+687 Want to eliminate discrimination and still ensure the kids who deserve it most get into great colleges? STOP ASKING FOR RACE/ETHNICITY ON APPLICATIONS! That way the best students get in, and no one can be accused of racism. amirite?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I love it!

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Yeah, I saw this idea on the news. And i agree.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

that part is almost always optional. you dont have to fill it in. they usually only ask that so they can generate statistics about their applicants/students.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I'm white, but my last name is Chinese, so I considered not listing my race to get a boost in my application. Unfortunately, being Asian is not considered a desirable minority in colleges. So I just checked off white. I don't think colleges should use affirmative action based on race, but instead based on family income. I do think that white kids are more likely to be at an advantage in terms of their education and resources, and people from lower incomes (often minorities) should still have the opportunity to compete to get into better colleges.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

But the racist people know that people with names like germaine, Darrel, noshawn, marshawn are all black.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

you forgot the most ghetto of all: Courtney

by Anonymous 13 years ago

More ghetto than Unitedstatesofamerica'niqua!

by Anonymous 13 years ago

What if there was a majority of mostly one ethnicity getting accepted into the college? It'll seem discriminate.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It wouldn't be there fault, it just so happened that the majority of good people that applied there were the same race. How would they know if they weren't aware of their ethnicity?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It would be best if there was a way to politely ask how much money your family makes so they could base it off of income alone and the people that really need it could get it

by Anonymous 13 years ago

don't they already ask about your income?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Oh, maybe they do. I haven't started applying yet, I don't really know. It just seemed like kind of a difficult to answer question, so I assumed they didn't

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I know they do at least for the financial aid.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I heard somewhere that schools get more funding if they have greater diversity. I can't remember where I heard this, but I think it's true.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

The thing is that a lot of names give away your race. "Shaniqua" sounds pretty Afro American but "Leslie" sounds fairly white. "Jose" is pretty Hispanic/Latino and "Xi Ling" is pretty Asian. Not necessarily saying that all or even the majority of names are that way, but it would be sort of a red flag for some names.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

But the whole reason that they do it is so that they have a certain level of diversity at their school, thus making it seem less racist. The whole system is fucked up. They should base it solely on student capabilities, not race or income.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

But then they're names like Abdul Mujhammad or Kevin Hwang, Derek Ackerman. Which simply ASK for discrimination.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

For those of you are saying that colleges can tell your ethnicity by your name: that is completely true. Yet, remember in elementary school when during the science fair we had to put our names on the back of our projects to prevent bias? Perhaps a less rudimentary method could be applied. A number could be attached to your app and then only your credentials could be evaluated. Something like that?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I agree with you on this. Just wondering, I never had to put a race for my college application (Australian ones are different I guess, but there was an Aboriginal/TSI box, but that was all). Like, if you put "African-American" when you're white, and say that one of your parents was from South Africa or something,

by Anonymous 13 years ago

They ask for income on like financial aid apps

by Anonymous 13 years ago

There are some colleges that have done this, so all the deserving kids get in. Naturally, within 4 years nearly 95% of the college is white, so they are accused with racism, and forced to ask for race on the applications once again.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

seriously? wow. They ask for race -obviously no one else here is anything but caucasian- for other reasons than just so their school can seem diverse. If you put yourself down as a minority they ask you further questions on culture so as to pair you up with a suitable roomate. Also, if you are a minority you are more likely to help out your own community ( ex. the latino community of your city) so they can look into scholarship information for you in that specific area.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

(:-)): first things first, I am NOT caucasian. Secondly, yes, they can use your race for roommate matching and scholarships. Yet, aren't those questions pertaining to subjects AFTER acceptance? Can't they ask that after acceptance?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

(:-)): I'm white, can't I have a different culture than someone else who is white? The college app didn't ask me what kind of culture I'm into, and just because I say I'm white does that mean they're going to say "oh well she obviously doesn't help out in her community because there's no marked 'caucasion community' and what not". That's a really poor excuse to ask people for their ethnicity.

by Anonymous 13 years ago