How big of a disadvantage is being Asian in the highest income bracket?

Saugus · 10-25-2009, 10:50 PM

So I've been reading through the decisions thread, and I didn't see very many Asians with a high income bracket. It's kind of like I have anti-hooks...

Just how much will this hurt my chances? Or can I kind of BS and claim that I'm not sure about my ethnicity, and that my income bracket fluctuates? (The latter isn't exactly a lie.)

My parents were immigrants, but they went to college so I'm not a first generation college student...

My cousin went to Yale, but I doubt that that counts as a legacy...

And my disability isn't really tangible.

My ECs are slightly above average at best, and my academics are at best as good as the academics of a Caucasian with a medium income bracket...

chaucerspeare · 10-25-2009, 11:53 PM

Depends on what the admissions office is looking for in a given year. But yes generally your socioeconomic status and cultural background would reduce your chances by around 2% at most schools.
Again this is quite a rough estimate and can never be verified as there is allegedly "no discrimination based on race".

Saugus · 10-26-2009, 12:12 AM

^
Oh, only 2%? That's actually not that bad. Everybody always hypes up URM status as being huge. 2% is barely anything.

chaucerspeare · 10-26-2009, 12:16 AM

he is ORM not URM.
URM helps A LOT

sherpa · 10-26-2009, 01:51 AM

ORM hurts you more than high income.

Saugus · 10-26-2009, 01:53 AM

^
I'm I still an ORM if I say that I'm part Asian but that I'm not sure about the rest of my ethnicity?

I mean, I am full Asian, but technically it isn't lying because I'm not 100% sure.

sherpa · 10-26-2009, 01:57 AM

You're confusing me. Are you both sure and unsure that you are Asian?

Don't disclose your race. My half-asian son did not disclose and he was accepted. Good luck.

Saugus · 10-26-2009, 02:40 AM

^
My father is full Korean and my mother is full Chinese to the fulllest extent of my knowledge. So yes, I'm pretty sure that I'm full Asian. But on a small technicality, what if it turned out that I wasn't full Asian because one of my ancestors was adopted? That is theoretically possible, thus I wouldn't be lying if I said that I wasn't sure. But yeah... I'm pretty sure I'm 100% Asian...

They'll be able to figure out my race because I have a patently Asian last name. );

scrivener · 10-26-2009, 08:09 AM

Honestly, it seems like you're grabbing at straws... I saw another post of yours discussing your disability, and now this one about your race and income. Just realize that (statistically) you're probably not going to get in, so I'd start looking at some other schools, and just hope you get extremely lucky for Pton.

mam1959 · 10-26-2009, 10:49 AM

Saugus - the left's focus on race and affirmative action has done a number on you. Maybe not surprising since they support an apparatus that discriminates against Asians.

You scarcely look at yourself as an individual, even going so far as to compare yourself with the average Caucasian.

Dr. King was right - let's judge by the content of character. It is shameful that people who believe in his principles are now deemed crazed right wingers.

sherpa · 10-26-2009, 11:33 AM

@saugus - Don't worry that being Asian will keep you out of Princeton. Asians are only overrepresented because so many are accepted and choose to attend.

@mam1959 - What does "the left" have to do with anything here. Princeton performs its own admissions reviews; it doesn't subcontract admissions out to "nattering nabobs of negativity", "limousine liberals", or any other sub-category of "the left".

randombetch · 10-26-2009, 03:54 PM

Quote:

@saugus - Don't worry that being Asian will keep you out of Princeton. Asians are only overrepresented because so many are accepted and choose to attend.

And Native Americans are underrepresented because so many are not accepted (very few apply, very few are accepted; only 0.5% of Princeton has Native American ancestry). So by you're logic, you're saying it could be disadvantageous to be Native American?

Of course not because so few Native Americans apply in the first place.

Just like how being Asian hurts because so many more Asians apply than get accepted.

mam1959 · 10-26-2009, 04:13 PM

sherpa - that is a bunch of bull.

Affirmative action is the great shibboleth of the left. So much so it cannot be talked about plainly or openly. Of course, there may be conservative defenders of affirmative action here and there, but the great promoters of the practice - and by promoters I mean those that believe strongly in providing material and significant preferences based on race (if one is in the right kind of tribe, however) are on the left. As I point out, in the 60's affirmative action was never viewed being inextricably bound up in granting race preferences. Non-discrimination was the key principle. It has now come to a preference game - with the debate even embroiling Princeton, and as a very recent study (but using 1997 data) reflects, demonstrating discrimination against Asians (shocking, huh?). It is folly to deny that that the practice is anything but a darling of the left - they will hang on to it with all of their might. Having the right kind of tribal numbers makes them easily forget what a disaster our public school monopoly for so many K-12 kids happens to be.

People in the college admissions game all too often refer to themselves and their prospects in terms of tribal affiliation. Saugus' queries reflect the same. And the academic echo chamber does not like to talk about it. Doesn't keep me from doing so. And it shouldn't lead to an obvious denial of reality, either.

Saugus · 10-26-2009, 06:19 PM

^
When Affirmative Action first started out, it was to PREVENT discrimination. Now it's promoting it, and with the biggest disadvantage going to a MINORITY (Asians) none the less. It is the one and only thing that I do not hold a liberal view on.

I agree with you about Dr. King. Back then, too many people were racist so it had to be put into effect. These days, though? Not so much, especially not at a school like Princeton. There is no tangible difference between me and another person with the same grades and extra-curricular activities, but with a different skin color.

People like Jian Li get screwed because too many other people who looked like him applied. He should have won his lawsuit.

Oh well, I'll just not disclose my race like Sherpa advised and hope for the best. But my last name is one of those obvious Asian names. (Lee, Kim, etc.)

randombetch · 10-26-2009, 07:55 PM

Quote:

People like Jian Li get screwed because too many other people who looked like him applied. He should have won his lawsuit.

LMAO, that's taking it way too far buddy. He got rejected at many other Ivies, not just Princeton. And seeing as how his response to rejection is a lawsuit, I can easily understand why Princeton would reject such a loser. A 2400 is no guarantee of admissions at the HYPS level - not even close.

Colleges have to look out for their diversity - it is an important part of campus life. Also, they give a little bonus to Hispanics and African Americans because it's more difficult to succeed when you grow up facing stereotypes that say you aren't as smart as everyone else. It's called a self-fulfilling prophecy. Asians on the other hand grow up knowing that they're in the highest income bracket, are stereotyped to be overachievers, etc.

This is coming from an Asian by the way.