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Just last year when I was filling out my university applications, I found a question at the end which asked me of my racial origin. Despite the assurance following the question that it was simply for data collection and wouldn't affect my applications, I was disgusted at the fact that it was even there. When did where we were born affect our abilities to learn? Where are the justification that applications should be judged on the colour of our skin? As much as society frowns upon racial discrimination and we fervently deny to have any association with racism, it's a sad fact that race still plays an influential factor in many parts of life. So no, race should not be considered as part of college admissions.

Tertiary education, like occupations, should be judged strictly on merit. Students who have worked hard, sacrificed their social life and sleep in order to get the better grades should not be told that they were rejected not because they didn't try hard enough but by a factor that they were born with, a factor that they can't control - the colour of their skin. They were condemned from day one. Why should they even have bothered trying so hard and striving for so much if nothing they do will ever change their chances?

Certainly, people on the affirmative side would try to point out that we could even out and make things more fair through considering applicants' race. That way, everybody gets an equal shot. But having equal numbers of each race in the course is not fair. Again, I return to the question, when did where we were born affect our abilities to learn? Is it fair to have five whites, five african americans and five asians if the sixth brightest african american was smarter than the third caucasian? Wouldn't the college have rejected him/her because of his/her race alone?

In the end, education should be open to everybody to have a shot at. Race has nothing beneficial to contribute to the selection process, so why keep it in? No application should even have any question, ever, on what your racial origin is. Even assurances of it not being taken into account doesn't make it okay. By making us put in an answer, that means somebody can have access to it, may look at it and somehow, influence the result of your application. In my medical course in Australia, over 80% of the students (of which I am one) are asians. Does that show favouritism for one particular race? No, because everybody got there through efforts, not skin colour. And I hope eventually, everything will be just like that.

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