Perfect SAT not good enough?
SINCE ADMISSIONS POLICY IS ALWAYS A HOT-BUTTON ISSUE IN THE WOLVERINE STATE, I’ll point out this post on Volokh Conspiracy about Liming Luo. She received a perfect 2,400 score on her SATs but Katherine Cohen, CEO and founder of IvyWise, a school-admissions consulting company, thinks she might have trouble getting into the school of her choice because she’ll be competing against so many other Asians.
Gotta say that I find that pretty stupid.
David Bernstein writes:
Why should Ms. Luo be competing with “other Asian students in particular” as opposed to just “other students?” What does the fact that she’s “Asian” have to do with anything? [I understand that this is just Ms. Cohen's opinion, but given that she's paid to read the minds of admissions officers, I think it's same to assume her view reflects their views.] Is there any other industry in the United States, other than higher education, where it would not be scandalous to suggest that one’s opportunities will be limited because of one’s “Asian” background?
Even for “diversity” fans, why is the category “Asian” relevant? What do Fillipinos, Hmong, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Pakistanis [note: coincidentally, I recently picked up a magazine for Indian-Americans, which had an article expressing concern that Indians and other South Asians were being denied admission to prestigious universities for fear the universities would be "too Asian"] and so on have in common? Not religion, not culture, not even “race.” There is incredible diversity within the “Asian” population, and the idea that the various subgroups are fungible would be considered the height of Eurocentric arrogance, but for the fact that it’s the folks who are most likely to accuse others of Eurocentric arrogance who are behind such ideas.
No kidding.
That a school-admissions consultant would take the position that Katherine Cohen takes is just plain baffling. (via Instapundit)