When filling out college applications for highly selective schools, race is thought of more as more of an asset than a student’s quality. Most students assume that colleges need a certain quota of diversity on their campus and that is the only reason that a student of a minority would be accepted over them. This is not the case at all.
While colleges admittedly do look at ethnicity when selecting the students to expand the diversity of the school, they do not base their decisions solely on it, with the students’ accomplishments remaining the most important factor. The diversity of a student on paper comes in the form of being a first generation student, coming from a certain geographic region and other qualities and characteristics.
According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, 84.3 percent of schools consider grades in college prep courses to be of considerable importance when admitting a student to the school. While ethnicity certainly has its place in the admission of a student, it is safe to say that grades and curriculum are still the most important factors regardless of social demographic in top universities. Not to oversimplify, but what a student did with the resources available to them is what matters the most.
People seem to believe that minorities have an advantage in applying to college because it looks good for colleges to have a diverse student body. However, race is just one quality that gives colleges a more complete picture of a student.
This is just another excuse that non-minority students may have come up with to make up for their underachievements and inability to get into the school of their choice. Many highly selective colleges will almost always accept the better and more qualified candidate regardless of ethnicity, wealth or origin.
Furthermore, people seem to believe that minorities take up all the scholarships because of their ethnicity, but this is blatantly not true. Ethnicity-specific scholarships are meant to help minorities seeking support because they are typically underrepresented in other areas of society. Coincidentally, many minorities happen to be historically underrepresented, however, these scholarships only encompass need-based ones and do not even begin to include the countless others devoted to merit, athletics, military, etc.
Saying that someone only got into the college of their choice because of socioeconomic status or demographic invalidates all of the hard work that they have put into achieving their goals.
In the real world, what gets you the furthest is hard work and qualifications, not upbringing. So the next time you catch yourself postulating that someone else received special treatment over you because of their ethnicity or background, maybe you should be spending that time more wisely, focusing on yourself and how you to increase your own chances.