Most high school students, with hopes of attending a competitive college, spend a lot of time studying and preparing for the SATs and other standardized college entrance exams. Students believe that as long as they meet the admission requirements, show extracurricular involvement, and receive highly raising letters of recommendation they will gain admission into the school of their choice. What these high school students do not know is that they are not taking into consideration one of the most important admission requirements—race.
According to Jimmy Chan and Erik Eyster, “American colleges and universities value both the academic qualifications and the ethnic and racial diversity of their student bodies. Because candidates from minority groups tend to have lower high-school grades and standardized-test scores than their majority counterparts, elite colleges and professional schools achieve diversity through lower admissions standards for minority students.” Many students find this unfair and a form of reverse racism. Why is it fair to discriminate against the majority? Shouldn’t colleges accept students solely on their achievements and not on their biological phenotypes?
If colleges banned affirmative action, not only would the deserving applicants benefit, but the colleges would as well. By accepting students with higher academic achievements colleges would have an overall higher level of education. “Critics argue that affirmative action lowers the quality by rejecting majority candidates in favor of less-qualified minority candidates.”
Upon applying for college, high school seniors should be informed that race has a role in deciding where they will end up the following year. It is sobering, as a member of one of the leading countries in the world, to learn that we have not moved past discrimination in the education world.
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