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The Law Of Admissions Standards

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It’s impossible to prophesy on what types of cases will arise. And it’s doubtful that anyone could have predicted the issues that would come with university admissions standards. Because lets be honest, no school wants to be viewed as the dunderhead who rejected the next Shakespeare or Aristotle. Many factors can play a role: GPA, SAT scores, extracurricular activities, and other academically related aspects, are always going to be taken into consideration. But there’s one other factor—it’s the one hairy, delicate topic that people tiptoe around—and that’s the race factor. Everyone cringes when the word “race” begins floating around.
So, the Supreme Court gave universities a blueprint for creating admissions standards: Grutter v Bollinger…show more content…
But without a doubt, universities have a rational basis for excluding some students while rejecting others. A university does not have the means to accept every single person that applies; it’s just not feasible. Therefore, they can create guidelines for granting a student admission. For example, examining GPA, standardized test scores, organizational involvement, community service hours, and the like, are ways that universities can accept or deny students. Not only is this rational, but it’s also necessary to ensure a universities success.
On the other hand, strict-scrutiny is a far more nitpicky. If a university implements standards that use race as a factor, then it calls for “for the most exacting judicial scrutiny” (Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978). Grutter and Fisher dealt with this precise question: Does using race as a factor in university admissions violate the Equal Protection Clause? In exact situations, it does not. If the admissions provisions are of the narrowly tailoring construct, it is permissible. Now let us turn to examining the nuances of Grutter and Fisher.
Beneath the watchful eye of strict scrutiny, the burden lies on the state, or in this case the university, to prove they have a compelling interest in having racial classifications. For universities, the compelling interest is cultivating a diverse student environment. And according to Chief
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