In my senior year of high school, I was called to the counselor’s office on account of a student accusing me of lying about my financial status on my WashU application. This student was under the impression that my financial situation was the reason for my acceptance and reported false claims to the counseling department in hopes of revoking my acceptance. 

My counselor called me to her office and told me the accusation. I expected her to explain that students often get jealous and competitive when it comes to elite university acceptances. However, she instead warned me about “embellishing” details on my application and advised me not to tell other students about my acceptance to prevent them from feeling uncomfortable.

This was my second counselor in high school. I requested a new counselor after my first counselor called me “a broke Latina.” He said this in a joking manner like “don’t worry you’re a broke Latina” when I expressed my anxiety about college acceptances. 

Both students and counselors in my high school believed that attributes like lower socioeconomic status and Hispanic identity were a “leg up” in a university application. 

For this reason, some people who do not belong to marginalized groups are jealous of those who do, but only in this specific instance. Non-minority identities are not really jealous of people who face systematic oppression, but the minute they think something benefits them, they are jealous and completely oblivious to their own identities, which privilege them every day. 

Social media serves as a lens through which we can use creators’ opinions, viewer’s feedback, and the popularity of videos to gauge the perspective of the larger population.

One TikTok video with over 380,000 likes features the creator, Bella Waggoner, throwing her hands up to a melancholy sound, and text that reads, “applying for college but i’m white, haven’t had any trauma, straight, and my household income isn’t bad.” This pairing of qualities inadvertently draws a stereotypical relationship between being a minority and having trauma. Her video was also reposted on other platforms and accounts. 

Waggoner’s video was not only blatantly ignorant and insensitive but also inaccurate. Waggoner indirectly references and criticizes affirmative action; however, affirmative action actually helped white women the most.

White students have often blamed affirmative action for why they didn’t get accepted to certain universities and their peers did. Affirmative action never favored applicants of color over white applicants and people of color were still underrepresented on elite college campuses. It has never been the case where unqualified students of color are admitted over qualified white students just because they are poor or a minority. The case of Fisher v. University of Texas challenged this notion but ultimately, the Supreme Court maintained that considering race in college admissions is legitimate and constitutional.

One factor in this decision involved the consideration that people in marginalized communities face more barriers to getting into college, and looking at their demographics can provide admissions officers with a greater understanding of their resources and opportunities. Considering candidates from schools with drastically different levels of funding by the same standard contributes to the disproportionate representation of white students on campus. 

Affirmative action was eventually ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and is now not utilized in college admissions. This ruling has likely reinforced the vilification of affirmative action and the notion that marginalized people are unfairly prioritized. As a result, diversity on campus has been negatively impacted.

Less popular content creators Savannah Metzger and Chloe Bell believe their situation as white applicants with married parents makes it harder to apply for college. They’re so confident in this belief that they made videos claiming that it’s easier to get into college if you have divorced parents, trauma, or come from a low-income household.

Not only are these videos unoriginal, but they could not be further from the truth and speak miles to their ignorance. People who come from low-income households are 38% percentage points less likely to go to college. People with divorced parents are 12% percent less likely, people with PTSD are 68% percent less likely, and the list goes on. 

Still, these hurtful messages resonate with many people of color whom I know personally, as well as myself. Because of these stigmas, we can feel less capable than white and wealthy people, like it was easier for us to get in so we must not be as smart as them.

Of course, I don’t always feel like this, but when I get a bad grade, the voice that says, “You’re not really supposed to be here” rings in my ear.

One content creator, Katie Renee, spelled out the qualities she believes are less desirable and more desirable to admissions committees. Her video said, “writing college essays but i’m a basic white girl whose family income is good and my parents are still together BUT i do have clinical depression, anxiety, ocd, adhd, and an ed all while maintaining all A’s so all is good.”

To Renee, being white and having a well-off family serves as a detriment. Simplifying mental health disorders as a means to appear less fortunate and get into a university is both superficial and unhelpful. While the disorders she named have the potential to tell her story to an admissions committee, listing disorders and boasting the number of them as if it correlates to how desirable of a candidate you are is completely unfactual. 

Renee’s video undermines the historic stigma behind mental health. For centuries and still today, mental disorders have been looked down upon by employers. Each of the disorders she named has stereotypes that paint those who experience them as less qualified, less competent, or crazy. However, Renee sees it as a strength and her privilege as a weakness. 

This concept of “you’re only here because you’re not white” also manifests outside of university through the idea of the diversity hire. If you’ve never heard this term, it refers to a person of color who is allegedly hired because of their racial appearance, which makes a company appear more diverse and inclusive. 

This concept is deeply intertwined with colorism and racism, reducing an entire person to their skin color, and revoking any of the skills and qualifications that actually landed them their prospective job. 

None of the characteristics named in the mentioned content (being a person of color, being disabled, having divorced parents, having trauma, etc.) give someone an advantage or increase their likelihood of going to college. It’s unfair and hurtful that these stigmas are so commonly believed.

If you were accepted to a prestigious university or competitive position, it’s not because of something like your race. Institutions like these don’t make mistakes and would not accept someone unqualified. Anyone who says you’re only here because of your background is jealous and ignorant. 

You are supposed to be here.