biker77

I have a question, which i was told to post here: Let me preface this by saying this may be a stupid question. I may be way over-thinking (and overstressed about this). Anyway, would it be in my favor, given I'm a Caucasian/white, to NOT fill out the optional race question?

fabrizio

You are always free to decline self-identification. The choice is yours.

tokenadult

Yet another newspaper article about race issues in the United States:

Rise of the Tiger Nation: Asian-American Success - WSJ.com

biker77

I understand it's optional; what I'm wondering is whether it's to my advantage to not fill it out.

fabrizio

I can't give you the answer you're looking for because no one outside of the admissions office of the particular college you're applying to knows. All I can say is that if it bothers you, or if you're concerned, don't self-identify.

sbjdorlo

In the article, it states, "Asian-Americans vote mostly liberal..."

Curious as to why that is, given the issues discussed here.

ucbalumnus

Re: #201

The social conservatism that is associated with the political right in general is often seen as being unfriendly to "outsider" groups (e.g. immigrants, non-whites, non-Protestants and especially non-Christians, as "outsiders" relative to the core of the social conservatives), even if some of the espoused values may be popular among these same groups.

Also, the Asian American population is younger and more urban, which tends to be associated with political left voting patterns.

Also, while people tend to see the argument of this thread as an Asian vs. URM one, many Asian people also see it as an Asian vs. white one -- i.e. they are suspicious that Asian applicants are disfavored in college admissions to allow more white (as well as URM) applicants in (and there are a lot more white applicants and admits than URM applicants and admits). So this issue is not necessarily one that the political right automatically gains Asian support on.

toughyear

Re: #201 & #202

#202 is an excellent answer to #201. Personally I never voted republican in my 30 yrs in this country (a babyboomer) because of the "social conservatism that is associated with the political right" among other things. But over time I realize that the liberal policies are not necessarily good for asian americans: affirmative action (in college admission), healthcare deform - obamacare -- (asian americans are more in the provider side as doctors and small business owners, and due to obamacare, asian americans lose that one industry in which they have comparative edge -- hard working and good brain --to fulfill their 'american dream'. Note that asians are very poorly represented in other industries such as professional sports industry, entertainment industry -- the two industries which have as many hispanics and blacks as whites -- poor representations in politics, legal, and financial industries. Perhaps Asians now need to become much more 'entrepreneurial' to fulfill their american dream). I was disillusioned by what Obama is not and by what he has done. Agree a lot with what Richard Cohen says in his column "The president who seems not to care" but I won't be voting for him again.
Richard Cohen: Obama, the president who seems not to care - The Washington Post

I agree with #202 in that the college admission practices suppress asian american applicants in favor of both whites and URM's (they use affirmative action as a legalized discriminating tool, and the legacy admission makes things only worse for asian applicants.) The artificial putdown on asians to create rooms for others including whites and URMs. It is easy to see if you look at the UC's and colleges which use race-blind merit-based admission policy.

Look at the video in this link about the economic contribution by asian americans.
Is it true that there is a 40-50% acceptance rate for 2400ers?

sbjdorlo

Well toughyear, you'll have four more years of policies you aren't fond of. The people have spoken apparently.

ucbalumnus

Over 70% of Asian voters voted for the candidate that toughyear said s/he won't vote for. Also over 70% of Latino voters and over 90% of black voters. It is likely that members of all of these groups saw the other candidate's party's social conservatism as being unfriendly to them, among perhaps other things. That the other candidate and his party appeared to be most interested in the economic interests of the top 0.1% income may have given some of the top 10%/5%/1% income pause as well.

sbjdorlo

I guess it depends on where you get your news and what you choose to believe. Apparently, issues like race in admissions and affirmative action aren't deal breakers by any means. As a lower/middle income family representative, I find this all very enlightening!

Dionram28

I am guyanese, however on the common app, the way that my race is catagorized, is black-hispanic. However, I am also considered asian-indian. Which should i use.

Philovitist

black-hispanic

ucbalumnus

You can check all that apply.

Philovitist

But you'd be most benefitted by selecting black-hispanic.