<p>Out of curiousity, why do you think that a lot of asians are so driven? is it b/c of opal mehta-type situations in which the parents are obsessed with some ideal, or is it self-motivation? a combination of both? thanks to all who respond (sorry if i sound like i am stereotyping but i am interested in the reasons for this "asian-ness" you guys speak of"</p>
<p>No one who sits on the admissions board is going to care whether or not you fit the stereotype. The only thing on their mind is:</p>
<ol>
<li>GPA</li>
<li>SAt</li>
<li>What makes you unique?</li>
</ol>
<p>I highly doubt they'll devote the time to analyze your application and come to the conclusion that because you're asian and play a sport that you should be accepted.</p>
<p>What was up with the "Unfortunantly, all the Chinese are from Taiwan" or something like that a while back? There are plenty who would argue that people from Taiwan are Taiwanese, but ANYWAYS, I'm not about to turn this into a political discussion. =)</p>
<p>I think a lot of the stereotypicalness and the drive Asians have has to do with the last generation, our parents. Like mine, they grew up poor and had to fight for everything they had. I'm pretty sure most of our parents or their parents grew up poor and had to fight for everything they have today. That's why they're so gung ho and the typical Asian parent, cause they want us to take advantage of all the opportunities and stuff. Now that life isn't so hard, not every single Asian fits into that mold, but yes, there are still plenty that do.</p>
<p>Hey melli...I never said that "Unfortunantly, all the Chinese are from Taiwan":)
Rather, its the other way around...most Taiwanese came from China less than 50 years ago. Now, I also never said that people from Taiwan are NOT Taiwanese...that doesn't make sense either. I'm just saying to dismiss the notion or idea that Taiwanese do not have a Chinese root (and its NOT a very distant one) is ridiculous. Taiwanese people still read, write and speak Chinese. Even the language of spoken "Taiwanese" is just a dialect of Chinese like Cantonese is.</p>
<p>By the way melli...I hope this is the right post I responding to. There have been like 7 or 8 threads about all this Asian stuff and its frankly just too many for me to keep track of. Please excuse me if I'm posting about the wrong thing...I just dont have the energy to check every thread.</p>
<p>Yep right post, though you lost me a bit there. =P I don't know, the unfortunantly stung a bit, as if it somehow implied that Taiwanese are inferior. But it's the net, things always get misunderstood. </p>
<p>What interesting is the gradually rising notion of the 'Chinese threat' here. Since China's really becoming an economic superpower, we already feel threatened. Add to that hardcore Chinese students that we always hear about who do nothing but live breathe and eat academics.. I'm surprised there aren't air raid sirens going off already. =P The general idea is that Chinese students will out shine Taiwanese ones, since we're all lazy anyways. Too many computer games. Who knows, maybe we'll see 'typical hardcore Chinese' or 'Chinese stereotype' replacing 'Asian' in the future.</p>
<p>Well...there were never enough of us anyway.
Taiwan's too small to be of any significance soon...we'll just have to accept that. I'm not sure if we're getting lazy...I hope not :(
Oh well.</p>
<p>Hey what are u saying about Asians being driven? I am most happy just chillin', partying, and doing nothing. Its not me who is "driven"...its my parents haha. My one wish is marry someone really hot, smart, and rich then I wouldnt need to do anything with my life.</p>
<p>Some of you guys might be forgetting the "Indian threat" now. In case you haven't been paying too much attention to news about that, India is breathing down the U.S.'s neck in the "white collar" (or education-intensive) industries; e.g. software, telecom, engineering, etc. However, China's main claim to fame, as of yet, is their amazing manufacturing power and enormous product industries. Of course, this doesn't mean that China won't ever develop those white collar industries (they've already started), but right now, their highly-educated sector is not making as much of an impact globally as India's. Of course, all of the die-hard academic people here could go back to China and change that. But even so, achievements in some scientific fields might be harder to accomplish under a communist government.</p>
<p>Yes I'm sorry momentarily forgot about India even though there are mass reports in Time. =P Hmm, I wonder which would be the bigger 'threat'? Or how about potential since threat has a negative connotation.</p>
<p>China is definitely stronger technologically. While India has a larger impact in Western countries(mostly due to the fact that english is the official language), modernization and technology lags about 10 years behind China. And many of India's white collar jobs are not truly conventional white collar jobs. Toll free computer assistance (which is terrible since they seem to be reading off a manual), telemarketers, etc. How many times have I been rudely awakened from my sleep thanks to an Indian telemarketer?</p>
<p>I'm not from the U.S., but we have certain stereotypes in Europe as well.
