Post affirmative action

[Anonymous]

Trying to put together a college list with our URm son.

College placement at our private has no guidance in terms of how he may benefit from diversity interests.

Anyone have insight here? It used to be quantifiable, now we feel we are shooting in the dark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trying to put together a college list with our URm son.

College placement at our private has no guidance in terms of how he may benefit from diversity interests.

Anyone have insight here? It used to be quantifiable, now we feel we are shooting in the dark.

Affirmative action in college admissions no longer exists. Better hope he's a legacy. That might help.

[Anonymous]

Not even - some states (like VA) have banned legacy preferences. Might want to focus on SAT prep, grades, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trying to put together a college list with our URm son.

College placement at our private has no guidance in terms of how he may benefit from diversity interests.

Anyone have insight here? It used to be quantifiable, now we feel we are shooting in the dark.

Make sure he mentions something about a life experience related to his culture/race. It could be that a story with cultural elements (like stories of overcoming racism told by grandparents or something) *inspired him* to go volunteer or become a lawyer. Of colleges that want to give URMs a boost even with the overturning of overt affirmative action, almost all mention that the ruling allowed for them to consider race as it relates to life experience (and places that believe this will continue to give special preference in this way until a new court case says that even doing this is illegal). If you want the boost, you have to mention it in your essays somewhere. Another example could be a trip to a homeland inspiring some sort of action/involvement/life direction. Or (maybe most commonly) personal experiences of racism/discrimination leading to some sort of change in perspective. It doesn't have to be negative like this, though. Some sort of positive inspiration is another great direction to go in.

If you want to get the boost, connect race/ethnicity in a substantive way to your experiences/life outlook/future plans/involvement, etc. Show an impact/influence that race/ethnicity has had on you. Doesn't have to be a negative experience leading to the impact but definitely can be.

[Anonymous]

Of course this helps. Anyone who says it doesn’t should be ignored. As said above, mention it in essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course this helps. Anyone who says it doesn’t should be ignored. As said above, mention it in essays.

I'll mention that I have a personal suspicion that DCUM skews very very white and that white people might want to believe (and might want to make you believe) that this (colleges still giving a boost) isn't the case even though it is. The # of colleges that changed their prompts to be intentionally leading in a way that would be beneficial to non-white applicants alone is proof enough. Places are just looking for something to point to if they're in a courtroom justifying your admission. Give them something to point to and you're in a good place. Mention life experiences. Mention inspiration.

[Anonymous]

Colleges are relying on programs that accept people from FGLI backgrounds aka Thrive, LEDA, College Match LA, etc. Questbridge numbers are also at their highest.

[Anonymous]

Like we don't all know who OP is. Trying to stir the pot again suggesting there is some kind of a secret handshake that gets minorities in Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like we don't all know who OP is. Trying to stir the pot again suggesting there is some kind of a secret handshake that gets minorities in Harvard.

???
OP could be applying to any number of private and public schools.

Let me guess, you're white and hoping your kid is going to get into a top school? I don't know if you saw the acceptance rate by academic decile chart for Harvard pre-SFFA but schools like Harvard are desperate for high (really even medium-high) performing minorities. If I remember correctly the admission rate for some minority applicants at the 5th academic decile was something like 50% at Harvard?

If minorities do get in it won't be because of a secret handshake, it'll be because of concerted efforts made by Harvard AOs to recruit them. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like we don't all know who OP is. Trying to stir the pot again suggesting there is some kind of a secret handshake that gets minorities in Harvard.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like we don't all know who OP is. Trying to stir the pot again suggesting there is some kind of a secret handshake that gets minorities in Harvard.

???
OP could be applying to any number of private and public schools.

Let me guess, you're white and hoping your kid is going to get into a top school? I don't know if you saw the acceptance rate by academic decile chart for Harvard pre-SFFA but schools like Harvard are desperate for high (really even medium-high) performing minorities. If I remember correctly the admission rate for some minority applicants at the 5th academic decile was something like 50% at Harvard?

If minorities do get in it won't be because of a secret handshake, it'll be because of concerted efforts made by Harvard AOs to recruit them. Sorry.

Presently, when minorities get in it is because they are high performing students like everyone else on campus. Is the fact these kids have the temerity to even submit an application really all that awful?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like we don't all know who OP is. Trying to stir the pot again suggesting there is some kind of a secret handshake that gets minorities in Harvard.

???
OP could be applying to any number of private and public schools.

Let me guess, you're white and hoping your kid is going to get into a top school? I don't know if you saw the acceptance rate by academic decile chart for Harvard pre-SFFA but schools like Harvard are desperate for high (really even medium-high) performing minorities. If I remember correctly the admission rate for some minority applicants at the 5th academic decile was something like 50% at Harvard?

If minorities do get in it won't be because of a secret handshake, it'll be because of concerted efforts made by Harvard AOs to recruit them. Sorry.

You're a troll.

Jeff, time to shut this thread down - already. ANY topic regarding race, especially towards URMs, gets too toxic in DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like we don't all know who OP is. Trying to stir the pot again suggesting there is some kind of a secret handshake that gets minorities in Harvard.

???
OP could be applying to any number of private and public schools.

Let me guess, you're white and hoping your kid is going to get into a top school? I don't know if you saw the acceptance rate by academic decile chart for Harvard pre-SFFA but schools like Harvard are desperate for high (really even medium-high) performing minorities. If I remember correctly the admission rate for some minority applicants at the 5th academic decile was something like 50% at Harvard?

If minorities do get in it won't be because of a secret handshake, it'll be because of concerted efforts made by Harvard AOs to recruit them. Sorry.

You're a troll.

Jeff, time to shut this thread down - already. ANY topic regarding race, especially towards URMs, gets too toxic in DCUM.

This shill sets up the "URM at a DC private" every few weeks. Same angle.

The number of well to do minorities at the areas leading private schools is small. I knew a few many years ago. This story is bullcr*p. Again

[Anonymous]

OP here. I am not a troll; my son is not a candidate for Harvard or like schools.

Some helpful advice here, but I think it underscores the validity of my question, meaning it’s really unclear right now for minority applicants.

[Anonymous]

Essay should be I am black, the end