Dockets, ratings, and 'tips': How Harvard admissions selects a student- Nik Puri

At Harvard University, over 40,000 applications are submitted every year and barely 2,000 students get accepted into this prestigious school. Although they deny it, Harvard is rightfully being accused of discriminating Asian Americans applicants. Their admission process is quite complicated. First the applicants are divided into 20 dockets by state or area. Then a small sub-committee will read the applicants files which contain materials such as essays, test scores, recommendation letters, and race/ethnicity. Finally, the reader fills out a summary sheet with comments and a ranking from 1 to 4. Surprisingly, only 100 applicants every year receive an academic rating of 1, even though thousands have perfect or almost perfect admission test scores and grades. Harvard claims they value "multidimensional excellence, but also students with rare talent. In fact, the Dean of Admissions at Harvard keeps a list of applicants with special interest, however, evidence emerging from the trial show that Asian Americans tended to receive higher academic ratings, but lower personal ratings than other groups.  Although it's certain to be appealed, U.S. District judge Allison D. Burroughs expects to issue a verdict after the conclusion of the trial.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/10/21/dockets-ratings-tips-how-harvard-admissions-selects-student/?utm_term=.fa227557ae87

This article was created by Nick Anderson on October 21, 2018 and was updated at 12:13 PM ET. This implies that the information provided in the article is current and up-to-date. Before I read this article, I always thought that the chances of getting into college is equal for everyone. I thought that grades and activities were the key factors to ensuring admission for a great college. Apparently, race and ethnicity matters too now. Similarly, this article relates to U.S history because it talks about discrimination of race, something that America has come by in the past several decades. This article was also directed towards the American population to inform them of Harvard's biased admission process. Finally, this article is important because it sends a message that discrimination is still out there whether we know it or not.