Demographics in the college admissions process—is it really a significant factor?

Answered

Hi there,

This is a complex question to answer because it has many facets, so I'll start with the easier part to answer; dual citizenship shouldn't have much of an impact on your admissions calculus. US citizen vs. International student is more important for financial aid decisions (typically much less aid available for international students, if any).

With regard to other demographic data, colleges typically employ one of two policies regarding ethnic/racial diversity: affirmative action or race-conscious admissions. The former is implemented by public universities by state law while the latter is used by private universities. Both policies work to increase campus diversity (and, in some cases, to avoid lawsuits, though obviously many race-conscious admissions processes are under fire in the courts anyway). There are notable exceptions -- for instance, California prohibits the consideration of race in college admissions by public schools -- but wholesale, both these policies are widespread.

In practice, this does not mean you should depend on your race or ethnicity to push you over the edge, nor does it mean you should see your race or ethnicity as a barrier in the admissions process. Rather, it means people of certain demographic backgrounds tend to have stronger academic profiles in comparison to people with other demographic backgrounds. In particular, Asian-American applicants typically have measurably stronger profiles than their counterparts of other racial/ethnic backgrounds. In part, this is an acknowledgement by universities that standardized test scores, for example, are not perfect indicators of academic strength, especially for applicants within certain demographics (this also applies to socioeconomic status).

Of course, there are other demographic factors that come into play as well. These include state of residence (for public universities), legacy status (mainly for private universities), and, in a limited sense, gender (usually only for STEM departments that are historically male-heavy). None of these factors outweighs the rest of the holistic review process, which comprises academic and personal elements, but this is why CollegeVine's chancing models take this data into account when considering users' profiles. It goes without saying that these are characteristics you cannot change; therefore, the effect of your demographics on your admissions chances isn't something you should necessarily worry about -- just something to be aware of!