Harvard Lawsuit

[sanantone]

Unless there are regulatory requirements as part any government funding they get, a school can choose who to admit and reject based on their own criteria, particularly in highly competitive schools like Harvard.

I've always assumed it was considered general knowledge that the children of wealthy donors, legacies, and highly visible individuals (which would apply to athletes and folks like David Hogg) get preferred treatment. The rest I assumed was based on merit and who brings the best overall package and potential for future success.

I didn't realize there was a cap on Asian students (or any students), which I find interesting and counterintuitive for a school that stresses academic excellence. The rest, as stated so eloquently by dfrecore, should be a "duh" moment.

I think the point is being missed that any school can tweak criteria and application scoring rubrics to discriminate against any group. Getting rid of a cap won't change anything as long as Harvard says that many of the Asian applicants aren't a right "fit." Giving preferential treatment to legacy, athlete, and donor applicants is also counterintuitive for a school that stresses academic excellence.

The courts have already said that colleges and universities have a right to consider race in order to make their student bodies diverse, but people are still suing over it.

Legacy and athlete admits are common knowledge, but it was not known that Harvard was keeping a donor list to hand to the Dean.