On Affirmative Action

Affirmative action is a bitch.

In high school, I didn't think it was such a big deal. Sure, colleges might be slightly prone to choosing minority students over majority students I thought. Boy was I wrong... I have never felt so much disdain about being asian-american before, until the rejections came along. And it wouldn't have been so bad if the minority students at my school also got rejected from said schools, but nope. And I wouldn't have felt so bad if they had better academic standing or had better extracurriculars, but once again.. nope... I had a few friends in high school who were applying to the same colleges that I was applying to. We had similar test scores but I had much more 'promising' extra currics than my friends did. To my surprise, my friends got accepted into schools that I got rejected from. I was baffled. I read their personal statements and didn't feel they outshone mine too much (my test scores and extra curriculars are posted on my previous posts). But then I realized, my friends were minorities. That realization was a big blow to my ego. Now I realize that race isn't the only factor that plays in college admissions, but man, it's a big one.

Asians (this includes Indians as well) have to outshine the brightest minority applicants ten-fold. They also have to do better than the best of the applicants. Why? Because there are so many over-qualified asians applying to the same schools you are applying to (this entails top tier privates and Ivies). In addition to race, it seems like the more you suffered in life, the better your chances will be when applying to colleges.

However, one set of schools diverge from this criteria: UCs. UC schools do not practice affirmative action (thankfully). Unfortunately, my friends who got accepted into the schools I also applied to mentioned above, got rejected from the UC schools that I got accepted into. Weird isn't it?

Will this ever change? I don't think so. And as much as I hate affirmative action, I feel like like it's almost necessary- almost. If schools didn't practice affirmative action, asians would dominate every school in the US. And where would the diversity go? Would everyone get a fair shot at the same schools? So for those of you just applying to colleges, don't be too disheartened if you get rejected from your dream school. And for those of you who are attending a college that was not your first (or second or fifth) choice, just remember that no one really looks at your undergrad school. Do the best at the place you're at and focus on getting into a good graduate school, because in the end, that's what counts (easier said than done).

-K