<p>I did not know how to title this post :X</p>
<p>So, general consensus among these forums seems to be that Japanese, Chinese, Korean etc. students are at a disadvantage applying to graduate schools compared to African American and Mexican students with similar stats. However, how do Vietnamese and Pacific Islanders fall into this mix? Technically, we're considered Asians however our homelands (Vietnam especially) aren't exactly known for cranking out engineers.</p>
<p>So will my minority status as a Vietnamese female work for me or against me you think? Or am I just "Asian" and thus not really a minority in the college scene at all? Thanks!</p>
<p>For grad school? Your ethnicity won’t matter, one way or another. International students are at a slight disadvantage when applying in some fields because of the structure of student support that often includes US government funding. However, if you look through the results threads, you’ll see that many internationals had excellent success in the last round.</p>
<p>I think the only time minorities such as African Americans have an advantage is when it comes to undergraduate research. A lot of REU programs are designed to provide research experience to American citizens, especially minorities and those from universities where they don’t have research opportunities.</p>
<p>But like Mom said, for graduate school it’s not a deciding factor.</p>
<p>At some universities, there are internal programs designed to assist underrepresented populations enter a field (women in engineering, or first-generation college students in any field, for instance), but these programs provide additional funding lines for a program. They do not replace existing funding lines, and therefore they have no impact on admissions in general, since no group is favored in that process.</p>
<p>Generally, applicants do not need to know about these programs. Graduate program directors will nominate competitive applicants for this funding.</p>
<p>I don’t agree with your first statement, excepting as it applies to international students. Not as applies to Asian Americans. It is rare for race to be a factor in grad school, so I don’t know where that is coming from. For some male dominated fields, gender can be a factor, but you will still have to be well qualified. Like momwaitingfornew (baby?) said, internationals have a bit harder hurdle, but I don’t think race comes into question, excepting if your country has schools they are familiar and your LOR profs are known.</p>