<p>Sorry for the late reply, guys! (/sob less than two months until the APs Q_Q)</p>
<p>Anyway…this is proof of the defensive nature some Asians can get. </p>
<p>@leo118: I wasn’t directly referring to Asians when I mentioned the rice part, but people naturally assume… All different cultures eat rice. How do you know I wasn’t referring to Hispanics or even Africans? The “rice” comparison/analogy shows the degree of small-mindedness certain people can get regarding defensiveness of their culture. When I mean by “you can’t have a class of people who eat just rice”, I was referring to the impossibility and utter inefficiency of recruiting people who are narrow minded (and thus receive the short end of a liberal college education). I’m sorry. Rice was a staple food that came to my mind first. I guess the proper analogy would be people who eat only white bread, but my cultural heritage influenced thought-processes (and the fact that I hadn’t eaten lunch) and made me use rice in replacement of white bread. Maybe I should’ve said “people who only eat white rice”, but then I might have gotten outrage about more racial discrimination. (;</p>
<p>@xabsox: Harvard does not need to use strict capitalist philosophy when it has the largest university endowment in the world. Even though it’s true the Ivies, in particular Harvard, wants the best students (who doesn’t?) and has the means of getting them, sometimes the Asian standard of perfection/success is not Harvard’s standard. Affirmative action is a guard against people a) who only want to go to Harvard for the name b) who have been forced to follow strict studying guidelines from a young age by meticulous parents c) who lack a true sense of what they want and yet want to “deviate” from the norm. Nobody can say that Harvard, or any other college, uses Affirmative Action because it’s prejudiced against Asians. They have to be more open-minded than that! (Liberal institutions, man. Liberal and private.)</p>
<p>@neorobie: Asians DO compete with the “best” of other races. They compete with them already… You think that affirmative action should be removed, but you do realize that there is more to life than just competitiveness in college admissions, right? Race is considered a factor in the corporate world as well. Companies have quotas regarding race— if you say that college admissions shouldn’t be race-based, then the job market might as well be blind to everything but your resume.
Eliminating affirmative action in college admissions just isn’t practical. It’s the real world. You have to admit that even after college, you’re going to face “prejudice” no matter what race you may be. If Asians hate Harvard based on how “skewed” its views are based on affirmative action, then they shouldn’t apply to the school at all. (lol. My philosophy is to only apply to a school if you love everything about it…) </p>
<p>As for motivation to be distinguished, you have to realize that “the whole group” does not have the same cultural identity, financial background, and social guidance that you have. Harvard realizes that. Most people realize that. Not everybody was born with parents willing to pay over 2k for SAT tuition. You think it’s unfair for Asians to try harder to be unique, but don’t you think it’s even more unfair that other races may have to struggle to even meet the norm? </p>
<p>People may think that affirmative action is a “disadvantage” for Asians, but they have to realize in the long run it promotes cultural identity and pride. It’s hard keeping up with the high standards, but at least people realize they’re there.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, think what you want. This may just be the naivete speaking.</p>