@circuitrider, I doubt Amherst feels like it lacks Asian representation these days.
Probably have to look at Midwestern and Southern LACs that aren’t as well known for that.
Of course, what if you really do like designing things, math, science, computers, piano, and violin (along with getting A grades in all of your classes and high scores on standardized tests)? 
How do you distinguish yourself from a kid whose parents used Amy Chua as a role model?
OP apparently wants to study engineering, so schools like Emory, Grinnell, Macalester, Kenyon, etc. would not be good fits.
OP, it seems as though you are fully set on blaming everyone else for your results and wallowing in your misery rather than looking at the man in the mirror.
Expecting acceptance into elite colleges is very shortsighted. Someone should’ve prepared you for what likely would occur, and they didn’t. When you’re applying to schools that have extremely low acceptance rates, you need to realize that the overwhelming majority of applicants have roughly the same qualifications as you. That’s what makes colleges look at subjective parts of applying like character, integrity, letters of rec, essays, and ECs. Somewhere along the line, you missed the mark. You have been accepted to some great schools already.
Only 3% of all 18 year olds get into colleges than accept less than 50% of their students, so you are already have achieved more than most.
What appears to be a separate, more competitive evaluation for Asians may not be quite what it seems. Consider that at some of these super highly-selective schools, there are groups of hooked individuals that have a competitive advantage in admissions. For a class size of 1,500, you might have:
[ul]
[]URMs (about 300 individuals typically enrolled per class)
[]Athletes (about 150)
[]Legacies (about 200)
[]Children of big donors, the famous, etc. (about 100)
[/ul]
While it is true that none of these categories represents a “quota,” those individuals who fall with these categories have a distinct advantage. Let’s assume there are 10,000 overall applicants for the 1,500 positions (overall 15% admission rate). Assuming a slightly higher admit rate (25%) for URM as compared with the overall 15% rate, and a conservative 50% admit rates for the other hooks, you would now have: 7,900 remaining applicants competing for just 750 spots, which would lead to an admit rate of 9.5% for those outside these categories.
Now consider that:
[ul]
[]a relatively high number of Whites (relative to Asians) would be included in the non-URM hooked groups, so that Whites would appear to be favored over Asians, but in reality the non-hooked Whites are admitted at the same rate.
[]Asians are generally much more likely to be applying into hyper-competitive and/or over-enrolled departments or disciplines (e.g., engineering, “pre-med”) with admission rates lower than the overall school
[li]Certain categories of extra-curricular activities (e.g., string musical performance) attract disproportionate numbers of Asians, such that admission offices at schools with many Asians may then devalue those ECs.[/li][/ul]
These may feed the perception of bias, even where non exists.
FWIW, while disappointed for him, I’m not surprised at all by the OP’s admission results:
[ul]
[li]Rejected: MIT, Stanford, Berkeley (out of state; Engineering), Duke[/li][li]Waitlisted: CMU (Engineering/Computer Science), UCLA (out of state; Engineering), UMich (out of state; Engineering)[/li][/ul]Individually, I would not have estimated the OP’s chances at better than 25% for any of these…
@TooOld4School I didn’t realize racism ended in 1964.
@OP You have a right to feel upset and feel dissapointed. Even so, I have a suspicion your essays weren’t that good, and you possibly came off negatively. I won’t doubt that Engineering is a hard major (even moreso as an Asian Male), but I do think that admissions is about standing out and displaying the best picture of yourself that makes the school want you. Colleges are not meritocracies; colleges are trying to build a class that fits what they want. It’s possible that you didn’t differentiate yourself enough from the standard applicant, even if you are an extremely unique person off of paper. Every school you applied to is extremely competitive and extremely selective and we’re looking for “something else”. Best of luck to you.
Randomness? No
SJWness? Yes
The more selective the school, the more “random” it can appear. When you are dealing with acceptance rates of less than 10% (be it for the school or for a specific major), and you are competing with a pool of applicants just like you, all very qualified, 90% of them will be rejected. Applying to more of them, does not increase your chances.
That said, why does somebody get into Harvard, but not Yale? Beats me.
Maybe you’ll get some good news tomorrow. You could do worse than the Rutgers Honors Program.
@ucbalumnus, then life is terrific because you get to excel in areas that you enjoy (and will still get to do so at many different schools) regardless of whether you get in to an elite or not.
The more selective the college, the more kids they have to tun down. “Random” probably comforts many and I don’t mind that. What I mind is how all the pieces get jumbled.
The issue isn’t being Asian American. It’s the flood of “qualified” kids from certain areas, wanting certain majors, etc, and how to distinguish among them. That isn’t so much about standing out for some weirdness, but having all the pieces fall together in the right ways. (Having all the pieces fit is often pretty stand-out, on its own.)
Lot of kids misstep because they make assumptions. Eg, “I’m top in my hs, thus I am top tier material.” And, many kids are not discerning about whom they listen to for advice. How many times on CC do we read, “I heard that…?” How many kids really do due diligence?
What Harvard wants is slightly different than what Yale does. Their environments and opportunities are slightly different, depending on what you seek. How many kids can genuinely write a good answer to a Why Us? (or any question that wants to see if you do know why this college?)
Most selective but non-super-selective colleges admit using mostly meritocratic criteria, for their definition of “merit” (which may not necessarily be what the applicants think). Of course, there are open admission community colleges which are not meritocratic in admissions, but not exclusive either.
Super-selective colleges have the luxury of building whatever class they like from an overflow of applicants who would be at the top of the heap at most other colleges. Being top end on academic merit is merely a qualifier to be chosen, but the chances of being chosen are still quite low.