[TrudyM]

The application process is very complicated and race is only one factor. No two colleges are the same in what they have decided is the best makeup for their school. However you are competing for slots within your own race at some schools. FYI when applying to most of the better colleges especially in the math and science programs, Asian Americans have negative points given in their profile for race because a larger % of Asians apply to college. Most colleges goal is for their population to mirror the population of the country.
I pulled these figures off the net.
In 2010 that would be 63.7% white, 12.2% black, 16.4% Hispanic, and 4.9% Asian and pacific islander. A lot of the Ivy league schools also don't want to take more than one or two from the same high school.
Whites use to make up 85% of college students in the 70's they make up 65% in 2010 aprox same as the % of the nation. Asians make up 6% which is higher than the colleges really want. So if you are Asian you have to have a higher board score and something special to set you apart from your class mates to get in. When my son went he was told as being half Asian he would be considered Asian and that if he wasn't in the top 10% of college applicants he had no chance of getting into a science program as 20% of applicants in the sciences were Asian. I am so glad they looked at the whole person and not just the numbers. He got in because he also had charity work on his list of achievements and was already accomplished in his field.