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Asian American Discrimination in Harvard Admissions [pdf]

(public.econ.duke.edu)
376 points undefined1 | 3 comments | 25 Apr 20 00:54 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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sudosteph ◴[25 Apr 20 03:25 UTC] No.22975291[source]▶
It's always so frustrating to see how elite colleges get away with such brazen racial discrimination. Where are the alumni orgs speaking out about this?

I wonder how much of this is rooted in the desire to protect their own kid's chances of admission vs loyalty and the desire to protect their academic "brand". Either way, I don't forsee them fixing this any time soon,

Unfortunately, the Harvard brand seems ingrained in the national consciousness as synonymous with top-notch. So just not applying in protest wouldn't serve the students, especially when other schools do the same thing. I almost wish that Asian Americans had their own equivalent of a prestigious HBCU like Spelman or Howard. It would help siphon off some of the talent from Harvard and the like and probably be an excellent institution in general.

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1. alephnerd ◴[25 Apr 20 03:54 UTC] No.22975410[source]▶
Luckily we do. They’re called the University of California system. At least California banned affirmative action in the 90s.
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2. hhsuey ◴[25 Apr 20 06:23 UTC] No.22976099[source]▶
> UC may choose to advance goals like diversity and equal opportunity using a broad range of admissions that are not based on an individual’s race or gender. For example, holistic review in admissions considers income level, first-generation status, neighborhood circumstances, disadvantages overcome, low-performing secondary school attended, and the impact of an applicant’s background on academic achievement.

these things are highly correlated with race, however.

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3. lawrenceyan ◴[25 Apr 20 19:50 UTC] No.22980854[source]▶
There's nothing wrong with recognizing that people in disadvantaged situations face greater difficulties in overcoming systemic obstacles. Being able to overcome these factors are actually generally a very strong signal in determining potential of future success.

This is why affirmative action in of itself is not a wholly bad thing. It's just that using ethnicity as the primary proxy is worse at generating a strong signal as compared to

> income level, first-generation status, neighborhood circumstances, disadvantages overcome, low-performing secondary school attended, and the impact of an applicant’s background on academic achievement.