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40  STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC. v. PRESIDENT 

AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE 
THOMAS, J., concurring 

T.  Sowell,  Affirmative  Action  Around  the  World  145–146 
(2004).  In doing so, those policies sort at least some blacks
and Hispanics into environments where they are less likely
to succeed academically relative to their peers.  Ibid.  The 
resulting mismatch places “many blacks and Hispanics who
likely would have excelled at less elite schools . . . in a posi-
tion where underperformance is all but inevitable because 
they  are  less  academically  prepared  than  the  white  and 
Asian students with whom they must compete.”  Fisher I, 
570 U. S., at 332 (THOMAS, J., concurring). 

It  is  self-evident  why  that  is  so.    As  anyone  who  has  
labored over an algebra textbook  has undoubtedly discov-
ered,  academic  advancement  results  from  hard  work  and 
practice, not mere declaration.  Simply treating students as
though their grades put them at the top of their high school
classes  does  nothing  to  enhance  the  performance  level  of 
those  students  or  otherwise  prepare  them  for  competitive
college  environments.    In  fact,  studies  suggest  that  large
racial  preferences  for  black  and  Hispanic  applicants  have 
led to a disproportionately large share of those students re-
ceiving mediocre or poor grades once they arrive in compet-
itive collegiate environments.  See, e.g., R. Sander, A Sys-
temic  Analysis  of  Affirmative  Action  in  American  Law
Schools, 57 Stan. L. Rev. 367, 371–372 (2004); see also R. 
Sander  &  R.  Steinbuch,  Mismatch  and  Bar  Passage:  A 
School-Specific  Analysis  (Oct.  6,  2017),  https://ssrn.com/ 
abstract=3054208.  Take science, technology, engineering,
and  mathematics  (STEM)  fields,  for  example.    Those  stu-
dents who receive a large admissions preference are more
likely  to  drop  out  of  STEM  fields  than  similarly  situated 
students who did not receive such a preference.  F. Smith & 
J.  McArdle,  Ethnic  and  Gender  Differences  in  Science 
Graduation at Selective Colleges With Implications for Ad-
mission Policy and College Choice, 45 Research in Higher
Ed. 353 (2004).  “Even if most minority students are able to 
meet the normal standards at the ‘average’ range of colleges