Asian students limited admissions slots

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Los Angeles
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<p><a href="http://www.ccchronicle.com/back_new/2005_spring/2005-02-14/campus.php?id=874%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ccchronicle.com/back_new/2005_spring/2005-02-14/campus.php?id=874&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Consider the case of a Chinese-American girl at Holmdel High School. Her grades and test scores were top-notch, she ran cross-country and she was an accomplished pianist. Still, her prospects seemed uncertain.
The problem: her all-too-familiar profile.She didn’t, and couldn’t, stand out among her peers. She ranked in the top 20 percent in the highly competitive school where nearly one of five students are Asian.“We needed to get her away from the other Asian kids,” said Robert Shaw, a private college consultant hired by the girl’s family.Shaw advised bold steps: The family got a place in Keyport, a blue-collar town near their home, and the girl transferred to the local high school. There she was a standout: The only Asian in the school, she was valedictorian for the Class of 2004.Next came an extracurricular makeover, one a bit out of character for a Chinese-American girl, said Shaw. “We suggested some outrageous activities, like Miss Teen New Jersey,” where she won a talent competition playing piano.The girl was accepted to Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she is now a freshman.</p>

<p>“If you give me a Hispanic kid with a 1,350 [SATs], I can get that kid into every Ivy League college, or an African-American kid with 1,380 to 1,400,” Shaw said. “But give me an upper-middle-class Caucasian or Asian with a 1,600, and I can’t guarantee anything.”
Recently, an Asian client of Shaw’s from suburban Philadelphia got “wait-listed” at Yale despite a 1,600 SAT score and a 4.1 GPA.</p>

<p>The schools deny quotas exist. On its website, Princeton University says: “We do not have a profile of the ideal applicant, nor do we map out a checklist of all the particular ‘types’ of students we plan to admit in a given year.” Asians make up 13 percent of the Princeton enrollment.</p>

<p>But admissions counselors and parents who’ve been through the process say they know differently. “I’m not saying that colleges have racial quotas, but I imagine that most schools want representation of different cultural and ethnic groups,” said Jonni Sayres, a counselor in Englewood and Teaneck.</p>

<p>When California eliminated racial preferences—set-asides for underrepresented groups— Asian enrollment skyrocketed in the venerable University of California system. Although Asians are 13 percent of the state’s population, they make up 42 percent of students on the campus at Berkeley, 38 percent at Los Angeles.</p>

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<p>UCLA was found guilty of bias (against Asians) in the late 1980s by federal officials in the Justice and Education departments.</p>

<p>At Lowell High School in San Francisco in 1983, the school set up different admission standards for different racial groups, with Chinese-Americans having the harshest set of standards. Lowell required that Chinese-American applicants outperform every other racial group. In 1994, Chinese families sued the school district, California, and NAACP. In 2000, the school districts gave up on affirmative action and returned to a race-blind admisison policy. </p>

<p>"In 1995, the University of California regents decided to remove race and gender from consideration during admissions, hiring, and promotion; the following year, Californians voted to pass Proposition 209, which outlawed racial quotas in the state."</p>

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<p>I can't say I'm really shocked by this. I'm sure the other UC's do it as well, even though they claim they don't take it into effect.</p>

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<p>I can understand fully why UCLA did it. They know that in a largely caucasian country, people don't want to be the minority at at their school...UCLA was trying to stem the tide of an ever growing Asian population.</p>

<p>But as usual for the U.S., we don't tell our children to work harder and adopt a work ethic like Asians have. If anything the education system has worsened and American kids have followed suit.</p>

<p>I say if ANYONE has earned the slot at a college they deserve to go there. But bear this in mind, colleges are businesses, and as such they fear alienating potential customers...thus, from a business perspective it is easy to understand why schools did what they did...unfortunately, it is flawed in it's reasoning because it is a form of racial discrimination. </p>

<p>Which is a good segue into why we allow largely black schools or jewish schools even female schools to remain as they are...something to think about.</p>

<p>America and the world are filled with contradictions.</p>

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<p>PEOPLE!!! DONT WORRY!! UC's WONT USE ETHNICITY ANYMORE!!! ALSO, I HAVE HEARD DAT UC'S NOW USE THIS TECHNIQUE OF COVERING UP THE NAMES AND ETHNICITY. THE ONLY WAY DEY WILL FIND OUT UR ETHNICITY IS IF YOU WRITE ABOUT IT IN UR ESSAY. DONT WORRY!!!!! its true..if u dont believe me call the admission office</p>

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<p>asians succeed and will continue to succeed even more when ivy leagues cut affirmative action and employers lose their senses of discrimination. generally, they are more dedicated than whites, blacks, hispanics, etc. they came from a lower class as immigrants just like blacks and mexicans, but their dedication and hard work allowed them to succeed. Most are middle class now. I wouldn't be surprised if they took over the majority of high class in the future.</p>

