College applications are approaching, and all my thinking about this defining time has not prepared me for one of the feelings I am experiencing. A feeling of being behind and wanting to catch up. I do not feel this in the typical sense—of not being prepared for the application process or not knowing where I want to apply. The need to catch up is rooted in my lack of connections to well-known schools.
As long as selective schools have existed, there have been people denied attendance to them. Slim acceptance rates and competitive applications are exacerbated by discrimination and biased selectivity. Further, and most unfairly, the existence of alumni has allowed for nepotism.
Some people have the privilege of looking at Ivy League schools. Others have the privilege of discussing them casually. An Ivy is just another school on the list. Another reasonable option. That is what separates the rich from the wealthy when it comes to college. For most, an application is only an application, and a dream is only a dream. With richness, applications become uninhibited requests, and dreams become futures. But with connections through wealth, applications become acceptances, and dreams become realities. This is something that few lucky children experience.
These children, these local “nepotism babies,” are not self-made, which helps remove some of my guilt around searching for a leg up. If others have their own advantages, it seems natural that I would want some too.
Of course, rich people can be self-made. But some elements of “self”—such as one’s social identity—are what help one get “made.” There is a reason why 40-50% of the students at all Ivy League schools are white (2020, TCM Staff13th October, and TCM Staff. “The Demographics of the Ivy League.” The College Monk, 13 Oct. 2020). Such reflects the ongoing work minorities must do to attain the same positions as white students. Money comes with the ability to provide nepotism to others, so even if the rich were not benefited by nepotism, they now have the power to benefit others.
I do have the desire to get into an Ivy League. Perhaps I want to be the model minority or I just want to name-drop my school, but I think it’s more than that. I wish to add one more Asian American student to the population and provide these schools with a new perspective.
There is a feeling of security when I imagine myself at an Ivy League. It makes me feel like a successful impostor, because I am not rich, or the model minority. If I can do it, so can you!
Recently, I have wondered, if there are so many people at these schools, how hard could it truly be to get in? Yes, a naïve mindset, maybe. Yet when I suspend doubt, I can start to believe. At 17, how much can you have done with your life? What did all these applicants do, that I did not, that got them into these schools? At a certain point, grades only get someone so far. They are a baseline, but on top of that, what are these schools expecting? When I think about it like that, I start to realize how much potential I have and how I do have a chance.
I’m beginning to treat college like a game. My strategy is to find advantages where I can get them and sell myself as attractive and desirable. Maybe if my writing is expressive and well-written enough, I will have a shot.
Maybe if I appeal to the principles of affirmative action, I will receive acceptance.
Affirmative action is an idea that white people often hate, because it forcefully pulls them from the comfort of privilege. It puts them on the same level as minorities by having schools actively search for new faces. When I first heard about affirmative action, I wondered if it was a good solution. Then, I realized because white people were explaining it to me, I was hearing biased perspectives. Thinking about it more helped me recognize that white people have been getting advantages their whole lives. Is it so wrong to provide equity for minorities? Affirmative action is not an advantage, and cannot shield students from racism. Yet, it can give minorities a closer footing to their white peers.
Affirmative action is my “nepo baby.”
Just as legacy students may experience the benefits of nepotism when applying for schools, now I too may be allowed a little help on my journey into the more prestigious universities. But affirmative action is not a privilege. Affirmative action helps place me on the same level as other white individuals. While I claim affirmative action to be my “nepo baby”, it is important to emphasize how it does not serve the same purpose. White people have never been denied because of their race. Affirmative action is attempting to treat my race like a nonexistent factor, which is actually more of an advantage than it seems. Because now, I am on an equal footing to the inherently privileged. However, race is always a factor when it comes to college applications. Either schools have biases they do not bother to correct, or they try to correct it through efforts like affirmative action—something I will take advantage of.
If affirmative action is “positive discrimination,” (Manneliasemstg. “What Is Positive Discrimination?” Manneliasem, 9 Sept. 2020) then nepotism is just the same. If one does not support affirmative action for that reason, then they should not support nepotism. Still, I believe that the two are vastly different. Affirmative action is a movement working to give back power to those who have been discriminated against. Nepotism is typically giving power to people who have already had it. Nepotism does not open up doors; it merely shows people through them. Maybe your race is what got you accepted, but to a certain extent, you must deserve it, right? Affirmative action is a chance to take advantage of one’s future.
One’s race may be an advantage when it comes to this process. People tend to search for people who look like them when reviewing applications—a fatal flaw that prevents groups from expanding their diversity and experiences. However, with new efforts to diversify campuses, schools may start looking for students who do not look like the majority, meaning a better chance for people like me to be accepted. It is important for schools to realize that even if they do not use affirmative action, they should still seek out students who offer new perspectives and backgrounds. As much as I like the idea of affirmative action, I want to be accepted into a school because of my unique experience, which is affected by my race, rather than just my race. My larger goal is to show how my race has given me the ability to communicate about self-identity and what this means to me. I do not want my race to be the driving factor that gets me in.
Nepotism will never not exist, and I can’t blame those who use it to their advantage. As disappointing as nepotism is, it is just part of life and an unfairness I have accepted. Therefore, I feel justified in my search for something that will pull me up a little more. Wherever I end up going to school, I hope my acceptance will feel genuine. The more I think about college, the more I want to find ways to get in. And part of me wonders if affirmative action might be the way.