> I went to MIT, and to this day I wonder how much checking "Hispanic" helped me there and if I "deserved" to go.
the problem with aa is not about people getting in that didn't "deserve" it, it's people getting in who don't have the means to succeed; elite colleges brag about their diverse admissions but don't talk about people who go on to fail when they could've succeeded at less prestigious schools
If MIT rejected applicants with better profiles because of the URM checkbox, in some sense they didn't deserve to get in.
I'm technically 1/4 Hispanic, but not at all Hispanic in any real sense. I forgot to check the box when applying to top schools. My odds would've had a large boost just for claiming an identity that's had no relevance to any area of my life. I'd call that "undeserved."
> if MIT rejected applicants with better profiles because of the URM checkbox, in some sense they didn't deserve to get in
"better" is subjective and imo anyone who goes on to succeed at the school is as good as the next person; there are lots of other equally arbitrary decisions that go into college admissions
the problem with aa is not about people getting in that didn't "deserve" it, it's people getting in who don't have the means to succeed; elite colleges brag about their diverse admissions but don't talk about people who go on to fail when they could've succeeded at less prestigious schools
if you succeeded then you deserved to get in.