The perennial question, “Who gets in and why?” stands as the beating heart of the fiery affirmative action debate, recently flamed by the cases of Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) vs. Harvard. The Supreme Court’s recent ruling that gutted affirmative action has stoked further debate.
The SFFA, led by Edward Blum, has shrewdly deployed the Asian community as a victim of racial discrimination in the admissions process. By casting Asians as a “model” minority, Blum contends that despite their superior test scores and academic achievements, they are unfairly losing their “spots” to affirmative action beneficiaries.
I often find myself grappling with similar contentions from my peers, who argue that “it is ‘so much easier’ to get into Harvard if you are Black.” They base this claim on college admissions statistics, specifically the academic index (AI) decile, race, and applicant pool used by selective colleges. The AI decile denotes the ranking of applicants based on their estimated AI, a composite score that factors in SAT scores, high school GPAs, and other activities. While there are many issues about AI deciles, I will not delve into those in this short piece. Instead, I will focus on the interpretation and understanding of the data at hand.
SFFA deploys Harvard data to argue racial disparities in the admissions process, showing that Asian American applicants in the highest AI decile (10) have a lower admit rate (12.7%) compared to their African American counterparts in the same decile, who have higher rates (56.1%). Statistics are then used to make claims that African American applicants have admission rates over four times larger than White or Asian Americans. However, this interpretation is not just an oversimplification — it’s a glaring misinterpretation of statistical data.
The data story neglects a key context. This narrative overlooks the proportion of applicants from each race in decile 10. Between 2014 to 2019 only 0.85% of African American applicants were in decile 10, compared to a larger 17.29% of Asian American applicants in the same decile. To illustrate differently, consider a scenario where a thousand equally qualified applicants vie for admission, but only 100 can be accepted — this results in a 10% acceptance rate. Conversely, in a situation where 50 out of 100 equally qualified applicants are accepted, there is a 50% acceptance rate. The latter scenario boasts a higher acceptance rate, not due to bias, but simply because the applicant pool is smaller.
So, let’s clear up the misconception that affirmative action is unfairly “taking” spots in college admissions. The issue is more multifaceted than numbers can convey. AI deciles are just one way of looking at applicants’ potential. American universities are known for their holistic admissions process, which considers elements such as leadership qualities, character, unique talents, and potential contribution to diverse communities. Students arrive on college campuses with an array of assets and characteristics, molded by their race, class, gender, family, and community background. Affirmative action is meant to underscore these differences to foster the educational benefits of diversity and promote equality. Claims of racial bias based on admit rates require evidence that these other factors are evenly distributed among racial groups.
I love numbers. I think with numbers, I want to pursue a STEM field and work with numbers. Data helps shed light and enhance our understanding of the world around us. However, by design, numbers do not provide a complete story, especially when dealing with issues involving social/human complexities. In some cases, data can be misinterpreted or selectively used to support a particular narrative. Similar to how color brings life to a painting, the context provides the necessary backdrop to understand data accurately. However, it appears that our Supreme Court has taken a “color-blind” approach to this complex issue. Neither African Americans nor Asian Americans are a homogenous group and treating them as such overlooks the diverse histories and experiences these students bring to college-workplaces. As a rising senior in the process of my college applications, I hope to belong to a “color-full” campus. A place filled with diverse people from all walks of life, where I can immerse myself in listening, learning, and appreciating a multitude of voices and perspectives.
Sayid Achilov is a Dartmouth resident and will be a senior at Dartmouth High in the fall of 2023.