Reply to Harvard's odd quota on Asian-Americans

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Harvard's odd quota on Asian-Americans"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]You are over-estimating the impact of being a URM or legacy to a ridiculous degree.

The acceptance rate for URMs is the same for Asians or Whites. It's no "easier" to get in as a Black applicant as for an Asian applicant. You still have a 95% chance of being rejected. The percent accepted of each race is the same as the percent applied.

As for legacies, Harvard has come out and said that the acceptance rate for Harvard legacies is the same as the acceptance rate for Yale or Princeton legacies. In other words, the boost isn't because they're giving legacies a leg up, it's because legacies tend to be more accomplished than the application pool as a whole.

Most people complaining about how Asians are unfairly penalized seem to have no idea how the admission process at elite schools actually works.

SAT scores and grades are used as a gateway. An applicant with a 2200 and a 3.8 gets through the gate just as easily as an applicant with a 2400 and a 4.0. No one, no matter the race, is allowed through this gate if admissions doesn't think they are academically qualified for the school. After this point, admissions doesn't care about your grades and scores, and that 2400 you spent hours in cram schools working towards means nothing.

After this step, admissions looks at the rest of the application. Essays, extra-curriculars, etc. At this point, some people, who have absolutely amazing accomplishments, like the kind I mentioned earlier, are shoe ins. These people will get into nearly every school they apply to, usually with likely letters. Everyone else has to hope for the best. Admissions tries to build a class that represents many diverse interests, majors, and backgrounds (including race), but the choice as to who to admit comes down to completely intangible factors.

If you aren't a shoe in, it's luck. Black, Asian, White, whatever. You have to hope that the Admission Committee likes your application. The Asian who was rejected with a perfect SAT score and was a concertmaster in a national-acclaimed orchestra was probably rejected for some other applicant who was a concertmaster in a national-acclaimed orchestra but who had a better essay. Every niche competes within itself, Harvard only needs so many oboe players.[/quote]Excellent point. There are just so many 5.0 GPA, 2400 SAT or 36 ACT, concertmaster, cancer discoverers, mathematical genius, etc, that a college class needs regardless of your ethnicity.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics