Getting Into Amherst These Days
03/30/2011
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NPR recently treated listeners to a "behind the scenes" look at the work of Amherst's admissions committee.[Behind The Scenes: How Do You Get Into Amherst? by Tovia Smith, NPR, March 28, 2011]

The quotes around "behind the scenes" are sarcastic, because not once was race or affirmative action mentioned, and I'm sure that once the NPR microphones were turned off, that's what was discussed.

Pat Buchanan gave us the actual "behind the scenes" in a column last year.

A decade ago, activist Ron Unz conducted a study of the ethnic and religious composition of the student body at Harvard.

Blacks and Hispanics, Unz found, were then being admitted to his alma mater in numbers approaching their share of the population.

And who were the most underrepresented Americans at Harvard?

White Christians and ethnic Catholics. Though two-thirds of the U.S. population then, they had dropped to one-fourth of the student body. [Anti-White Bias and Bigotry in Academia July 19, 2010]

Anyway, I could not restrain myself upon hearing this part:

SMITH: Intellectual passion is a must, says Parker. The students who get in are the ones who come across as genuine. It also helps to come across as different.
Unidentified Man #2: Vice president of the Jewish Club, president of the Japanese Society, an active member of the Muslim Club, and lastly, an observant of Hindu traditions.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. PARKER: If you read, it's all it's not gimmicky. I mean, this is a kid who's interested in all of that stuff.

SMITH: The committee buys it and the kid gets in...

Wait a second. Declaring yourself to be vice president of the Jewish Club, an active member of the Muslim Club, and an observer of Hindu traditions isn't gimmicky?

I'm hard-pressed to think anything more gimmicky.

Pro tip for getting into college: Load up your resume with gimmicky diversity of the non-white, non-Western, non-Christian variety.

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