Since Europe is not the "country of all opportunities", Chinese people tend to become shop retailers... in Chinatown - in whole of Italy I have NEVER seen any Asian (neither "yellow" nor "brown") in a role above the "immigrant sector" - unless they are foreign workers from the U.S.
Chinese/Filipino/etc. high school students are best known to do all kinds of martial arts, manga, hentai, pokemon, and the lot =)
My personal opinion: I DO think that certain stereotypes come out of necessity, and even though it might seem that "they like what they do", it happens because of survival instinct, and the consequent possibility to channel one's creativity/productivity.
But that's how the entire human culture evolved; nevertheless, I believe that an individual should be free to decide whether to belong to a stereotype or not, especially if she/he perceives that a pattern of daily life is something that was imposed upon her/him.</p>
<p>If I REALLY like a subject I wouldn't associate it to my cultural heritage but to my individual ambition!</p>
<p>Generally speaking, I'd say that seeing Indian/Chinese/Asian students in public administration, leadership roles (not only of their ethnic communities!) and entertainment would be slightly counter-stereotype.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The general idea is that Chinese students will out shine Taiwanese ones, since we're all lazy anyways. Too many computer games.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Chinese students are superior to Taiwanese students because of the incredible competition present in China. In the last Chinese College Admissions Exam, the acceptance rate of Chinese high school students taking the exam to college is only about 20%, whereas in Taiwan it's up to the 80-90%.</p>
<p>In a country of 1.3 billion people one has to demonstrate amazing capabililties to get into college, travel abroad, or hold down a respectable job. This is why the Chinese students that we hear about travelling to US or working abroad are all so talented. They are already the cream of the crop in the Chinese student pool.</p>
<p>Moreover, the Chinese pre-collegiate curriculum outshines that of Taiwan and absolutely dwarves the US equivalent. This contributes to the stereotype that Chinese students seem "smarter" than Taiwanese and US students. But the simple fact is that they're only exposed to a much more rigorous curriculum as a child!</p>
<p>Now, if one looks at ABCs in the US or second-generation Chinese children residing in the US, one tends to see a sharp disparity between them and regular students in China because the majority of ABCs had become more "relaxed" due to the absence of intense pressure that is present in China. Their parents, coming from China, of course expects their child to perform at the same level, and thus this causes the "Asian-Parent Stress Syndrome" that undoubtedly most Asian kids had experienced. </p>
<p>Asian students tend to perform well because of parental stress and "cultural obligations," but it is to be noted that there is also a significant portion of Asian students that aren't overachievers, perfectionists...etc.</p>
<p>"Chinese students are superior to Taiwanese students"</p>
<p>Please, can we not. At least not the word superior alright? Let's keep things nice and bland and non offensive. =)</p>
<p>I agree to many of your points, perhaps the rigorous curriculum and home education is what drives Asian kids so much. Especially in China, where I've often heard of students that go to school, study seven hours, go to a tennis coach for four hours, and play the violin. Ick! ><" Well that's what I've heard. </p>
<p>But the education at home, maybe that sets Asian students more apart. I don't know about you guys, but I was drilled at a young age about stuff like setting a good routine, finish things the day you get them (今日事今日畢), filial piety, etcetc. Maybe that's it?</p>
<p>Oops. I didn't mean to use a word with such a strong connotation. Yeah I definately did not mean "superior." It's okay, I don't want to start a China/Taiwan debate here too...I'm so sick of them.</p>
<p>Yeah, the filial piety and academic diligence is the predominant "Chinese work ethic" and basically its at the heart of the stereotype that developed amongst Chinese students that they do well at school...etc.</p>
