<p>By MattsMomFL’s data, Questbridge’s overall acceptance rate is ~30% including the RD round. Given its naturally self-selective nature, that’s on par with the selectivity of UChicago. For -equally qualified- URMs at QB’s partner schools (and QB finalists often have top stats), I would hazard a guess that the acceptance rate is higher than 30%. I again welcome evidence to the contrary.</p>
<p>The acceptance rate for African Americans at Uchicago is over 40%</p>
<p>Take a look for yourself. QB compiles all of the data for you.</p>
<p>[2005</a> National College Match Program Results - Acceptance Rates](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/cmp/chances.html]2005”>http://www.questbridge.org/cmp/chances.html)</p>
<p>We’re all one.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link, MattsMom. Using 2007 numbers since the 2008 data set is incomplete:</p>
<p>60% of finalists were eventually offered admission and generous FA at a QB partner school. Out of 1794 finalists, this means about 1076 were admitted. Divided by the number of applicants–3715–this gives a general acceptance rate of ~29%. I think we can agree that the Questbridge applicant pool is self-selective, similar to that of UChicago and Grinnell (two schools I can think of with surprising admissions rates relative to caliber of student body). I find it absolutely wonderful that Questbridge has grown so much since 2005’s inception (where only 37% of finalists were offered admission, making an overall acceptance rate of ~15%). Still, I do not think QB is remotely on the same level–of tip or widespread-ness–as racial affirmative action.</p>
<p>I thought I would be remiss not to link to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s “I Have a Dream” speech today. I heard a reading of the speech today at a rally in St. Paul, Minnesota and was reminded how moving the speech is. </p>
<p>[American</a> Rhetoric: Martin Luther King, Jr. - I Have a Dream](<a href=“http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm]American”>Martin Luther King I Have a Dream Speech - American Rhetoric)</p>
<p>Guess which idiot penned this in the senior thesis at Princeton. </p>
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<p>actually, I changed my mind about the issue.</p>
<p>Affirmative action should be practiced at top schools.</p>
<p>I am Asian and wouldn’t want to be surrounded by only black people and white wouldn’t want to be surrounded by only Asian people, just as how a black would not want to be surrounded only by white people.</p>
<p>Interacting with someone of the same race is a connection that cannot be replicate .</p>
<p>Race-based aa is just as legit as geography-based aa and legacy-based aa!</p>
<p>Re #1063</p>
<p>Your penultimate paragraph in effect asks for discrimination for the sake of discrimination, which the Supreme Court has never endorsed. Justice Powell wrote the following in Bakke:</p>
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<p>As previously mentioned, race is a suspect class and thus must be subject to strict scrutiny, the strongest standard. Geographic and legacy preferences are most likely analyzed under rational basis, the weakest standard. In certain cases (e.g. Grutter), it may be “just as legit,” but in other cases (e.g. Parents Involved), it is most certainly not.</p>
<p>An interesting research study: </p>
<p>[PLoS</a> ONE: Perceptual Other-Race Training Reduces Implicit Racial Bias](<a href=“http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0004215]PLoS”>Perceptual Other-Race Training Reduces Implicit Racial Bias)</p>
<p>I’m asking this question of all of you out of sheer curiosity as I’ve already completed my college applications and been accepted, so I couldn’t do this even if I wanted to.</p>
<p>Notwithstanding any moral questions about this, the question I want to ask is how many people here think you would ever get caught if you actually DID report a race on your application different from your actual race.</p>
<p>(Obviously, there are good arguments on both sides, one might equally say that lying about your race is disingenuous and therefore wrong as one could say that minorities have an unfair advantage anyway, and you’re just leveling the playing field. One might also say that minorities have a FAIR advantage.)</p>
<p>I believe that the answer to this and similar questions (“What if I lied about my ECs?”, etc …) is that one might be likely to get away with it if there was consistency in all documentation. In other words, if you claimed to be one race, and other data – such as documents provided by your school, recommenders, tax information, etc… – said something else, that would be the proverbial “red flag.” </p>
<p>To not get caught would require incredible attention to detail and planning and in the end, after all obvious moral and ethical issues were considered, it’s simply far too risky. Better to be honest and not get into your “dream college” than lie and end up at Tumbleweed University On-Line.</p>
<p>It’s grounds for expulsion if discovered. Remember that almost every application has a statement at the end where you attest that all information provided is true.<br>
Some students who were discovered to have committed fraud in the admissions process have faced civil cases where universities have sought a return of financial aid.</p>
<p>(Hypothetical Scenario) </p>
<p>John: Guy that lied about his race </p>
<p>(John is out partying with his friends because he’s happy he got into Yale)
(telephone rings)
John: (in a drunken stupor) um… hello?
