Analysis conducted by the plaintiffs show that although Asian-American applicants overall are much stronger candidates than every other racial group on objective measures, such as test scores, academic achievement, and extracurricular activities, their admit rate at Harvard has been below the overall admit rate every year for the past twenty years.

Meanwhile, Harvard specifically discriminates against Asian Americans in the subjective “personal rating” measure, where admissions officers routinely rate Asian applicants as not having attractive qualities such as courage, kindness, and likeability. Never mind that alumni who have interviewed Asian applicants give high marks for their personal qualities.

The plaintiffs’ research models further show that an Asian-American applicant with a 25 percent chance of admission would have a 35 percent chance if he were white, a 75 percent chance if he were Hispanic, and a 95 percent chance if he were African American.