I’m an asian-american guy who’s a freshman at penn state right now, and I’m considering transferring next year, so I was wondering what colleges are the best for asian americans. I’m already looking at UW seattle, Boston u, NYU, Wash u in st.louis
Cost constraints and state of residency?
Intended or possible majors?
Academic qualifications?
Why do you want to leave Penn State?
I don’t understand the concept that some colleges might be better than others specifically for Asian Americans.
What features do you consider important? Is there something about Penn State that you think makes it a poor choice for Asian Americans?
If you’re simply looking for relatively high Asian student enrollments, then check out the University of Hawaii or the University of California system (public universities in states with large Asian populations). Each school’s Common Data Set, section B2, shows the number of Asian freshmen and undergraduates.
Among ~highly-ranked private universities, the ones with the highest percentages include:
Caltech
MIT
University of Southern California
Carnegie Mellon
Harvey Mudd
Rice
Duke
UPenn
NYU
Case Western
UChicago
Source: http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/lists/list/colleges-with-the-highest-percentage-of-asian-students/2361/
I’m not minimizing racism at all. Racism is a bad thing, but I’m also concerned about maybe overamplifying things that even you say are “subtle” in your other thread on the same topic–
My strong feeling is that wherever a person goes, they will be perceived as different in some way that they can’t control. Being female, being blond, being bald, being poor, being a trust-fund baby, being great at organic chemistry, being a hardcore Calvin and Hobbes fan, being handicapped, being gay, being an obsessed cake baker. That difference will become the basis for people singling them out with jokes, questions, and comments. It is partly human nature to find our differences and use those things to identify each other. We can fight this, but it seems to be human nature.
The problem is when this gets in your way.
You seem to be saying that this is getting in your way, but transferring is not without it’s problems.
I know people who are Asian at Penn State and they are having a fabulous time. Just saying that maybe you may find a way to feel more comfortable there. Maybe find the Asian identity group if you haven’t already.
I don’t know the best course of action for you, but please be aware that running away may not provide the relief you seek and it may come with other more serious problems that you can’t anticipate.
I think the poster above did minimize racism to you. It is not the same as having an favorite comic book character.
Whatever you do, do not feel you have to just live with it.
The California idea is a good one. Consider the liberal arts colleges like Occidental, Pitzer, Willamette. I do not know their numbers of Asian students but it has got to be more than where you are and with students who are more accustomed to being with other asians in their home communities.
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initially was very excited about coming to Happy Valley, but over the course of this past year I can’t help but notice the amount of racism, subtle and obvious, going on in this area,
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I agree with @Dustyfeathers
There is going to be some race-based biases everywhere. I’ve met enough Asian students who hate being chided for not being strong at math (because too many folks assume that Asian = 800 math scores).
In Calif, where the UCs are heavily populated with Asian students, there still can be an atmosphere of Asian-assumptions and even resentments by fellow non-Asian students.
And Dustyfeathers is right…all sorts of folks experience some negative vibes for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes, the vibes aren’t really “bad” but they do indicate that, even at the most progressive campuses, there are ethnic biases. My own kids (white/blond/light brown) have experienced some biases that are kind of amusing when they’ve gone to significant STEM/Med interviews, “wow…you’re fresh-faced,” and “we don’t get many applicants that look like you,” not too-subtle suggestions that only folks from the Asian continent are qualified.
What “subtle and obvious” things have you seen or experienced? And, how will you feel if you find the same things going on at another campus? Have you made friends at PSU?
I know there are people who don’t like the term Microagression. It wears a person down. My kids looked for colleges where that would be minimized and they could just live their lives. There had been enough of that in high school.
I have had interactins with the person who developed the term microaggression and he has indicated that this idea has become too much of a thing. It’s sort of an idea that took on a life of its own and hasn’t held up to rigorous research, whether it even exists
Basically anything at all could be a microagression to someone. It’s too broad and impossible to try to fix, as a result.
Again I would defend against racism at the top of a barricade if I had to, but microagression too often is another word for hypersensitivity and overreaction and is harmful to human interaction, as well intended as it is.
UC-Irvine, whose campus is just down the road from where I live, has long had a majority (not a plurality, but an absolute majority) of Asian students–within which category I am including both “Asian” students, whether internationals or very recent arrivals, and “Asian American” students. It is the non-Asian rather than the Asian faces which stand out as “different” on campus and in the immediately surrounding area. Moreover, Irvine itself is heavily Asian, so the UCI campus is by no means an island of Asian-ness surrounding by a sea of white-ness.
Of course, the ethnic makeup of UCI’s student body does not in itself ensure that you would be comfortable there. On the whole, UCI undergrads tend to be suburban (in keeping with the general vibe of Orange County), laid-back (but also hard-working and ambitious), culturally conservative, and–to a greater than usual extent in the UC system–religious. There is, as at any major university, a vocal contingent of progressive activists, but it is a small contingent; the average student is more concerned about landing a research position in a campus lab than in deconstructing heteronormativity.
While these broader campus traits might or might not appeal to you, I feel confident that would never feel out of place or marginalized at UCI because of your ethnic background.
This link tries to answer your question:
Asian-Americans are incredibly diverse, and so there’s no correct answer to this question. An ethnic group (or, in this case, an over-broad label that somehow lumps people from Pakistan, Japan, Mongolia, and Afghanistan together as if they share any meaningful qualities) is not a monolith, @katokume
@ucbalumnus Im from Illinois, and anything around $50k or lower, so basically any school
Im a business major currently.
Basic reason to leave is because I’ve yet to find people I can connect with and I feel like I won’t find them even if I stay here for 4 years.
Regarding the fact that I’m running away, I am aware of that but it’s not like I haven’t tried. I have put myself out there in almost every way possible, and with subpar results. I would just rather go to a school where I can thrive
There are lots of schools with costs of attendance over $50K.
If you are open to Canadian schools, U of T, UWaterloo and UBC (and I’m sure others) have sizable Asian populations.
If you come to California you’ll find a lot of Asians on college campuses, part of the reason being that there are a lot of Asian-Americans in California. California schools are also big draws for students from places like China, India, Korea, Japan and Taiwan. The funny thing is I’ve seen Asian-Americans posting on CC saying they’re not interested in the UCs because they’re too Asian and they want a different environment from the one they grew up in.