I'm asian applying to college

tylerss
Wed, 19 Aug 2015 12:23:52 +0000

I’m just starting my application process so please forgive me if I get any information wrong (just correct me). I’ve read discussions all across this forum and countless others about this very topic - affirmative action and asians in college. I get it, to some extent. We’re “overrepresented.”

IT SUCKS. Not necessarily because my chances are “lower” of getting into top colleges, but because of the mere fact ALL Asians are grouped together, as if we have similar cultures or values or upbringings or stories.

I’m Vietnamese. My parents and their families grew up working fields, and the only reason I am in America now is because they had no other choice but to leave all their possessions behind during the war, hop on a boat, and pray that they made it ashore ANYWHERE before running out of food. Education has never been a high priority there, like in many SE asian countries, or here, in America.

It’s a very different narrative than some East Asian families who moved to America purely so that their son/daughter could get a good education and offered them the support and resources to do just that. (A broad generalization I know)

The Vietnamese-American population (and others like Laos and Cambodia) have more than double the US average for people with less than a high school degree, and we lag behind the US average for high school degrees or bachelors and higher. That’s just the US average!! Compare us to other Asian-Americans like the Chinese, Korean, or Japanese and the difference is even more pronounced.
https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/AAPI-Vietnamese-factsheet.pdf
Korean: https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/AAPI-Korean-factsheet.pdf

Someone please tell me that colleges take all of this into consideration when evaluating my “asian” demographic. I hate to sound like I’m complaining but it’s just sooooo hard when people say that asians do well naturally because of their values since It was never that easy for me and other Vietnamese kids I know.

I thought affirmative action was meant to help underrepresented people in college and I feel like some asians fit that card despite being “asian.”

Do colleges treat all asians the same or am I just misinformed? Maybe they don’t do it purposefully - but when the CDS only has “Asian” to define an entire continent of cultures, they might have to treat us all the same because every asian kid, despite their backgrounds, will count as just an “asian” kid. I know the Common App asks you about where specifically you’re from but is that something they even take note of?

Does anyone have any insight on this? I’m worried that despite achieving in my own community, it won’t be enough pleaseeeeee put my mind at ease