Should Race be a Consideration in College Admissions
A compelling argument against using race as a consideration in collegeadmissions is that everyone has something different about them, if onelooks hard enough, and so anyone could claim minority status in some way.To use individual traits of arbitrary choice does not make sense, as thiswriter notes, "Individualism cannot be defined via individuating orimportant traits. The principle of individualism is really meant tocapture the completely different idea that people should be judged only bytraits they choose. That is why race, an involuntary, immutable trait, isan improper basis for judgment" (Levin, 1997, p. 338). One cannot chooseone's race, but one can choose other traits to excel at, and so, traitsthat are chosen and agreed on should be used as considerations for collegeadmissions, such as GPAs, athletic and social abilities, membership inextracurricular activities, and test scores. These are all attributes thatstudents have some input and control over, and these, not traits thatcannot be chosen and acted upon, should be used to ensure everyone gets anequal chance at education and advancement. The weakness here is that thosestudents who do not choose to work on themselves may not gain
Each individual is different, and should be evaluatedon those differences, rather than what they have in common with everyoneelse. Another writer notes, "'A statistical analysis of this data, shows thateconomic status doesn't play a significant role in either group's chancesfor admission'" (Bunzel, 2002, pg. Thus, standardized tests simply perpetuate race as a tool for admissions,and do not help minority students in their quest for an education. admission;while the strength is that those students who work hard will have a betterchance at admission. Standardized testing is also suspect as to really giving a balancedview of actual learning. The strength here is thatmost tests are not adequate, and testing needs to be redeveloped. The weakness is that the poor cannotafford books, transportation, and housing, let alone tuition, and socollege is out of reach for them unless costs are lowered. More and more institutions arechanging their admission policies in an attempt to be color blind, and itseems this trend will continue in the future, as the danger of only usingone or two criteria for admission becomes more apparent. Keepingthe poor out of college is as dangerous as relying on race for admission. Another writer states, "The overriding conclusionis neither new nor earthshaking: in crafting a college admissions policy,tests serve as useful, but far from perfect, tools" (Zwick, 1999, p. Economic disparity is as importantin admissions as ethnic disparity. In conclusion, it is clear there are many other alternatives to raceas a consideration in college admissions. Developing better testing methods that test learning, rather than teachingis another way to remove race from the college admissions equation. Another way to remove race from college admissions is to make collegemore affordable for everyone.
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