Harvard Admissions Dean Largely Ignored Report on Factors Affecting Asian-American Applicants Melissa Korn
https://www.wsj.com/articles/harvard-admissions-dean-largely-ignored-report-on-factors-affecting-asian-american-applicants-153980665
Lawyers representing a nonprofit that has sued the school alleging intentional discrimination against Asian-American applicants dug deep into the internal 2013 study in court. In the process, they highlighted whether some criteria Harvard uses to assess candidates put Asian-American candidates at a disadvantage and how little the admissions dean did with the data when he received the report five years ago.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs will decide after the three-week trial whether Harvard’s admissions practices violate federal civil-rights law.
The internal study, conducted by Harvard’s Office of Institutional Research and labeled as preliminary, simulated what the admitted class would look like depending on which factors Harvard’s admissions office considered. The upshot: Asian-Americans fared best when the class was crafted based on academics alone. The share of Asian-Americans shrinks to 31.4% when recruited athletes and the children of Harvard graduates are factored in. When extracurricular and personal ratings also come into play, the share of Asian-Americans drops to 26%.
Asian-Americans were the only racial or ethnic group to see a decrease in their projected class representation with the inclusion of extra-curriculars and personal ratings.
Most elite schools consider a range of factors when determining admissions, in part because most applicants have stellar grades and test scores and are relatively indistinguishable on academics alone. The schools say they look at candidates in a holistic manner to ensure they have a good mix of students from different backgrounds, who can then learn from one another inside and outside the classroom.
The report shows that the actual admitted-student population, which also considers race, gender and other factors not in the internal simulations, was 18.7% Asian-American and 10.5% African-American combined across the decade that was reviewed.
The report’s introductory pages said the topics to be studied included, among others, affordability for low-income students, the impact of the engineering program on the gender balance of students and “Does the admissions process disadvantage Asians?”
When admissions dean William Fitzsimmons received the report in 2013, according to his testimony Wednesday, he followed up on discussions about the impact of financial-aid programs and changes to early admissions policies. He said he didn’t follow up on the section about whether certain factors put Asians at a disadvantage and didn’t pass the report along to the university’s president or other top university officials.
“These are some very unremarkable results here,” said Mr. Fitzsimmons, who noted that the projected class makeups were consistent with what the admissions office already knew. He said it was “good to have this information.”
“Our job is just to make sure that these factors are applied in an evenhanded way,” said Mr. Fitzsimmons, who has been Harvard’s admissions dean since 1986. He added that the school doesn’t hide what factors it considers, including references in its admissions materials about extracurricular activities and legacy status.
The Office of Institutional Research indicated in its report that further details around the personal rating, which reviews factors including teacher and counselor recommendations, essays and interviews, “may provide further insight.”
The personal rating is one of four broad areas that admissions officers consider, alongside academics, athletics and extracurriculars. Applicants also receive an overall rating.
Much of the case has centered on whether Harvard considers race in the personal rating, essays and interviews. The school says it looks for characteristics such as courage, humility and humor to determine whether a candidate would be a good roommate or contribute to the campus culture. As a group, Asian-American applicants earn lower marks on the personal rating than any other racial or ethnic group, and higher ratings on academics and extracurriculars, according to plaintiff court filings.
When asked whether it was a concern that the process might penalize Asian-Americans because of the personal score, Mr. Fitzsimmons said Wednesday, “It’s always a concern,” but the personal rating is a part of the school’s holistic assessment.
Mr. Fitzsimmons was also questioned Wednesday about the ties between Harvard’s fundraising arm and its admissions office, with lawyers for the plaintiffs highlighting a series of email exchanges he had about applicants whose families had made large donations.
Mr. Fitzsimmons said Wednesday that it was “important for the long-term strength of the institution” to consider for admission relatives of donors.
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