As students primp and preen to wow their favorite colleges, there's one characteristic they can't control: their race. That's one reason voters, courts and politicians in six states have outlawed racial preferences in college admissions, while other colleges, fearful of lawsuits, play down their affirmative-action efforts these days. But make no mistake: race still matters. How much depends on the school and the state.
In Texas, public universities have managed to counteract the effect of racial-preference bans by automatically admitting the top 10% of the graduating class of every high school, including those schools where most students are minorities. But Rice...