If you're Asian...

Gryffon5147
Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:20:46 +0000

The thing about Asians facing tougher chances to get into colleges is completely overrated. The whole thing has been overworked by a mountain of false/misleading facts and paranoia that it’s become just ridiculous. Somehow, it’s been coupled into the Affirmative Action debate, that the whole thing has become a jumbled mess. I see threads bordering on the idiotic, and the concept of the “stereotypical” Asian applicant, whatever that means, has become so ingrained in Asian high school students that they accept it as a given fact of life.

Don’t let people feed you that BS. You do not compete with other Asians for a limited number of spots, you do not face tougher chances for acceptance, and your “spot” is not being stolen by others.

It’s not just about the bloody scores! Yes, Asians face lower admission rates with similar scores but that’s because you haven’t looked at the other factors. I know people at Yale that are extraordinarily amazing. National synchronized swimmers, cancer survivors, people that can read ancient greek/latin at a level that they would have been fluent back then… etc. Many Asians tend to blame the system after things don’t go their way, but that’s because they only look at the process from only one perspective. Everyone applying has top scores and stats, that’s a given. But many that are whining don’t have much else than the standard CC laundry list BS. President of clubs, volunteering, some sports, decent scores at 97+ percentile. Rather than call it a “stereotypical Asian applicant” I call it the “stereotypical top school applicant”. And they, regardless of race or gender, have a tendency to get rejected. Yes, I know Affirmative Action exists, and I’m not going to debate whether it’s a good thing or not. People tend to argue virulently on the issue. However, I think it’s BS when people are blaming it for the “Asian” admit rate. It is statistically proven that Asians have the same admit rate as Whites should they factor in the recruited athletes and legacy considerations.

Do not get caught up in this issue. It is overblown to the point of lunacy. Do your best, and pursue the things that interest you. Every year this issue comes up on CC, it just seems that the responses are getting worse. Now people don’t even debate whether it’s true or not. Now it’s just “I’m Asian. That sucks to be me”.

Ooh… 2600 posts. I fail at life don’t I…? :)