[b]Please keep this discussion serious and civilized. Feel free to correct me on anything I am incorrect about.[/b]
[b]My research is not very in depth and I may be a little biased[/b] (I'm trying not to be) [b], so please contribute to this article if you would like to.[/b]
[spoiler]Also, I know that the video is old. If anyone can find a good article that is more recent, please send it or post it to me![/spoiler]
Race. Race has been a sore subject for hundreds of years now, whether it be discrimination, slavery, or race violence. But racial tension is still a very pressing issue today. One of those issues is college admission.
College admission officers take in multiple factors when considering an applicant. What is their GPA? Are they taking Honors classes or an IB diploma track? Do they participate in any sports teams, clubs, or other organizations? There are many factors going into whether one gets admitted or not. But should race be one of them?
Colleges openly admit that they use your ethnicity as a factor into your admittance. In the article above, it shows that that certain university valued having an outstanding essay at one point, having a perfect SAT score at thirteen/fourteen points (can't remember exactly), and being a minority at [b]twenty points[/b] (Keep in mind this is outdated, and I am not sure how severe this is now). Is being a minority really [b]twenty times[/b] more important than having an outstanding application essay?
Let's look at the pros and cons, shall we?
Pros (comment any you think I missed):
-More diverse campus and student body
-Students from worse backgrounds still have a chance to succeed in life
-The educated and influential in the country will be more diverse
Cons (comment any you think I missed):
-Certain minorities heavily favored to be admitted
-Certain ethnicities (Caucasian, Asian ethnicities) have a much harder time getting accepted or getting scholarships
-Being a stellar student will not guarantee your admission into a good college, esp. if you are in the disadvantaged minority group
(If you're still reading to here, thanks for sticking with me. Here, have a cookie.)
Personally, I am totally against this. This may be the fact that I am full Chinese and male (so my chances of getting any form of scholarship are basically zero), but I don't think it's just some Asians and some whites that are opposed to this issue. I knew another kid who graduated high school at age 16. He won multiple state piano festivals, was part of many clubs, and had a perfect GPA and SAT score (!!!). But he did not get a single [i]penny[/i] of scholarship to any Ivy League school. Why? Perhaps he had not presented his achievements well. Maybe he wasn't a very good application writer. However, whatever the reason is, I can confidently say that part of that reason was because he is Chinese.
Whew. That's all from me. What about you guys? Tell me your opinions/stories down below. Let's discuss.
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I'd argue that in some cases, it makes sense. Specifically, preservation of a college's historic identity.