissions. </p>
<p>By the same token, I can claim to be a minority by being a descendant of a notable 19th century Chinese historical figure and ancestry from those associated with the Chinese intelligentsia. </p>
<p>However, I know making such an appeal is not too far removed in vibe from Senators or other pompous fools* yelling “Do you know who I am” when seeking special treatment from law enforcement, corporate security, etc* on the very basis of their privilege and power. </p>
<p>*I.e. Ex-Senator Larry Craig, a cable company Chairman who fired and then rehired a security guard who asked for his ID and he grew upset the guard didn’t recognize his CEO-awesomeness, etc.</p>
<p>Ah, gee. The diversity question is to see how you answer, what intelligence and perspective you present. In the words of our friend PG, don’t be so literal. We’re still talking about highly competitive colleges. Is there nothing you could point to? Wait til you see the new CA essay prompts</p>
<p>Of course I was being sarcastic, Cobrat. I also advocate that priority admission be granted on the basis of how low one’s Kevin Bacon number is.</p>
<p>[Six</a> Degrees of Kevin Bacon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Degrees_of_Kevin_Bacon]Six”>Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon - Wikipedia)</p>