AA: More harm than good?

[Kirk Lazarus]

just browsing around the board. i found this part of the article the most shocking:

"As a result, in elite law schools, 51.6% of black students had first-year grade point averages in the bottom 10% of their class as opposed to only 5.6% of white students. Nearly identical performance gaps existed at law schools at all levels. This much is uncontroversial."

something needs to be said for that..

Doesn't happen at my school.

[Outlaw22]

just browsing around the board. i found this part of the article the most shocking:

"As a result, in elite law schools, 51.6% of black students had first-year grade point averages in the bottom 10% of their class as opposed to only 5.6% of white students. Nearly identical performance gaps existed at law schools at all levels. This much is uncontroversial."

something needs to be said for that..

First of all where is the article from? And what defines "elite" law schools. Because practically all schools in the T14 don't release class ranks - so this information wouldn't be available for biased statements like that.

[imdashep]

I have to say, the pro-AA people made very few good arguments in this post. There are plenty to be made, and simply none were. Pointing out examples of success, or using ad hominum attacks, or just citing the vitriolic posts of the anti-AA people as a premise for your argument does nothing to counter the article in question.

Furthermore, with regards to elite law schools, many more people could do well at Harvard than get in. Hell, if you get in to a top 25 school you could probably handle the workload at Harvard. That is not the main point though, nor is it the argument anti-AA make regarding why AA shouldn't exist. Step it up

[Kirk Lazarus]

I have to say, the pro-AA people made very few good arguments in this post. There are plenty to be made, and simply none were. Pointing out examples of success, or using ad hominum attacks, or just citing the vitriolic posts of the anti-AA people as a premise for your argument does nothing to counter the article in question.

Furthermore, with regards to elite law schools, many more people could do well at Harvard than get in. Hell, if you get in to a top 25 school you could probably handle the workload at Harvard. That is not the main point though, nor is it the argument anti-AA make regarding why AA shouldn't exist. Step it up

LMAO.

[Astro]

Just look at the entire country of South Africa if you want to see how stupidly retarded and outright racist AA is.

Most asinine argument of all time.  Seriously.

[Astro]

Just look at the entire country of South Africa if you want to see how stupidly retarded and outright racist AA is.

Most asinine argument of all time.  Seriously.

you exaggerate and that makes your assertion less forceful.  htfh.

 

::clicks on LSN to stalk::
::is whisked away to a dark underworld::

[eastend]

I agree that anyone who get into HYS, URM boost or no, can make it there.  That doesn't mean this is true otherwise, especially in the lower teirs.  People could be accepted into schools way above their proficiency level and drown in the course work.  Just because that's true at the top doesn't mean that AA doesn't have the negative effect the article describes.

Ah, this old chestnut.
Yes, in theory, anyone with an LSAT score of 165 can excel at any top law school.  We see anecdotal evidence of this throughout this board.  Having said that, at HYS you are competing with the cream of the crop.  Would you rather be top of your class at Vanderbilt or bottom at Yale?  I wish more URMs would consider this.   

[eastend]

I agree that anyone who get into HYS, URM boost or no, can make it there.  That doesn't mean this is true otherwise, especially in the lower teirs.  People could be accepted into schools way above their proficiency level and drown in the course work.  Just because that's true at the top doesn't mean that AA doesn't have the negative effect the article describes.

Ah, this old chestnut.
Yes, in theory, anyone with an LSAT score of 165 can excel at any top law school.  We see anecdotal evidence of this throughout this board.  Having said that, at HYS you are competing with the cream of the crop.  Would you rather be top of your class at Vanderbilt or bottom at Yale?  I wish more URMs would consider this.   

without addressing your general argument, i'd like to point out that your illustration does not support that argument.  bottom of class at yale >>> top of class at vanderbilt.

Sometimes people use exaggeration for emphasis.  Before you ask, this isn't based on scientific study nor am I generalizing based on a limited data set?

[eastend]

Sometimes people use exaggeration for emphasis.

some do this better than others.

You've done a scientific study on this or are you just generalizing based on a limited data set?

[eastend]

That took a while.  Do you think it was worth the wait?

Only if my thesis ends up getting published.  So probably not.

I have laundry to do.  Enjoy your day, sweetie.