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[pamplemoose]

I just wanted to ask what role (if any) an applicant's race or socioeconomic status plays in graduate admissions.  I know that it is a factor when applying to college, but I had thought it had no bearing on graduate admissions (until reading some threads on AA & faculty recruitment).

[historian]

Where I am they *love* the "first generation college student" narrative in an application. Trumps anything else. I have no idea if that is regional (South) or local but all anyone has to do is hint at that status and admission/money will follow.

[cropguru]

This was in the news recently concerning the University of Michigan law school:  Grutter v. Bollinger

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-241.ZS.html

Earlier, Gratz v. Bollinger, undergrad, University of Michigan.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-516.ZS.html

[pamplemoose]

I am a female minority applying to Ph.D programs in a social sciences, so this is also a practical question.  Do committees care?  Some schools asked for a diversity essay, and I only talked about race in passing (I'm not for AA based on race, or rather, I think race if it is a factor should not be weighted as heavily as class; otherwise the Black students, at least at elite institutions, end up being predominantly sons and daughters of African diplomats or other elite families).  But I did talk about poverty and the reasons why my experiences with it a) contributed to lackluster grades the first 2.5 years of college (I went from a 3.0 to a 3.9) and b) how I think my diverse experiences have given me a perspective which may be rare in the academy.

Anyway, my question really is, will committees take all this into consideration when evaluating certain unusual aspects of my record?

[acrimone]

I have no idea nowadays.  I know that I wouldn't have gotten into such a good law school if I hadn't been brown.  Not with my undergraduate record.

[slac_vap]

As recently as five years ago, the grad school that I attended had different GPA and GRE cut-off scores for applicants who identified as non-White.  The wisdom behind that was knowledge that the GRE and other standardized scoring practices are likely imperfect measures that may be subtley biased such that they favor White students. 

After that first cut though, all applicants were presumably on equal ground.  In reading application essays, research experience and interest, and particularly "fit" with a certain research advisor were stressed- at least officially.

[tenured_feminist]

Depends a lot on the school. Some are well known for reaching out to diversify their disciplines.