Page:Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.pdf/116

10 may decide to give additional attention to applications from students within that group.” 397 F. Supp. 3d, at 146.

The last step is “lopping,” where the admissions committee trims the list of “prospective admits” before settling on a final class. Id., at 144 (internal quotation marks omitted). At this stage, again, the committee considers the “characteristics of the admitted class,” including its “racial composition.” Ibid. Once more, too, the committee may consider each applicant’s race in deciding whom to “lop off.” Ibid.

All told, the district court made a number of findings about Harvard’s use of race-based tips. For example: “[T]he tip[s] given for race impac[t] who among the highly-qualified students in the applicant pool will be selected for admission.” Id., at 178. “At least 10% of Harvard’s admitted class … would most likely not be admitted in the absence of Harvard’s race-conscious admissions process.” Ibid. Race-based tips are “determinative” in securing favorable decisions for a significant percentage of “African American and Hispanic applicants,” the “primary beneficiaries” of this system. Ibid. There are clear losers too. “[W]hite and Asian American applicants are unlikely to receive a meaningful race-based tip,” id., at 190, n. 56, and “overall” the school’s race-based practices “resul[t] in fewer Asian American and white students being admitted,” id., at 178. For these reasons and others still, the district court concluded that “Harvard’s admissions process is not facially neutral” with respect to race. Id., at 189–190; see also id., at 190, n. 56 (“The policy cannot … be considered facially neutral from a Title VI perspective.”).

Things work similarly at UNC. In a typical year, about 44,000 applicants vie for 4,200 spots. 567 F. Supp. 3d, at 595. Admissions officers read each application and rate prospective students along eight dimensions: academic programming, academic performance, standardized tests, extracurriculars, special talents, essays, background, and personal. Id., at 600. The district court found that “UNC’s