<p>(btw, great to see another Taiwan person on CC! It's always fun to encounter another familiar face scattered amongst the thousands of CCers =p)</p>
<p>Oh lol you're from Taiwan too? Then how could you use superior?! <em>bashbashwhackwhack</em> =P Anyways. Are you in college?</p>
<p>But that just applies to Chinese/Taiwanese/people living near us. How about the Indians? I notice not many people've talked about Thais or South Pacific Asian countries.. or are we not including them in this discussion?</p>
<p>LOL, yes, I'm supposed to have Taiwanese pride. =p And nope, I'm just a rising senior in high school...</p>
<p>One group not to be underestimated is Filipinos. Some of them had advanced quite rapidly in the American high school academic hierarchy.</p>
<p>Lol yes, where's your pride huh?? =P</p>
<p>Right, none of us mentioned Filipinos either. I'd be interested to hear what a Filipino would have to say.</p>
<p>I definitely know Asians who aren't stellar at Math and are better at things like English and History. I'm kind of opposed to the sterotype that all Asians are good at math, lol. It's certainly not genetic, unless you want to get all Social Darwinism on us. xD</p>
<p>I'm a half filipino in Arkansas.</p>
<p>Filipinos are very rare breeds around here, and I only know of other half filipinos in these parts. (Ok, maybe one Filipino that just passed through my mind.)</p>
<p>My school is a 2 year residential magnet high school for juniors and seniors.</p>
<p>When I was a junior, one of the smartest seniors was a half filipino. Before he even came to our magnet school, he had won 1st place in the state calculus exam as a sophomore. He was a NMF, had a 1560 SAT with minimal preparation....and he was as lazy as hell. He took multivariable calculus as a junior, and vector calculus was created for him as a senior.</p>
<p>There was also one other half filipina girl in the senior class ('05)...and I didn't really know her. She was smart though; she was a NMF.</p>
<p>I was the only person with Filipino blood in my year (again, half). I'd say I did a decent job representing the half Filipinos.</p>
<p>There was yet another half filipino in the junior class when I was a senior, and again, he was one of the brightest students here, from what little I gathered. I remember, at least, that he qualifed for the AIME (as did I)....which isn't super-amazing...but it's nothing to sniff at. Unfortunately he got kicked out....for pot.</p>
<p>My brothers and sisters above me were of course similar ('96 and '00). My brother was supposedly one of the top five smartest students to pass through the school (he had qualifed semifinalist for the chem and phys olympiad as a sophomore, 33 ACT as a sophomore without studying, lots of academic trophies for various competitions, etc). My sister was smart, just not brilliant. She also was a NMF and had a 33 ACT, but with studying. I had a 34 ACT (2270 SAT) with studying.</p>
<p>Of course, you guys might not even really consider me that Asian. Obviously my white dad has played a major factor in how I've turned out. Although I often eat Filipino dishes like adobo, shu-pow (I really have no idea how to spell it), and pansit...we'll also eat potatoes, sausage, and sauerkraut. </p>
<p>Concerning sports: I played soccer, so did my brother. And we were pretty decent to boot. Whenever my school played recreational ultimate frisbee, the half filipino senior (when I was a junior) was usually the best out on the field, which is saying a lot (ultimate frisbee is religion). I wasn't that bad either ;). </p>
<p>The half filipino junior was in a rock band; I was too for a short period.</p>
<p>Again, our experiences might be different since we were/are often the only Asian people in a largely homogenous culture. </p>
<p>As for the math stereotype--I hate math. Actually, I only started hating it when it became challenging when I entered my residential high school. I have never found the word problem/puzzles interesting. I wasn't bad; I just wasn't particularly good at it... I've always been more into the humanities. The rest of my siblings, however, have always been more of the typical math and science type Asians. Indeed, my mother is a chemistry major and my dad teaches physics/astrophyics/astronomy. I'm the odd man out; the first and last of 4 children to major in the humanities (this coming fall).</p>
<p>Wow. Long post. I just wanted to share my really unique situation in a really unique location.</p>