The investigation began with a complaint from an Indian-American student in California who was near the top of his high school class but was rejected at both schools. Golden writes:
“Like Jews in the first half of the 20th century, who faced quotas at Harvard, Princeton, and other Ivy League schools, Asian-Americans are over-represented at top universities relative to their population, yet must meet a higher standard than other applicants based on measures such as test scores and high school grades, according to several academic studies.”
The civil rights agency doesn’t discuss the substance of pending cases, so there’s no telling what evidence the Indian-American family might have to support a discrimination claim. Mere rejection - - by either Harvard or Princeton - - likely would not suffice, as both schools routinely reject students with perfect SAT scores and grade-point averages.
