Affirmative Action Is Everywhere.

Essay by Muskateer06High School, 12th gradeA, December 2005

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Affirmative action is not something looked highly upon by many people. But many people who disagree with the thought of receiving preferential treatment through affirmative action do not realize the many different aspects of affirmative action that there really are, and the importance of it in most every decision for admittance into a college or university. Many people do not understand that affirmative action is everywhere, and through affirmative action, every single person benefits from it in some way.

Tessa Nunn feels that everyone falls under a sub category of affirmative action. She is not alone in her beliefs. Dr. Virginia Carey, a former Dean of Admissions at the College of William and Mary, states that preferential treatment on the basis of ethnicity and culture, socio-economics, religion, talents, legacy, and athletics just to name a few, are all types of affirmative action.

Many schools, such as Princeton and Harvard, admit students due to their parents' wealth, and ability to become future chairmen of fund-raisers.

According to Duke University, fifty-two percent of the 2001-2002 freshman class had parents that contributed monetarily to the University. Approximately how many of these students were admitted due to their parent's wealth? About five percent - and one hundred students who would have been wait-listed or denied had it not been for their family's money were admitted, states Daniel Golden, author of "Extra Credit: At Many Colleges the Rich Kids Get Affirmative Action."

Another category of affirmative action is social connections. Caroline Diemer, a previous Duke graduate, stated that if it were not for recommendations she received from two donors of Duke University, she would have been put on the wait list, instead of being admitted. Duke is hardly the only school to give preferential treatment to those who know alumni and money donors. Many...