The business sputtered, but Leeds' attempt was enough to impress the admissions committee at Stanford Business School, from which he graduated in 2000.

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They point to essays that are at best lacking in authenticity, at worst a failed attempt to write what the candidate thinks the admissions committee wants to read.

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The Admissions Committee then starts to offer admission to the best candidates, and by the time you reach the round two deadline in January (my dates and figures are purely illustrative), there may be 250 or so places left.

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It is that self-reflection that ultimately allows the MBA admissions committee to understand how admitting this particular candidate will enrich their school community.

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"I hope your committee will agree with me that any alteration to university admissions arrangements which introduced discrimination against students on the grounds of their parents' aspirations would be grossly unfair, " he said.

BBC: Private schools 'engines of change'

Proposal 2 "allows alumni to simply drop in on admissions committee members to lobby for a legacy policy, " while affirmative-action proponents must "hit the streets with petitions to amend the Michigan Constitution before they can have the same chance, " said Mark Fancher, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan's Racial Justice Project.

WSJ: Supreme Court to Hear Michigan Affirmative-Action Case