The prevalence of “Asian” is also a reflection of current US society. Whereas many/most Americans can generally distinguish English spoken by, say, French, German and Italian natives, I don’t think most non-Asian Americans are able to differentiate English spoken by, say, Japanese, Chinese and Thai native speakers. In some ways, it’s due to insufficient exposure (fair enough) but I’ve also noticed some Americans not caring enough to get it right (one American I know can never remember that a friend she’s known for a couple of decades immigrated from Indonesia, not Taiwan or Thailand).
Do AOs fall into the same category? I think it probably depends on the school. Those that receive a lot of applications from Asian Americans and Asian countries may distinguish the different ethnic groups but it never fails to surprise me how many Americans (including well-educated ones) are deliberately ignorant when it comes to non-European cultures. (Rant over )
It’s true - Americans sometimes give themselves a pass on Asian matters, although I suppose it’s only natural - Asia is a big place, far away and less familiar than Europe. I feel rather guilty myself when I think about everything I’ve learned about Ukraine and other Eastern European countries in the past six months, but I guess it was never a priority before. As to AOs, as you say, I think some get it and some don’t. My son applied to one school that was very keen on recruiting him, but the problem was they tried to accomplish this by having various Vietnamese and Chinese students call him up during their U.S. evening hours, which coincided with the middle of my son’s school day here in Tokyo. It really put him off that school, but it also led him to look for a position with his own school’s admissions office, where he has been helping them improve their approach to recruiting overseas and international students. Step by step . . .
Same here assuming common app doesn’t ask for parent names. If it does then maybe my name would give it away. Which is I guess what bothers me about it at all. Someone could be a long removed descendent of Asian heritage or first generation - either way, their name should have no bearing on admissions chances.
I’m partially Asian (Mongolian, Kazakh, Uzbek, Siberian) but I don’t put it on my applications and forms for that exact reason. I’m a redhead and can pass as fully white. Colleges tend to reject Asian candidates due to the steriotype. As long as they don’t somehow have pictures of my mom’s side of the family, I’ll be fine.
I thought that’s what I’d read on here previously- thanks for confirming.
I actually think if AOs are looking for unique, then being raised in mixed cultures is something that can/should be played up (if it’s applicable). This is the land of the the melting pot after all. If I was applying today, I’d write my essay about it honestly - I was raised first generation immigrant but immigrated 40 years ago. I grew up in a bilingual household speaking English while my parents spoke to me in native language. We ate what my mom cooked which was ethnic food but in every other way, I was a teenager (just with much stricter house rules). There were some things I liked, some things I despised about my native culture.
Fast forward to my kids’ experience though, the only experience they have of my native culture is maybe a handful of weddings/events I dragged them to. That’s literally it - I don’t cook the food, we don’t speak the language, my extended family is further so even they have had less influence than the other side of the family. I’m sure my past experiences that I’ve shared through story have influenced somewhat but more so than Italian or Swedish? I really don’t think so.
I do think kids should be encouraged to embrace their heritage whatever it may be but ultimately it is just one piece of a very big puzzle that shapes who they are and the unique perspective they have to offer. That unfortunately cannot be conveyed in a 2 minute read of anyone’s file but I guess that is the goal.
For a college that has a legacy preference, that can be used to determine or verify that a parent was among the college’s alumni. (Of course, legacy is about as popular as race / ethnicity in college admissions among the general public, which is to say that neither is popular among the general public, though both seem to be more popular on these forums.)
It seems to me they could simply ask that information only for those who claim legacy as confirmation rather than asking all applicants and opening themselves up to inquiry as to how they’re using the info.
Okay, now I get it. This is the phenomenon the OP is describing. Not that discrimination exists at the AO level, but that an awful lot of posters seem to believe that it does and are not shy about inserting it into Chances Thread replies.
This is what is so disturbing because once those Supreme Court cases are decided (probably in favor of the plaintiffs, given the present super-majority) the internet echo chamber will still have significant portions of the country convinced that there is a conspiracy among the 100 or so selective colleges and universities in the country to keep the numbers of kids like them as low as possible. That’s truly sad. A lot of them have truly compelling stories to tell about themselves and their families. There’s absolutely no reason they should have to pretend that they are white when filling out a college application.
I do think that AO’s at selective colleges which have many Asian applicants are pretty savvy in terms of distinguishing cultural origins. Note the Common App these days has a special category for “Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander” apart from Asian. If Asian is checked off, there are 12 further sub choices. The Common App also asks for more details if the applicant checks Hispanic with 7 sub choices.
Further, I suspect socio-economic background plays at least an equal if not greater role in how the applicant is viewed relative to other applicants. There will be higher expectations for a Chinese American applicant from the Bay Area that lives in a wealthy zip code with at least 1 parent with an advanced degree than a Chinese American Applicant from Flushing whose parents are recent immigrants working as laborers.
Agreed. Part of me also wonders if the lawsuits are more about getting rid of affirmative action altogether than addressing a bias against Asians - I don’t know. I haven’t dug into the group filing the suits.
I do feel really bad that kids like the one poster here feel like they have to hide who they are for fear of hurting their chances. It probably hurts them more frankly because they potentially miss out on an opportunity to portray their genuine self, which is always more interesting than some contrived notion of what you think an AO wants to hear.
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