<p>Re. posts 768 and 770:</p>
<p>My STEM kid (the “URM” with 7 college physics class, 8 college math classes doing graduate level physics research this summer along with playing travel ball, working as a math tutor, playing his violin all over the place for money and service, and studying AP chem) <em>loves</em> writing! He would be happy to write a live college essay if he could have 3-4 hours or even 1-2 hours. His honors homeschooling literature class had in class essays about once a month and he learned to write very well. He keeps a blog and is writing a word book that he hopes to have published.</p>
<p>I have so many thoughts on the original topic and subsequent posts. I was just talking with a baseball dad from our 'hood whose son just finished his first year at UCLA. (He’s white) We agreed that his son is an inspiration to kids on our area who mostly go to the local CC or occasionally the local state uni. This kid’s the only one that I’ve heard do anything different. Another top baseball player, black, with educated parents, was looked at by Dartmouth, but apparently his grades and scores weren’t good enough and he’s at the CC this year. It’s a shame to me. My son will hopefully be another kid who can inspire others. Our community is very mixed racially and what holds kids back is such a complex mixture of race, income, location, frame of mind, etc. I can’t explain it. We’re not in a ghetto; we’re in a typically middle and lower middle class neighborhood but the mindset is discouraging. The ball player who got a look from Darthmouth moved from an even more lower socio-economic neighborhood into our neighborhood about 8 years ago. His parents are very into education. His father worked at a private university. They are very into civil rights and have talked a lot about the racism they experienced growing up in the south. Still, even with the move and their high expectations, for whatever reason, this son still didn’t do well enough in school to get recruited. The older daughters went to state schools away from home but from what I know of the family, all the kids were very intelligent and should have gone to “better” schools. What is it that causes kids in our neighborhood to not excel?</p>
<p>Contrast that to the friends my son has at math circle. Most are white, Indian, Chinese, Korean, and I think my son’s the only ethnic minority there. We’ve been to their houses. We know what kind of income most of the families have. We know how incredibly involved the families are in the math circle. My son said he’s the only one that has his license and drives himself! The rest are brought there by their parents. My son and I were discussing the fact that his other close Asian friend whose not in math circle has found a balance. He goes to a very good public school; his family has money but he’s not just interested in math and science despite his parents desiring him to be involved in math and science competitions. He likes humanities, too, and he’s a leader at his school and he’s been involved in two sports. He’s been able to strike a balance and I guess his parents have reluctantly allowed that and we both agree it‘s a really good thing. This is a young man I think that will do very well in college admissions this coming year. </p>
<p>We also know that college admissions were tough for kids at the math circle, both white and Asian. I don’t know stats this year other than one Asian got into UCB but apparently, no other top school, and was very upset. Another young man (White) is going to Caltech but apparently, didn’t get into other top schools. His accomplishments, which are very impressive, seem to be limited to math and physics. Last year, one of the top kids (white) got into Princeton but his accomplishments went well beyond math and science.</p>
<p>But here’s a thought. My son’s closest friend at the math circle is Asian. He and my son were both interviewed by the local paper for a certain accomplishment. He and his friend are about 10 months apart and have very similar accomplishments in science and math. His friend made USJMO this year (my son didn’t make it in his first and only attempt last year). My son’s SAT score is higher right now but I have no doubt his friend will retake and get higher while my son is satisfied with his 2320. His friend goes to one of the best private school and lives in a very nice house and neighborhood and he’s a very nice young man.</p>
<p>In reading the interviews, I was struck by something and perhaps this might give some insight into selective admissions. When comparing my son’s interview with the other young man, I was struck by the singularity of his focus, working one on one with his teacher and focused on this area for the future.</p>
<p>While my son talked about his love for the topic, he also shared that he plays Bob Dylan songs, he’s a math tutor and violin teacher, he emphasized his love of writing, his many years as a baseball player, and his desire to combine his love of math and science with his creativity.</p>
<p>Maybe (just maybe, I’m saying) some schools look at the overall picture and look for a broader interest base. Maybe it’s possible that schools look at the profiles of the students who are ultimately rejected and decide they’re looking for a different profile. Maybe they decide that a 2400 SAT, etc. isn’t the only criteria for what makes a successful student that will enrich their campus.</p>
<p>I’m still left with the discomfort of AA/reverse discrimination. It doesn’t seem fair. However, just because it exists doesn’t mean that all Asians with great test scores should automatically be admitted over others with slightly lower scores.</p>
<p>The second issue is one I have no answer for. What do we do about the mentality of neighborhoods such as ours? I’m not in favor of achievement of achievement’s sake. My oldest son loves to learn and has followed his interests, sometimes to the detriment of a higher test score or math competition score. He is ok with that. I wrestle with that but I let him decide how much time he’ll put into his studies (this is counter cultural to many in the Asian community as he knows; we have discussed this issue at length and our whole family had lengthy discussions about the Tigermom which has some appeal but my son said he’d run away if I parented like that). OTOH, why are the families not raising the bar on their goal setting and achievements? What is it that keeps families from bettering themselves, furthering themselves, and reaching for the stars, so to speak? How can we-our family, my son, our community, our country spur on families to break from the cycle of mediocrity? I really don’t have an answer but perhaps AA wouldn’t be needed if we found a way to address this kind of question and come up with a solution…but I fear it’s too deeply complex for a solution. (Though Ted Dalrymple tries to address one facet of the problem in his book <em>Life at the Bottom</em>. I highly recommend it.)</p>