<p>I'm reading Daniel Golden's The Price of Admission. According to him, Princeton has the lowest percentage of Asians in the undergrad population, much lower than peer schools like Harvard or Stanford. He goes on to describe how Asians are segregated from the rest of the students, rarely get invited to bicker eating clubs, and are relegated to the dining halls. </p>
<p>Though I think some parts of his book are dubious journalism, if the statistics about Asians are true then there must be some truth.</p>
<p>Is that true? I'm sort of worried now, since I've already chosen Princeton.</p>
<p>First of all, you don't get invited to bicker--you can bicker whichever club you want. If Golden can't even get his facts straight, I would be reluctant to give weight to his conclusions. It is true that Asians aren't as well represented in certain bicker clubs (Ivy and TI for example) as whites, but that definitely doesn't mean that there are no Asians in the clubs. Colonial, for example, has tons of Asians. A friend told me it was 50%, but this could be a little high. Princeton as a whole is approximately 15% Asian (compared to 21% at Harvard), and the Asian cultural groups (AASA, TASA, CSA, etc.) are very active. None of my Asian friends complain about feeling marginalized.</p>
<p>i believe there is 1 asian in ivy... maybe 0 or 1 in ti, not sure</p>
<p>if a book is telling you this info and then incorrectly states that you are invited into bicker, then i'd say it's 'highly' questionable...</p>
<p>colonial is very concentrated with asians because triple 8 and some other asian-ethnic groups decide to sign in... it's not like they are relegated to being in colonial... also, what happens at princeton is really no different than anywhere else... you have to understand, though, this is the one and only princeton, the best college on earth</p>
<p>As an Asian Princeton student I never once felt marginalized here and as was stated by a previous poster, Asian culture groups are very active on campus. As for Asians in bicker clubs, there are lots of Asians in Tower and Cap and more than a few in the others. Maybe Golden's writing held true in the 70s but it sure doesn't any more.</p>
<p>The current USN&WR lists 14% Asian at Princeton and Harvard, 13% at Yale.
Stanford has 24%, but that's California. UCLA has 38% and Berkeley 41%.
In "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle", a character searching for a guy asks someone on the Princeton campus whether he "saw a Korean kid". The response was "only when I open my eyes". Still one of the funniest lines in the movie!</p>
<p>The percentage of Asian students on campus from your point of view will depend on (1) who your friends are, (2) what you're involved in, and (3) what you study. I think it all to some extent depends on your personal willingness and your friends' personal willingness to make Asian or non-Asian friends. Suppose you are statistically more inclined to befriend an Asian student than a non-Asian student (because of things you have in common, comfort level, etc.), and suppose those friends were also more likely to befriend Asian students than non-Asian students. Then, the new people you meet through your friends are more likely to be Asian, and you are more likely to "see" that Princeton is a quarter or more Asian, because you're not running into everyone else as much. Whereas, if you are statistically just as likely to befriend an Asian student as a non-Asian student, and your friends are also distributed in such a way, then yes, you will see that about 1 in 7 students is Asian.</p>
<p>Which, really, is still a lot of Asian students. In the rest of the country, the population is not 1 in 7 Asian. </p>
<p>Also, I will reinforce that Asian students are not outcast or relegated anywhere. Amnesia is right about Colonial currently being the club that the Asian dance groups and cultural groups tend to join, but every club has some non-random core student groups that they can count on to join from year to year (this is a very good thing for the clubs). </p>
<p>The other thing is, of course there are some people who feel that they are relegated to some club or other, and they don't REALLY want to be there. This does not only apply to Asian students whose friends are all in Colonial and they don't want to be there -- I know a kid whose indie-loving friends are all in Terrace but doesn't REALLY want to be there, but is there because his friends are, and rowers/swimmers who don't REALLY want to be in Cloister that badly, but feel somewhat "relegated" there, and religious kids who want to join a club, but feel pressured by their friends not to. And all of those people finally decided that they were going to do what they want to do, and they're much happier for it.</p>
<p>As a Princetonian Caucasian (I'm mainly Irish and German by descent, I think) with lots and lots of Asian friends (including my boyfriend, who is Korean), I think this is rubbish. I am in Tower, where I know quite a few Asians, and have many Asian friends in Terrace and other clubs as well. The Asians that I know have segregated by certain qualities, just like every group - some gravitate to people who like to party, or like hipster music, or like discussing philosophy; some gravitate to people who like traditional Asian dance or speaking their native languages. One thing I have not experienced is having an Asian friend who felt "relegated" to the all-Asian experience or to a predominantly Asian club. The options are always there, for everyone. </p>
<p>By the way, frozen-tears, I'm curious if I know this Terrace friend of yours?</p>
<p>False stereotypes abound in regard to Princeton in general but they are pernicious in other ways as well. Asian-American students are often stereotyped as being interested only in the sciences. This is very far from the truth and youll find Asian-American undergraduates in every department at Princeton. By way of example, you might enjoy reading this story about the award winning young poet Tung-Hui Hu who graduated from Princeton at the age of 19. He began as a computer science major but then found his true calling.</p>
<p>I think there is no truth to the description that Asians are marginalized at Princeton.</p>
<p>There is, however, a sneaking sense in which the presence of Asians is de-emphasized in Princeton's admissions glossies relative to those from, say, Stanford, Harvard or MIT, and also de-emphasized on Princeton's home page, which features a minority of some sort or another almost all every day -- except for Asians. This is a subtle message that is picked up by some Asians, and I think the PR people at Princeton may not even realize this.</p>
<p>Still, I know Princeton well enough to know that there is no truth to such an impression.</p>