Does Harvard Really Discriminate Against Asian American Students?

In the next few months, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. The plaintiffs are arguing that the university unfairly discriminated against Asian Americans in its admissions process, in part by giving them lower personal ratings. Since the case was first filed in 2014, Asian Americans, who largely support affirmative-action policies, have been torn. At a time when #RepresentationMatters has been a rallying call for Asian Americans, the idea that race-conscious admissions could be struck down because of our community has been painful for many. At the same time, many Asian Americans have this nagging feeling that Harvard did something wrong.

I understand those feelings. As a Korean American woman, I know what it’s like to feel lumped together, dismissed, and seen as interchangeable. But as a researcher, I am also attuned to the powerful role of cognitive bias — the quick, unconscious ways our brains can make us jump to conclusions without deeply weighing the evidence. Many Asian Americans already felt that the deck was stacked against them prior to the Harvard case. So when during oral arguments before the Supreme Court, SFFA attorney Cameron Norris said that “Asians should be getting into Harvard more than whites, but they don’t because Harvard gives them significantly lower personal ratings,” it reinforced the suspicions among many Asian Americans that despite all of their accomplishments, they will always be stereotyped and typecast.

Norris’s allegations were alarming, but were they true? First, it is critical to understand that the personal rating is more than just how nice Harvard thinks applicants are. According to Harvard, the personal rating is “based on all parts of the application, including essays, letters of recommendation, and interview reports.” It considers potential contributions to the campus community and “to society as a whole after graduation.” The personal rating probably should…