Right now I’m ranked 12/219.
Weighted GPA 5.3 out of 6.0
Throughout high school I’ve taken:
Freshman year- AP Gov
Sophomore year- AP Psych, AP World, AP Human Geo
Junior Year: AP English, AP Chem, AP Phyiscs, AP US History
@infinityMan, let’s look at Harvard’s own statistics from the link you attached.
6.7% of Harvard undergrads are African American. An SAT average of 1950 would suggest an average of roughly 650 on each section. Using Critical Reading as a proxy for all three sections, 17.9% of the student body performed between 600 and 699 and 3.5% performed between 500 and 599 and 0.1% between 400 and 499.
So, where do you think the 3.6% that are below 599 and the total of 21.5% that are below 699 are coming from? Remember, the African American population is only 6.7% of the total undergrad population at Harvard.
It takes a lawsuit to get at the facts the universities are otherwise unwilling to provide in their breakouts. And these broad differences between cohorts are a fact. The rest is smoke and mirrors.
If you want to rail about your knowledge of unfairness, there’s the Race in College Admissions thread.
To date, the private colleges have not revealed the intimate details in final decision-making. What bothers me to no end is people so absolutely certain URMs are and always will be subpar to other kids.
Scores are simply not the sole determinant.
1 Like
Relevant also is that students from states with few applicants are likely to have lower credentials than those from places like New York. But nobody is terribly upset about that. Why not?
1 Like
@lookingforward, who said anything about unfairness. I support having student bodies at elite universities which reflect the national demographics. I simply have issue with lack of transparency, and with suspension of reality for the sake of political correctness. The longer we propagate the fiction that all cohorts within the universities have the same capabilities the longer we will perpetuate the creation of a class with the credentials but without the capability.
Harvard, and other universities, need to provide the necessary coursework/counseling to make it possible for URM students to catch up to their classmates and graduate with an equivalent capability to perform effectively in the work and graduate school environments. Please note, I have made broad generalizations. There are many exceptions who have the additional challenge of needing to prove they are the exception rather than the rule.
I write this as a URM appalled by the lack of appreciation by URMs for the relaxation of admissions standards and disproportionate financial aid provided them. Frankly, part of the problem is that they aren’t aware of the largesse of all types being provided them, and that it has come from billion of dollars donated by predominantly white alumni.
1 Like