I hear ya. I spent some time as an admission officer at an Ivy and the conversations we'd have over and over again just got to me. We were building a class and had just a dizzying array of pieces to work with each year. This, coupled with our need to have every group, region and interest under the sun represented inevitably led to exchanges like this one: "This student seems smart relative to other (insert minority group)." The choices made were hard and required us to reduce people to numbers, colors and legacies. What an eye-opener. I feel I've got a leg up on anyone when I apply for stuff from now on.
I'm curious. What happens if someone lies on their application about their race? Do you verify in any way? Would you disqualify them if/when you saw them in person? I've wondered why, with so many people trying to get an edge in admissions, more applicants don't claim "one drop".
As far as I know, there's not organized, institutional way to verify an applicant's race. Schools pretty much take them on their word, with the understanding that they can rescind an offer at any time before the day of enrollment.
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I hear ya. I spent some time as an admission officer at an Ivy and the conversations we'd have over and over again just got to me. We were building a class and had just a dizzying array of pieces to work with each year. This, coupled with our need to have every group, region and interest under the sun represented inevitably led to exchanges like this one: "This student seems smart relative to other (insert minority group)." The choices made were hard and required us to reduce people to numbers, colors and legacies. What an eye-opener. I feel I've got a leg up on anyone when I apply for stuff from now on.
I'm curious. What happens if someone lies on their application about their race? Do you verify in any way? Would you disqualify them if/when you saw them in person? I've wondered why, with so many people trying to get an edge in admissions, more applicants don't claim "one drop".
As far as I know, there's not organized, institutional way to verify an applicant's race. Schools pretty much take them on their word, with the understanding that they can rescind an offer at any time before the day of enrollment.