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<p>well i withdrew my app to UCLA a month ago, so one less Asian competition with the "all too familer stats" for a spot at UCLA for the rest of you. Good luck1 :)</p>

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<p>"PEOPLE!!! DONT WORRY!! UC's WONT USE ETHNICITY ANYMORE!!! ALSO, I HAVE HEARD DAT UC'S NOW USE THIS TECHNIQUE OF COVERING UP THE NAMES AND ETHNICITY. THE ONLY WAY DEY WILL FIND OUT UR ETHNICITY IS IF YOU WRITE ABOUT IT IN UR ESSAY. DONT WORRY!!!!! its true..if u dont believe me call the admission office"</p>

<p>what rexrun467 is saying is true. Peopel shouldnt worry about ethinicity as a factor in the UC's.</p>

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<p>I worry about it as a factor AGAINST me. And my gender.</p>

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<p>I don't think asians should be limited to the number of slots at the UCs but I do think that racial and social-economic diversity at a public university is important. The use of top students at each high school is an attempt at creating diversity. Contrary to exilio's suggestion, I don't think this a caucasian driven issue. California reportedly has no majority race and the legislature knows this, the regents know this, as does the Governor.</p>

<p>There are a number of people out there who feel that a student who has two parents and four grandparents and numerous other family members yelling at them to get A's and a latch key student who is the first in the family to get to college can not be easily compared by standardized tests or grades. Nor can one easily predict their future success based upon these assessments.</p>

<p>Having multi-cultural populations should not be viewed as a problem for our state, but a challenge. How do we, as a state, benefit from the variety of cultures that have come to call California home.</p>

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<p>all chinese applicants unite, we shall file a law suite against the colleges</p>

<p>jks</p>

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<p><em>technically</em> they're not supposed to use race, but I don't believe they follow that. Even if it's not on your application, they have ways of finding out</p>

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<p>Azn Pryde!!!</p>

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<p>Wow Mr. B I could almost here some dramatic orchestra music playing in the background as you types that response. </p>

<p>Dramatics aside, you can't ignore the fact that caucasians are still the majority in California, although not for long. As such, they are the main money behind the state and the largest population to try and attend college in the state. With this in mind, it is not unreasonable to suggest people find it unpalatable to have a flood of another ethnicity in the states schools.</p>

<p>Picture this: A white majority has poured millions upon millions of dollars into the UC system and what happens? Asians flood the schools and take slots away from white students. Don't tell me that isn't going to ruffle some political feathers.</p>

<p>And I disagree that a college must be anything, other than fair. I don't think it must be racially diverse. A college should represent those that have put forth the effort and the have demonstrated the ability to attend.</p>

<p>The only 'must' I think schools should consider is economically challenged students - never ethnicity or gender.</p>

<p>We live in a capitalistic society. It is naive to think that ever disadvantaged person is going to get a shot...colleges would go broke. There is very little place for idealism in our culture because it doesn't make good business sense.</p>

<p>Now I am not saying what is right, fair or just...I am just noting what is, and offering a possible reason why. America is not so much about what is just, as it what makes the most sense from a a marketing perspective.</p>

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<p>sleep - you are wrong in assuming that Asian Americans generally come from a lower working class. If you look at data for the wave of immigrants from EASt Asia from the 70s to now, you will find that the majority from East ASia are well educated and very very wealthy. However, they often blend into white neighborhoods well enough that they do not make a distraction and thus, no one notices them and assumes that all these East Asians came here poor. On the contrary, SE ASians came here poor and has stayed poor (lowest graduation rate of any racial group). This is often due to a sense of lost identity and the fact they end up in slums of the cities (and thats why you see them so much, the poor and without identity often end up together in groups, in the ghettos and slums).</p>

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<p>"But bear this in mind, colleges are businesses"</p>

<p>but not at the UC's. they are public schools and their mission is to educate the california public. thus, the best students should end up at the best UCs, regardless of race. exilio, i dont think you should look at the UC's with a business/marketing perspective, but rather a state resource. </p>

<p>i dont think UC's use race in app decisions though. most asians who went to high schools with high asian populations quickly find out "there are smart white people!" there are many qualified candidates who aren't asian too. also, look at UCI. over 50% asian, due to race-blind admissions. </p>

<p>finally, i agree with Mr.B, we DO need diversity. it really enhances the college experience a lot more. i wouldn't want to go to a school like UCI where the asian population is so heavy, even though i am asian myself.</p>

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<p>well, they can see it from our last names, asians have last names like
Zhang, Lee, Wang etc
that's why i almost changed my name to
Robert White
how white can you get with a name like that? lol</p>

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<p>Same here kfc4u; though I respect my Asian heritage, I would take a long walk over a short cliff if there were too many Asians at one university.</p>

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<p>i mentioned my asian heriage briefly but i got in prob cuz of my essays.</p>

<p>I <3 U C L A :) rite now...</p>