What drives opposition to affirmative action policies? We test whether individuals' college admissions outcomes, relative to their expectations, influence their attitudes toward affirmative action policies and inequality more broadly. Using a retrospective survey, we find that disappointed individuals---those who were admitted to fewer schools than anticipated---believe that affirmative action played an outsized role in their admissions outcomes, have the lowest support for affirmative action policies, and are more willing to donate to anti-affirmative action organizations. They also hold more negative views about the academic qualifications of under-represented minorities. A complementary survey experiment provides causal evidence that disappointing news about one's admissions prospects can directly shift beliefs, reduce support for affirmative action, and make people believe that there is less racial inequality than there actually is.