Instead of submitting SAT scores, take an ancestry-DNA test.
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Let’s open Pandora’s box today…
As previously reported, some colleges are no longer requiring (or accepting) SAT & ACT scores
See University of Chicago drops SAT / ACT scores … say, what?
The action is a thinly veiled move to “diversify” the student body by throttling the number of high scoring Asian-American admissions.
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I’m not a big fan of the commercial DNA testing done by ancestry sites.
But, they may be a tool for getting kids into better colleges.
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First, a flashback: years ago a work colleague crowed that his daughter got into the Univ. of Virginia largely because she claimed to be 1/32nd American Indian.
The basis: Elizabeth Warren-like family folklore regarding a great-great grandfather
Hmmm.
More currently, I spotted a NY Post article titled “My ancestry test revealed a genetic bombshell”.
The essence of the headlined story:
My dad was German, and my mother was Scottish-English.
When I went went on the AncestryDNA site to view my DNA matches … at least two-thirds of my matches had Hispanic surnames.
I realized, oh my God, I’m Hispanic!
All these years I thought I was German-Scottish.
Just like the commercials, right?
Surprise surprise surprise, surprise.
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Now, let’s get technical for a moment.
Also reported in the Post article:
DNA testing is far from a perfect science.
There’s really no oversight for ancestry testing.
There’s no independent testing that validates any of it with scientific certainty.
When these DNA-testing companies have been examined, they haven’t exactly passed with flying colors.
Researchers at Ambry Genetics, a medical laboratory in California analyzed the results of commercial DNA tests and found that only 60 percent of the findings could be confirmed.
The other 40 percent were false positives; meaning, the genetic variants were incorrectly identified.
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You can probably guess where I’m heading with this….
Why not have your kid spit in the test tube and see what the ancestry DNA testing says.
Like the lady in the Post article, you may be surprise to learn that that – based on the DNA test – your kids may have traces of a heritage that reclassifies them into a more preferred admissions category.
What the heck … check the appropriate box, staple the DNA results and cross your fingers.
After all, comparable strategy worked for Sen. Warren
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P.S. For ethical reasons, I don’t really recommend this strategy. But, rest assured that this is an angle already being leveraged by some applicants.
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The Homa Files 
August 17, 2018 at 12:12 am |
There is no “Hispanic” gene as it is a culture and not a race
March 18, 2019 at 9:48 am |
True, hispanic DNA generally is a mix of European and native American (as in the entire American continent) in different degrees. For most US hispanics means largely Central American/Mexican indian DNA.
March 18, 2019 at 9:44 am |
Sometimes is a case of wrong filiation. I believe there are more errors in the indentification of the correct “father” than in the DNA matching. Milkman José left his DNA imprint.