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The Controversy of College Admissions

Applying to colleges is one of the most stressful things a high school student must endure.

Whether its completing the essays that they require for you to send in, or just sending in your

grades and test scores. The thing is you send in all these requirements that you worked very hard

on to random people who get to decide the fate of your future. You have no idea what they are

going to look at and what is going to make them decide if you are eligible or not to be admitted

in to their school. One of the biggest controversies of college admissions is the aspects that

certain colleges look at when admitting a student. People have found that your race and gender

play a big role in whether you get admitted into certain universities. This has become a big

controversy because some people believe that your race and gender have nothing to do with your

academic career, and they wonder why it is based off of something that people cant control.

Other people may argue that considering those things can help bring diversity to schools, and

help those students who may not have the resources to get themselves to college, whether they

go to a bad school, or they just dont have the proper drive coming from parents to get them into

college.

The most controversial part of college admissions is known as Affirmative Action. This is

defined as an action or effort to help improve the employment or educational opportunities for

members of minority groups and women. What made this topic so controversial was the court

case Fisher V. The University of Texas. In 2008 Abigail Fisher applied to The University of

Texas, Austin, but was denied admission. She was in the top 13% of her Texas high school and

had above average test scores. She claimed that the reason why she was rejected was because of
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her race. She was, in fact, white. She decided to sue the University of Texas because she believed

that they were discriminating against her based on her race. This court case was dragged on for

about 8 years when the court finally made their decision in favor of the University of Texas.

Since then Affirmative Action has been a very debated topic. The court ruled in favor of the

university because, the universitys stated interest in diversity was not specific and was

shifting, unpersuasive, and at times less candid This was the first-time Affirmative Action

being presented in college admission was brought to light. People really didnt care about this

until the supreme court case. Ever since then many arguments from both sides have come up.

Some believe that affirmative action is a great thing and it brings so much diversity to the

colleges, while others believe that colleges should strictly stick to just looking at students

accomplishments in school and extracurricular activities.

There are many kinds of people who attend universities. For some of the students, both their

parents went to college so it was expected of them to go as well. For others neither of their

parents attended college, but they always were ahead in school and worked hard so they were

motivated to eventually attend college. Some of the students were very privileged growing up,

while others were not that lucky and had to work a lot harder for what they wanted, especially

when it came to going to college. Affirmative Action was set up to help those kids who may not

have grown up in the privileged neighborhoods, so it was much harder for them to be able to get

to college. They most likely did not have had the resources that they needed, and other kids in

more privileged families had those necessities. When putting this law into action, the lawmakers

wanted to make it a little bit easier for them to get into college considering their circumstances.
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This would also cause there to be more diversity in the colleges. Especially when you mix kids

who grew up in much different environments together. It could cause others to learn more about

what might be happening, and what people might be going through, outside of their own

neighborhoods. It could be very eye opening and enlightening for many of the students attending

the university.

Those who are against affirmative action in the college admission process believe that it is

unfair for those students who worked hard to get into college. Some believe that those who are

let in easier will not be able to handle their work when it comes to school. They think that since

they were let in a little bit more easily and not judged as harshly as others, it will be harder for

those students when it comes to college. It will be harder for those students because the professor

is not going to treat the student any differently based off the color of their skin or what gender

they are, and because they were let off a little bit easier in the admission process it might be

harder for them to keep up with the students who were let in solely because of their academics.

Certain people think that considering the aspects, such as gender and race, when considering

them for admission could be doing more harm than it is good. They may not be able to keep up

with everyone and they may not have been taught at the level that the other students have been

taught which could make it harder for them to compete with these students academically. The

objectors also might argue that it is simply not fair to judge those factors. Yes, in Americas past

there has been unfortunate discrimination to both females and people of other races, such as

Black, Latino, Native American, Asian, etc. But they believe that we have come a long way since
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then and should just start judging people based on what will apply to their future success in the

university.

There are many flaws in the United States public school system. Because there are many

kinds of neighborhoods, some being more for high income families and others being for low

income families, its harder to make the public schools very diverse. You figure out which public

school you go to based on which district you live in which usually goes by which neighborhood

you live in as well. Usually the people who live in the houses in a neighborhood are very similar

when it comes to their financial situations. So, what ends up happening is these students who are

better off end up going to school together, and the other students who may not be as well off go

to the schools together. Most of the time the students who are better off end up having the better

teachers and the better schools because they have more of the money. Which can make it very

unfair for the students who may not come from families who are well off like the other students.

