Race-conscious admissions programs do not hurt Asian Americans.
A common misconception is that race-conscious admissions programs make it harder for Asian Americans to get into selective universities. This is not true. Here’s why:
- First, it is impossible to compare any two applicants, even if they have the exact same test scores and GPA, because regardless of whether or not schools consider race, they always look at more than just numbers. Each individual is evaluated as a whole and there is no one facet that is a deciding factor in admissions.
- Second, it is statistically impossible for underrepresented minority students (who are, by definition, underrepresented at selective universities) to be “taking” seats from Asian American students because they comprise such a small percentage of the applicant pool. For example, a 2016 study found that completely eliminating African American and Latino applicants from the Harvard admissions pool, the admissions chances of the remaining Asian American and white students only increases by one percent, making it exceedingly unlikely that rejected Asian American applicants would be admitted even under a system that does not consider race.
Therefore, eliminating the consideration of race in a holistic review policy wouldn’t help Asian Americans; it would just take away an important factor that helps low-income Asian Americans get into elite colleges.
