Yes, that’s my point. According the to the Common App you’re only one of five options.
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This. And that’s why I choose to ignore the demographic to some degree in chancing. It doesn’t account for mixed race - unless we’re going to assume if you are any percent Asian, you’re Asian. A lot of kids are mixed Asian.
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The only thing I want to add is that there have been threads where posters, including myself, have noted that being an Asian, especially male, can help at certain schools (because increasing the proportion of Asians is an institutional priority)…example, certain Northeastern LACs.
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I think there’s a lot to unpack in the OP’s post; some of it sounds like he or she’s making a strawman argument. I actually can’t recall any reply to a chances thread that posits Asians or Asian Americans are at a disadvantage in selective college admissions. And as to how an individual poster chooses to self-identify - isn’t that really up to the poster?
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True, but I’ve seen posts that even if you don’t report admissions officers know based on names
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I meant, how they identify on CC, not how they self-identify on their admissions app.
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Right. Good point. If colleges purport not to automatically disadvantage Asian applicants, why do so many posters assume that it’s a disadvantage? Maybe it’s not and some of it is just being from an over represented geographical area and applying to a competitive program.
I did read through some of the Harvard litigation and some anecdotes of students looking through their admissions files.
I think there is some evidence (only possible if you look at thousands of files) that “Asian” candidates are inexplicably scored lower on some rubrics that should be race-independent.
It’s not too far fetched that it is a factor. How big a factor, nobody knows right now.
The other thing I would like to know is if the consultant companies some colleges use to prune their list use race data as a factor.
It’s no “strawman” argument. There are several examples on the Chance Me’s.
My issue is not with an applicant’s self-identifying. It’s using terms like “Asians” or “ORMs” in conjunction with chance me threads and the apparent disadvantage it might cause.
There’s really not much “to unpack” in my OP.
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Yes, but that comes back to the general idea that a college that wants a certain type of student is less likely to be viewed as a fit by students in that category. This is not exclusive to race / ethnicity – it can apply to majors (e.g. how many students who are not pre-med or interested in biomedical engineering think of JHU as a top choice?) or other characteristics.
Getting back to Asian students and northeastern LACs and other colleges that may want more of them, it is entirely possible that many of those Asian students would not want to go to a college where they are underrepresented (<5%). For those here who are White, would you consider a college where White students are that small a minority to be less desirable on that basis, or would you expect other White people to do so?
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If that’s what’s happening on Chance Me threads, it’s wrong. Full Stop.
It is happening.
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Is there an official definition? I could be totally wrong, wouldn’t be the rifts time.
In the CC world of college admissions, there are URM’s and ORM’s. Minority and majority. That’s always been my interpretation. Based on the context of the thread, there is general acknowledgement that the over represented majority here on CC tend to be white or Asian.
My understanding is that ORM (with M = minority) usually means Asian, because White students are not necessarily overrepresented at many of the desired colleges that these forums tend to focus on.
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My kids are mixed Asian - I would want for them to be in a school where there’s healthy mix along with healthy mix of other demographics - that to me indicates a good diversity. A family member on H’s side went to a private high school that had very little diversity - as in 95 percent was not only blond haired, blue eyed but tall and thin as well. This family member kept pushing me to send my kids there but that was a huge turn off for me.
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Okay, so this popped into my “latest posts” queue. What would be the proper response? Who will be the first to ask him to be more specific about his ethnicity?
How an Asian Male got into ivy leagues with a 1370 SAT [Admission Hindsight] - College Admissions - College Confidential Forums
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That is an entirely fair question. As you pointed out earlier, many of the Chance Me applicants raise this issue on their own.
The trouble is, that I, for one, couldn’t answer your well-timed/placed question.
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Upon reflection, maybe I can, or at least give it a try. Perhaps something like this, “Asian is a very broad term, so, in and of itself, that doesn’t really move the analysis along. Moreover, each student is going to be different and judged by the schools on their individual merits and the school’s needs.”
Far be it from me to dictate to anyone how to answer a query like this, but I guess it’s the way I would respond.
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I do think that schools that may take race into account in admissions are facile at distinguishing between a Chinese student (often an overrepresented minority) and Vietnamese (often not ORM), provided they have that info. And they often do.
Maybe I’m missing something… entirely possible!.. but aren’t we typically discussing Asian-Americans (not internationals) when talking about ORM? Do AOs get information on an Asian-American’s family origins?? And would it matter?
I do not know so I’m very interested in your thoughts.
Note that the opposite sometimes occurs if the student mentions “Black” or “Hispanic / Latino” or “legacy”, sometimes resulting in posters responding with very optimistic chance assessments.
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