I personally think that colleges should only look at students grades and accomplishment. To

consider something that someone cant help as a way for them to get in to college can be viewed

as unfair. In 2017, race and gender is already a very controversial subject, so to add that to the

admission process in college is just asking for trouble. Yes, it may make the college seem more

diverse but it just causes trouble, and law suits such as Fisher V. The University of Texas. When

focusing on just the students academic and extracurricular accomplishments you can see how

successful the student may or may not be at the university. Instead of focusing on something that

the student cant help, focus on what they were able to accomplish while working hard at school.

Being a certain gender, or a certain race has nothing to do with how you are going to perform in
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college. It is not setting you up for success because they arent looking at what really matters.

There are some points with affirmative action that I do agree with however. I do agree that their

needs to be a way that students who arent as well off and dont have the proper resources to get

into college a little bit easier. But letting them in easier than others may not help them and could

be hurting them instead.

As controversial as affirmative action in the college admission process is, there are other

aspects of the admission process that people may find unfair. People question what exactly is

getting reviewed, and what parts of the application they heavily review. Its a very stressful thing

to just hand your accomplishments and hard work over to a person so that they can judge you

based on that alone. Until recently you werent allowed to see why a college rejected or accepted

you. Now because of the Family Education and Privacy Acts, you can view anything that the

college has on file for you whether its the admission records or just any information that the

school has regarding you. Before that act no one could see why they didnt get in which caused

even more arguments. However, it is still extremely difficult to be able to determine what to

include in your application to make it stand out above the rest. How is it that two people can

have the same exact test scores and grades but only one of them gets in? What is the thing that

differentiates them? This where, people argue, the affirmative action might be able to come in

handy. If they are choosing between two people with the exact same test scores and grades, but

one of them is African American and one of them is white, they are going to choose the one that

is African American because they would be able to bring more culture and diversity to the
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school. Allowing in more students of different races and from different backgrounds in to school

could help students learn about the different cultures that they are surrounded by.

As much as I disagree with affirmative action being used in the admission policy, they do

have some good points when suggesting why they use it. When allowing other students of

different races, cultures, and backgrounds, it allows the other students to learn more about the

cultures that they are surrounded with. When you are constantly surrounded by cultures that are

different than yours you are almost forced to learn about them. It also helps the students to accept

and embrace the other cultures. It could also help students after college when they are going to

have to adjust to and know about other peoples cultures when it comes to the real world and

their jobs. America is a very diverse country, and people are from all different backgrounds, so

making the schools more diverse and forcing them to get know people of other cultures could

be very beneficial for them throughout their whole lives.

As much as the affirmative action in college admission might sound good and be good for

diversity, it also doesnt make sense. When looking at a students application and considering all

the factors that might make them a perfect student, how does race or gender have anything to do

with that? It seems unfair so consider those factors because they cannot be controlled.

Why should race be a factor when looking at students? How will that benefit the student

when one of the big reasons you let them in, as opposed to another student, is because they are a

minority. We need to start looking at EVERYBODY equally. Students should be let in based on

how they perform in school, in sports, in clubs, in work, etc. Race and Gender should not have a

factor in any of it, and then no one will be able to claim that they are being treated unfairly.
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There are some good parts to the affirmative action, as I have already stated. Such as, it helps

kids that may have come from less privileged areas get a degree, and it may even make them the

first person in their family to get one as well. Over all though, letting the students in more easily

will end up mostly hurting them and not benefitting them. It could make them fall more behind

and they are less likely to perform well academically.

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Works Cited

"Affirmative Action." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, nod Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

"Fisher v. University of Texas (2016)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Apr. 2017. Web.

23 Apr. 2017.

"Affirmative Action and College Admissions." Findlaw. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2017.

Primus, Richard. "Opinion | Affirmative Action in College Admissions, Here to Stay." The New

York Times. The New York Times, 23 June 2016. Web. 03 May 2017.

Totenberg, Nina. "Supreme Court Upholds Affirmative Action In College Admissions." NPR.

NPR, 23 June 2016. Web. 03 May 2017.

"Measuring the Wealth Effect in Education." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01

Dec. 2013. Web. 03 May 2017.

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