HOW do you think the Supreme Court will vote on Affirmative Action ?????
Affirmative action in American college decision policies allows college to use race as a criteria in the admissions process.
Elite colleges like Harvard and UNC Chapel Hill reward hooked applicants compared to Whites and Asians. If you look at this chart it's clear that if you are in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd decile it's just a coin toss % to get into Harvard if you are Black applicant. And if you are Hispanic you have 1 out 3 chances of getting in. However if you are White or Asian in the top 3 deciles of grades/test scores/ IV/IC, your chances are much lower at 7.5%-15%.
Guessing the academic cutoffs for each decile:
Decile 1: 99% 1550-1600 SAT and 35/36 ACT
Decile 2: 98% 1500-1550 34 ACT
Decile 3: 97%1450-1500 SAT, 32-33 ACT
...
Decile 6: 90% 1300-1350 or 28-29 ACT.
(this table was reversed, I copied and pasted from the SFFA v.Harvard lawsuit as an exhibit in their complaint)
Harvard Rejection Rates by Race/Ethnicity and Academic Decile
Academic Decile White Asian Amer. African Amer.Hispanic All Applicants
10 84.7% 87.3% 43.9% 68.7% 85.4%
9 89.2% 92.4% 45.4% 73.8% 89.6%
8 92.5% 94.9% 55.5% 77.1% 91.8%
7 95.2% 96.0% 58.9% 82.7% 93.4%
6 95.8% 97.5% 70.3% 86.3% 94.4%
5 97.4% 98.1% 77.6% 90.9% 95.6%
4 98.2% 99.1% 87.2% 94.5% 96.7%
3 99.4% 99.4% 94.8% 98.0% 98.3%
2 99.6% 99.8% 99.0% 99.7% 99.5%
1 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Besides Harvard and UNC, all Elite colleges in the US use race to level the playing field for college admissions to establish their own version of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility on American college campuses.
If reversed, this will have a profound impact on college admissions in the future. Therefore I imagine more and more persons of color and marginalized applicants will be applying to their top choices this year trying to maximize their chances of getting into a top college than other application cycles. Why? If AA is rescinded by SCOTUS, the party is over (for lack of a better term) for "hooked" applicants. College campuses will then look less diverse which may not be a good result.
72% of Collegevine members who responded think that the Supreme Court will end affirmative action policies. That's a bit sad.
I do not necessarily care for the way you speak of affirmative action in your post. While admit rates ARE higher for underrepresented minorities, the application rates for such groups are lower due to financial and social barriers, which is why it may seem as if it is easier to get into a top university if you are black, Latino/a or Hispanic, or indigenous - even though the fact of the matter is that being part of such ethnic groups is the deciding factor in your acceptance less than 5% of the time (or even lower for most colleges), according to the New York Times. There is no "party" when you are an underrepresented minority having to go through the process of applying to college, especially given the fact that many are also the first in their family to go to college, have parents that do not speak English as their first language, and/or come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. I am thankful that I have the support of different community-based organizations that I'm a part of, but many others aren't so fortunate, which is why I hope affirmative action remains a part of the US higher education system - not so that it is "easier" for black, Latino/a or Hispanic, and indigenous students to get into Ivy League colleges, but rather so students like me are given the equal opportunity to succeed as other students have been given. The bar shouldn't be lowered for us; however, our accomplishments and achievements should be viewed in the context of what we were given and how we overcame the limitations and used the advantages our background conferred on us.
NOTE: I'm a first-gen college applicant with Hispanic, black, Asian, and white heritage, which definitely has impacted the way I view affirmative action. CBS News published an interesting piece worth reading about the complicated relationship Asian Americans have with affirmative action here if you would like to learn more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/vocal-asian-american-minority-railing-affirmative-action-rcna55082
I'm just reporting on the tables already provide in the Supreme Court case writ. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20-1199/169941/20210225095525027_Harvard%20Cert%20Petn%20Feb%2025.pdf
In a perfect world, all citizens of Earth would be entitled to free education, as well as free housing, food, clothing, healthcare, mental health care, hospitalizations, palliative care, and travel passport. In 2022, wealthy universities have stepped in to level the playing field because our US government has failed for 250 years to provide free higher education to its citizens. It's not a perfect solution so that is why the Supreme Court is weighing in on it. I'm on the fence because I think there are better remedies like revoking ALDC privileges. This would free up an additional 33% more acceptance slots. Do I think everyone's college experience is more robust, rewarding, or simply better because of ALDCs walking around campus like they own the place? NOPE. These colleges are so wealthy, they could rescind ALDC policies immediately with no measurable impact on their endowment funds managed by the best money managers.
While one can argue for a subset of brown people's entitlement to gain access to these institutions, the suit against Harvard/UNC is a reaction to Asians having to be squeezed from both sides; ALDCS on one side and underrepresented minorities on the other. This lawsuit is a reaction to a "Class" of Asians feeling that their admissions were unfairly absconded.
Whether AA is allowed to continue or not will fix the problem that someone always has to be the victim and pay the price for an entitled person to get seated at the table first as a VIP guest. People like night clubs but no one likes to watch a group of rich and famous people cut the line.
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