The Complexity of College Admissions

'

A recent New York times article entitled, "Is Harvard Unfair to Asian Americans?", accused Harvard University of being just that. The article explains the surprising truth that Asian American students require "SAT scores that are about 140 points higher than those of their white peers, and that the university is supposedly "balancing" the number of Asian American undergraduates admitted due to their race. The article further evidences this trend by showing that the percentage of Asian American undergraduates "has been flat for two decades", despite the fact that Asians are "the fastest growing racial group
in America".

Harvard's alleged defense to this injustice: Asian-American applicants often lack intangible qualities such as "leadership" and "originality". This sounds unfair, even racist. I thought at first that these qualities were too subjective to be heavily weighted in admissions. However, if Harvard were to base admissions entirely on academic (test scores, class difficulty, GPAs) merit, as the NYT article proposes, would that truly fix the problem? Would all races receive equal treatment from admissions officers?

The clear-cut, concrete evaluations of a prospective student, such as SAT and ACT scores- though they may appear perfectly fair- actually tend to differ between various socioeconomic statuses. And consequently, because of the correlation between socioeconomic status and race in America, standardized test scores differ based on race. Therefore, Harvard giving Asian American test scores more attention wouldn't just increase Asian American rates of admission. It would also also decrease the rate of admission for African Americans and Latin Americans.

Harvard does not want to be forced into such a situation. Denying students of lower income families admission because they cannot afford to achieve higher test scores is exactly what the increasingly liberal school is trying to move away from. Whichever way the school decides to weight standardized testing in admissions, somebody is going to be negatively affected. And Harvard has chosen to de-emphasize traditional tests scores, intending to diversify its student body and put applicants on a more level playing field. 

If anyone is truly to blame for the inequality in elite education at this moment in time, it should be the system through which high-achieving students are created. There is no reason to single one school out. That will not solve the bigger issue of unequal education in the United States. 

Is there a way for Harvard, and all highly selective colleges for that matter, to make everyone happy? Is it truly possible for the U.S. to become a place of equal opportunity in terms of education?