# Supreme Court poised to strike down affirmative action in Harvard and UNC cases - let's talk about the ramifications (now struck down, June 29, 2023)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-poised-to-strike-down-affirmative-action-in-harvard-and-unc-cases-lets-talk-about-the-ramifications-now-struck-down-june-29-2023/981710>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 27, 2023, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-poised-to-strike-down-affirmative-action-in-harvard-and-unc-cases-lets-talk-about-the-ramifications-now-struck-down-june-29-2023/981710 "2023-03-27T11:39:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 14

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**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supreme-court-poised-to-strike-down-affirmative-action-in-harvard-and-unc-cases-lets-talk-about-the-ramifications-now-struck-down-june-29-2023/981710/261 "2024-01-05T16:18:24Z")

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> [@raspberry\_hunter](#):
>
> There are enough best-of-the-best freshman math students at Harvard, for example, to populate the legendary [Math 55](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Math_55) every year.
> 
> Now, I don’t know what the grade distribution of Math 55 looks like, but it wouldn’t be too upsetting to me if most of the people who actually finished the class (the wiki link talks about how there’s a pretty large drop rate) came out with A’s.

[“Don’t ask me what the reason was/ I took Math 55.  
I wonder now if anyone does/ Get out of it alive…”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFnPJD6lyD0) 🤣

Yes, your point about the drop rate is important here. One change that a lot of universities have made recently is prioritizing more flexibility in individual students’ curricular choices.

Gone are the days when, for example, all entering first-year students got automatically enrolled in Freshman Composition and College Math 101, or whatever, and then had to sink or swim in it that same term, irrespective of personal preference. Automated enrollment processing has allowed a lot more real-time maneuverability in students’ course choices.

Thus a lot more students nowadays are able to avoid sub-A grades in a course they’re not ready for, simply because they were able to get out in time.

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