This may be an overly naive question... but why don't they just take the "Race" question off the application? Like a blind placebo study in an FDA trial.
Before we can truly become a nation with no cultural animosities, it would seem to me that this stuff must be relinquished to the annals of history.
What cultural animosities are you referring to? The 100 years or so Blacks, Jews, Hispanics and others were excluded from being accepted into top universities no matter what their scores were?
A university is looking to ensure that admissions is not only fair but is a representation of the population that is outside its doors, as long as hte applicants meet the standards set by the school. You are stuck in the limited mindset that its GPA and SAT when it has been repeated countless times that schools look at numerous factors (not race) to assess a student's academic ability to not only thrive at the university but add something to the school.
You think Harvard accepts 2000 robots with 4.5s and 1580 GPAs? The 4.5 is impressive but you can take numerous classes that teach you to ace a standardized test and for someone with a 4.5, I can see them getting a high score. But colleges are realizing a SAT score does not translate into success in college by itself. Other factors are relevant.
You think Harvard wants 2000 Economics majors or Political Science majors?
For the kid who got rejected.....what were his extracurricular activities? What did his essay look like? DId he have a job or internship? Was he involved in community groups or leadership roles? Did he play an instrument or a sport competitively? Were his classes challenging or did he took pussy AP classes to boost his GPA?
Do you know?