What do you guys think of my situation?

[pandamafia]

Hi everyone!

Second time poster, long time reader! Haha!  Anyways, I just got offered a good scholarship from a school I really want to attend. I'm excited. But I feel a little guilty. First of all I'm not in the URM category but I am Chinese. The scholarship was a diversity scholarship, so guess that means anyone but White?

So here's my story:

I’ve always had problems with the issue of diversity. I believe I got into Bucknell, my UG, because they wanted to boost their diversity. Honestly, my SAT score was in their low range. I think if I were white I would have not been admitted. The scholarship from Bucknell was also diversity scholarship. Now, this law school is offering me a diversity scholarship. I mean White people need money too.

I began to think if my ethnicity brought me any disadvantages and in a way it has. I learned English and Chinese at the same time but then forgot all my Chinese and then my English turned out kind of crappy. I went to Philadelphia public schools my whole like....ENOUGH SAID about that! I did live in a very bad, high crime rate area my whole life and I worked a lot of hours in my parents' Laundromat. I had to do a lot of things for myself since my parents couldn't speak English. Both LS and UG knew of my past since I wrote about it in my Personal Statement...but I'm sure some white people have had terrible pasts...(Slim Shady). I feel guilty but I'm going to run with it.

Has anyone else been in this situation? At first I felt like a sell out for not just saying, " I DESERVE IT!" But I believe that someone who wants to be a lawyer should be able to look at both sides of an issue.  Plus, I think this is an interesting thing to discuss.

Thanks!

[SkullTatt]

Asians are overrepresented (or I guess you could say, fully represented) at lots of schools, but I'm sure there are schools (especially rural, southern, etc.) where that is not the case. So you may qualify as diverse at those schools whereas you wouldn't at other schools.

Plus, since you grew up in a high-crime area and overcame disadvantages, that is something schools like to reward. So basically, as long as you did not lie or mislead the school to get where you are, just accept the scholarship and don't stress about it.

[Pittman]

I believe that it is ethically acceptable to characterize the hardships one has faced inasmuch as one tries to convey them objectively rather than by using unwarranted hyperbole. I am a white male and, like you, I have faced notable hardships. Since circumstances beyond my control have "held me back," I intend to make note of them in my law school application.
   Conveying their severity and impact in my application may not drastically increase my chances to be admitted to my choice law school. For instance, I realize that a male of minority descent may have a head-up on me in the admissions process even if circumstances beyond his control, i.e. racism that has hampered or will hamper his efforts, still have not or will not hold him back to the same degree that my circumstances have held and continue to hold me back. Yet I trust that admissions officers still will consider my case uniquely; and, in no way can I be sure of the degree to which race has a truly detrimental impact on certain minorities vis-a-vis that to which my extenuating circumstances have hindered my efforts.

[Pittman]

(Please note that I have the utmost sympathy for anyone negatively affected by discrimination and for the struggles faced by all persons to overcome this unacceptable social obstacle.)

[cayberr]

Asians are overrepresented (or I guess you could say, fully represented) at lots of schools, but I'm sure there are schools (especially rural, southern, etc.) where that is not the case. So you may qualify as diverse at those schools whereas you wouldn't at other schools.

Plus, since you grew up in a high-crime area and overcame disadvantages, that is something schools like to reward. So basically, as long as you did not lie or mislead the school to get where you are, just accept the scholarship and don't stress about it.

Seconded.

I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit.  You probably have more to offer than simply being Chinese.  Asians in law school?    Take the scholarship and do well with it.

[metzger]

Hi everyone!

Second time poster, long time reader! Haha!  Anyways, I just got offered a good scholarship from a school I really want to attend. I'm excited. But I feel a little guilty. First of all I'm not in the URM category but I am Chinese. The scholarship was a diversity scholarship, so guess that means anyone but White?

So here's my story:

I’ve always had problems with the issue of diversity. I believe I got into Bucknell, my UG, because they wanted to boost their diversity. Honestly, my SAT score was in their low range. I think if I were white I would have not been admitted. The scholarship from Bucknell was also diversity scholarship. Now, this law school is offering me a diversity scholarship. I mean White people need money too.

I began to think if my ethnicity brought me any disadvantages and in a way it has. I learned English and Chinese at the same time but then forgot all my Chinese and then my English turned out kind of crappy. I went to Philadelphia public schools my whole like....ENOUGH SAID about that! I did live in a very bad, high crime rate area my whole life and I worked a lot of hours in my parents' Laundromat. I had to do a lot of things for myself since my parents couldn't speak English. Both LS and UG knew of my past since I wrote about it in my Personal Statement...but I'm sure some white people have had terrible pasts...(Slim Shady). I feel guilty but I'm going to run with it.

Has anyone else been in this situation? At first I felt like a sell out for not just saying, " I DESERVE IT!" But I believe that someone who wants to be a lawyer should be able to look at both sides of an issue.  Plus, I think this is an interesting thing to discuss.

Thanks!

 

 
 I admire someone who benefits from higher education's desire for "diversity" but can still see that the issue is complex and not altogether unambiguous.

[Grunt]

Diversity scholarships aren't just for the benefit of the individual student.  They are also meant to benefit the overall student body by ensuring diverse points of view within the classroom and, hopefully, within the legal profession.

[metzger]

Diversity scholarships aren't just for the benefit of the individual student.  They are also meant to benefit the overall student body by ensuring diverse points of view within the classroom and, hopefully, within the legal profession.

  You can ensure different viewpoints just by having a diverse mix of races? That's transparently false, and frankly, more than a little racist. Do different races automatically have different points of view? You seem to think so. What about different average levels of intelligence, Mr. Racist?

  If diversity was only about different points of view, then it could easily be satisfied by recruiting people of the same race with different viewpoints.