Guy on phone: (in an excited voice) Congratulations on getting into Yale! I’m John Doe, director of the Yale Multicultural Outreach Program, and I would like to personally congratulate an outstanding African-American such as yourself for such outstanding accomplishments.
John: (shocked they’d even contact him) uh… thanks…
Guy on phone: I spoke to your regional admissions director in your area and he was excited to represent you in the admissions board!
John: That’s nice.
Guy on phone: As the Multicultural Outreach Program director, I arranged a local lunch with current Yalies in your local area! I hope you’ll be able to attend.
John: Um… I don’t think so… (starts thinking of ways to hang up)
Guy on phone: Well give it some thought… I’ll have these guys call you later… and I know you’ll be a positive contribution to the cultural diversity of this campus…
John: Um… sure… good night. </p>
<p>(goes home, gets a hand signed letter from the local admissions director) </p>
<p>“Dear John…congrats on getting into Yale… blah blah… I liked (specific parts of the app, including extracurriculars, parts about the essay, and the feel they got from the application” </p>
<p>(gets another phone call) </p>
<p>Caller: Hi! I’m James of the Class of 2012! (blah blah…) </p>
<p>(John feels uncomfortable at all the attention he’s getting… thinking it’s definitely going to get worse when he steps foot on Yale…) </p>
<p>It’s hard to get away with this type of stuff… In a school with only a little over a thousand students per class like Yale, they will know you, and they will know what you wrote on your app. </p>
<p>Yale really does have a VERY active Multicultural Outreach Program, their current students DO contact you for lunch, and for congratulations, and your regional director DOES send a letter, with personal parts of the essay, ECs, and passion he really got from your application… and that’s just weeks after getting in. </p>
<p>This is from my personal experiences… and the point I’m trying to make is that college is not like another high school where you can just remain anonymous in the shadows… so lying on your race in your college apps is not a good idea…</p>
<p><a href=“%5Burl=http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1061714488-post1066.html]#1066[/url]”>quote</a> Purely hypothetical question about lying about your race on college applications…
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<p>This would make for an interesting legal case because the burden of proof would be with the college accusing the student that his/her self-assessment was a lie. It would also potentially expose that the otherwise qualified student is no longer qualified merely because of a self-assessment.</p>
<p>My maiden name is also a Spanish word - a very basic one, and while growing up, people whom I met who had taken a Spanish 1 course assumed, and often asked, if I was Spanish. While there may be some Spanish-origin on my paternal side, my father claimed that his relatives came to America from England back in the 1700s. I did not self-identify as Hispanic, but I did consider myself to be “a Caucasian who is often assumed to be Hispanic.” Although I did not do this, my father felt that there was enough grounds to check the “Hispanic” box on my college application.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses. One thing I had thought about was the possibility that you might get found out simply by them expecting to see a black or hispanic person turn up and it turning out to be a white person (a fear which I think is the main reason people don’t do this, there’s no way to know this would happen, but the game would be up).</p>
<p>One issue here is that question of “self-assesment.” This comes up a lot with regards to the term “African-American.” Do African-Americans have to be black? Certainly there is a significant minority of white Africans in South Africa and the surrounding countries. What if you were born in Africa and write that your are African-American on your application but you’re as white as the driven snow?</p>
<p>We could even take this to extremes. What if you were born on Attu Island, which is in the United States but on the continental shelf of Asia, and claimed to be Asian?</p>
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<p>My family is Russian. My cousin (and I) were born in Russia, and moved to the US at various times. My aunt was very serious about the schools her children attended, so they were all (including elementary/middle/high) very selective, and (as she lived on the East Coast) primarily upper-class white. On every application, my aunt checks “Asian”… because that is what my cousin is. </p>
<p>I didn’t check anything, because I think the entire practice is border-line racist. And, anyway, I’m sure checking “Asian” wouldn’t help much at the moment.</p>
<p>But I do think that any white person from South African decent is free to check African American without qualms… they may be twisting the meaning a bit, but they <em>are</em> African American… what can anyone really say?</p>
<p>^ my friend is from South Africa and is white and asked about this. He was told, at 5/6 of colleges, not to check the African-American box. </p>
<p>I thought it was ridiculous, but…</p>
<p>BOTTOM LINE</p>
<p>It is horribly unfair to discriminate against whites and Asians because they are not black or hispanic or native americans.</p>
<p>College admissions should be based on MERIT, not one’s race! And it is true that merit is a very broad definition that could include many things, but it shouldn’t include race because that’s not fair!</p>
<p>I’m a Hispanic male, born in Colombia (but not raised, moved to MA at a young age)
Since a lot of schools are mostly white and asian, will being hispanic give an edge over students of the same caliber? </p>
<p>i got a SAT of 1530 (M:780 CR:750) and a 3.62 GPA, i’m hoping for NYU, i heard there’s a lot of rich white kids there so i’m hoping that i can get a boost since they want some diversity</p>