Affirmative Action

After all of the reading and talking that we have done in class about affirmative action, I understand why some universities feel that minorities are so important to the diversity of their student population, but I don't necessarily think that race should be such a major factor in the decision. We looked at two different university's ways of judging how important race was in admissions and while they each used pretty different tactics to determine the importance of skin color in an applicant, I still believe that both tactics were unnecessary and unfair. Yes, it is important the the student body of a school is made up of people from different backgrounds because it allows them to provide different prospectives on issues and give others new insight. A university full of upper middle class, white, catholics from sheltered, suburban neighborhoods will not make for the most influential graduating class simply because there is a major lack of diversity. When looking at this fact, it is clear that students with different backgrounds will be influential to everyone. However, the way that universities go about achieving this is unfair. Michigan University has a very unique point system for rating their applicants, and while this means that all students applying as incoming freshman are rated from the same standards, the details that they are rated on are actually not reasonable at all. I believe that the opportunities that a person is able to receive and the education that they can afford prior to college should be a considered in giving them a certain little boost in admissions or at least allow the admissions board to cut them some slack, but it shouldn't automatically make them higher on the university's list then non-minority or more privileged teens. I think that students who can not afford as extravagant of education systems might still be a wonderful addition to the University, but that does not mean that all underprivileged students are better than privileged students, just as not all privileged students would make better students than underprivileged students. Michigan gives far more points to a student for growing up on a farm or being of Hispanic descent than having an outstanding essay. While I think hard working students that are underprivileged should be cut some slack in admissions, I do not believe it should surpass the importance of grades, GPA, or the essay. I am equally disturbed by Harvard University's method of rating students who apply for freshman addmissions. Instead of using a point system to give minority students a boost over non-minorities, they simply to it in their head. There is no amount put specifically on the importance of a color of a student's skin, but this gives the admissions counselor individual power to decide the importance or race, religion, or ethnicity for each student. This means that they have complete power to say which they simply prefer and who they want instead of really who is more qualified. While I believe it is incredibly important to give a boost to students who come from underprivileged backgrounds, I think it must also be taken into consideration how dedicated and determined this student is compared to others. The work ethic of each individual I believe is still more important than the background that a person comes from.