The Truth About Disadvantaged Status

[SpiritiualDuck]

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I did a search and pulled this up. I'm not sure if this is too old or an indication of what is really going on with disadvantage status students. Arguably, it could be said that this data is from 1973 and 74....Nevertheless, disadvantage status might not benefit white students. I'd like to see more current data.


http://www.fleurdelis.com/lre/bakke.htm "The 1973 and 1974 application forms, respectively, asked candidates whether they wished to be considered as "economically and/or educationally disadvantaged" applicants and members of a "minority group" (blacks, Chicanos, Asians, American Indians). If an applicant of a minority group was found to be "disadvantaged," he would be rated in a manner similar to the one employed by the general admissions committee....During a four-year period, 63 minority students were admitted to Davis under the special program and 44 under the general program. No disadvantaged whites were admitted under the special program, though many applied.

 

[Eraserhead]

That's weird, so would we interpret this to mean that disadvantaged status doesn't help you if you are white but helps you greatly if you are a URM, more so than just checking of the URM box? Or that disadvantaged status hurts you if you are also white? Is there more data (I'm looking now)?.

 

[Eraserhead]

Actually reading it again, it sounds like the white students mentioned essentially applied to be part of the special program, but were not admitted through the program. They may or may not have been admitted through the regular committe. Thats how I read this anyway.

 

[kwanny]

This article is outdated. It just doesn't make sense that just simply stating one had challenging, "disadvantaged" background would hurt his/her chances of admission. I might be wrong on this, but I heard that they created the disadvantaged status to address non-URM applicants coming from challenging backgrounds. Either way, it could only help applicants, whether or not they're URM.

 

[spinestudent]

For the UC's, it's pretty clear that the disadvantaged option is a way to have AA without really having AA. So it's a much more important decision for URM's on whether or not to check disadvantaged than others.

 

[ionltd]

Here's a current article (June, 2003) from the Chicago Tribune referring to the supreme court ruling on Michigan's admission practices and how it has affected UIC med school. It's speaks about applicants that say they want a rural practice which links it to those that designate underserved rural.


For those who remain but whose so-called cognitive scores are still under 76, race can then play a role. Students from underrepresented minority groups automatically get 13 points, along with points granted to students who agree to practice in a rural area.