<p>I think the stereotype is computers/tennis team/violin/piano.</p>
<p>My guess is that Berkeley is the school to which voice of reason is referring. Unfortunately, colleges are still allowed to discriminate based on race, via AA being called diversity. There is a very long thread on this topic. This can help or hurt you depending on the school. Colleges that have a low percentage of one group, will look favorably on an applicant from that group, and vice versa.
Look outside of the Ivy league box and you will find many schools that would be a great experience. Let your unique personality and experiences shine in your essay.</p>
This is pretty good advice, I think. Other words and phrases that may seem like compliments but may not really help in this context are “polite,” “always turns work in on time,” “serious,” “studies very hard,” etc.</p>
<p>Cookie-cutter Asian: ECs revolve around Maths and Sciences. Want to go into Finance or med school. Plays the piano or violin etc etc. High scores in SAT II Physics, Chem, Bio, and/or Math. </p>
<p>If you are an Asian who wants to study non-profit management, is very much interested in humanities, and is not really interested in Math or Sciences then it is very easy for you to stand out and give admission officers a “breath of fresh air.”</p>
<p>I live in a place where 80% of the population is Asian. Most of these people want the “safe” route to success and wealth – Finance or med. Engineering is still popular with the more quiet, introverted students.</p>
<p>“Most people want the quick route to wealth”
Med. is now where a quick route, it involves 8 years of studies + 4-7 of specialization/residency
Finance makes bank in IB but you work 14 hours a day</p>
<p>Yeah, I realised that after I wrote it. Read my edited post above.</p>
<p>I don’t want to stereotype, but most Asians are pretty diligent (cultural values). Eight years of med school and working 14 hours a day is the “sacrifice” they are very willing to make.</p>
<p>I am very interested in the humanities. I wanted to pursue a career in politics, foreign affairs or public policy. However, I understand that politics is a very unstable job. Finance and law would be my second and third options as I am also very interested in these two. Basically, I want to major in anything OTHER than math and science. However, most of my awards and honors come from science because I have more resources in the science fields (my parents are both doctors.) I would say 57% of the résumé is made up of science related stuff and the other 43% is writing. Based on what I’ve said above, would I stand out to colleges and not fit as much of the asian “cookie cutter”</p>
<p>This is based on my experience.
My neighbor’s daughter was a science major, and she was a brilliant student with great essays and stuff.
But she got rejected from her dream school. Why?</p>
<p>There may have been many reasons, but one of them which I suspect that affected the most was the inconsistencies in her awards and her future major; she wants to study science, but won WRITING awards.
There was nothing that could prove her strength in science.
See? If you say to college that you like this and that, you have to have a proof that you did something related to your future major. I think your resume isn’t so inconsistent as that of girl, but I think it may be dangerous. </p>
<p>Applying with STEM major may make you look like a ‘cookie cutter asian’ as you said, but applying with
politic or such majors without substantial awards from such area(like MUN, JSA, student body governing organizations) may hurt you even more. This is just my opinion.</p>
<p>@paul2752 That isn’t true haha. I got into a few ivy league schools (including penn where I’m headed in the Fall) and other great schools as a computational neuroscience/neuroscience/computer science major (it varied by school) without many activities that related to my major. </p>
<p>IMO, these will be your handicaps when applying to Ivy League Schools: </p>
<ul>
<li>Subtract 100 pts from your SAT or 2 pts from ACT because they will assume you took prep courses</li>
<li>Knock .2 off your GPA because they will assume you had tutors </li>
<li>Cross out standard extracurriculars such as FBLA, S&D, DECA, Robotics, Volunteering at Hospital etc. because they will assume you did them for college applications</li>
</ul>
<p>Don’t worry, years later when you get a job, its your skills that matter more than your ethnicity. </p>
<p>^oh, maybe I mentioned it wrong. I was told that she wanted to study Stem stuff but her history in school was full of humanitarian activity.
I m saying that her activities and classwork didn’t necessarily showed that she was scientifically inclined. I don’t think it was a sole reason either, but possibly a good reason. </p>
<p>Or maybe, there could have been another applicant in her school who did more science thing than she.</p>
<p>Just like many others have said, yes there is a disadvantage with being Asian and applying to college. This was extremely evident when my brother was applying for college in 2011. My brother and I were born in Miami and have been raised here our whole lives even though Miami is mainly populated with people of Hispanic descent. My brother selected Asian on his college apps and was waitlisted to MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, and Dartmouth while others in his grade who were Hispanic were accepted and they did not have as high standardized test scores, gpa, rigorous classes, extracurricular activities, or leadership positions. I am in no way trying to be racist or put down people who are Hispanic, I’m just stating an experience that happened to my brother and he was told by his guidance counselor that the reason for him not getting accepted could strongly be because he put he was Asian and was competing against other Asians coming straight from China, Japan, Korea, etc. Even though I consider myself Asian because my grandparents are from India and China, my parents were born in the Caribbean and that is what I am going to put on my college apps. I think it would be best if you did not identify your race on your college apps, I do not know if this would help your chances or lower it, but its another option if you think you might not be accepted because of your race. I thought this article was interesting and even though it’s a few years old, I still think it still applies today: </p>