Harvard’s secret system to avoid ‘too many Asians’ According to the analysis of Duke University economist Peter Arcidiacono, an expert for the plaintiffs, an Asian-American applicant who is a male, not economically disadvantaged, and has, based on his other characteristics, a 25 percent chance of getting in, would see his odds markedly increase if he belonged to another group. His chances of admission would be 36 percent if he were white; 77 percent if he were Hispanic; and 95 percent if he were black. Why is this? Among Harvard applicants, Asian-Americans have the highest average SAT scores and the highest academic index, combining the SAT and high-school performance. Somehow, though, they manage the lowest admission rates.... The Center for Equal Opportunity report notes the contrast between Caltech, which doesn’t have affirmative action, and MIT and Harvard, which do. At Caltech, Asian-Americans make up more than 40 percent of undergraduates, a proportion that has grown robustly since 2000. At MIT, Asian-American representation in the student body has stayed constant at about 26 perfect over the last couple of decades and at Harvard roughly 17 percent. A 2013 internal Harvard analysis, according to the lawsuit, said that Asian-Americans would make up 43 percent of admissions if academics alone were the factor.