College Admission Hoax at TJ (Thomas Jefferson High School)

Maybe I am overly sensitive, but I do start to feel that some of the comments would be considered board line racist if they were directed at other races/ethnicities. Why can’t we focus on the specific person without generalization to the entire school or a group of people?

I agree with @PCHope that some posts could seem racist
There are also other non-Asian students who faked their college entrances to other people.

I agree. Teen making poor decisions about the truth (on college or any other subject) is NOT a racially motivated thing

I believe that Consolation has Asian ancestry and at least once he has used the term FOB here on CC. Growing up many Asian friends of mine (my high school was 50% Japanese and Chinese students) and their parents used the term FOB, not as a slur but as a description of the worldview and conduct of new immigrants. I’ll state the obvious; people in America who have a background from nations in Asia and the Pacific countries are not monolithic in their perspectives or degree of assimilation.

LOL LakeWashington. If you are referring to the poster, consolation, you have a long memory as she (not he) used FOB in a post 7 years ago, referring to the “Father of the Bride” , here:http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/6052159#Comment_6052159

OK. I am not In the Know. Anyone care to tell me what FOB means? Or should I be afraid to ask?

Oops. It was Cobrat back in November 2013.

Epiphany, FOB = Fresh Off the Boat. Heard my Chinese-Ameican and Filipino-American classmates use that term in high school, ages ago.

FOB means immigrants who JUST came to the USA.

Yes, I got that. I have to tell you, though, that most of the problems (WRT communication and pressure) that I encounter are not from terribly recent immigrants but from those who are already established here. Their children may have even been born here or come here as very young children, so it’s not as if this is an immediate culture shock or as if a different way of approaching college should be an enormous surprise. There has been time to investigate a different set of educational assumptions and at least some of the great breadth of options in the U.S.

It is interesting to notice that while many of us wholeheartedly embrace “diversity” as an essential element in educational/social/cultural experience, some of the same people simply cannot embrace, accept, or even tolerate certain different perspective/emphasis on education.

It has nothing to do with individuals “embracing, accepting, and tolerating” different perspectives on education, but the priorities of the American institutions, which are committed to American priorities, not Chinese, Japanese, Indian, or Southeast Asian priorities. To the extent that any candidate from any culture is valued within the perspectives of the institution, that candidate is welcomed and admitted.

The good news for Americans (with some money) is that in the English-speaking world, there are good schools that admit holistically and good schools that admit mostly by numbers (granted, many of those are publics and/or outside the US). Good schools that like kids with strong extracurriculars and good schools who care only about your potential to be brilliant in one field. The faculty who decide who get in at Oxbridge expect 5’s in relevant AP tests and demonstrated ability & potential in their field. For example, if you was to study CS at Oxford, they will not care about whether you volunteered anywhere; just how well you will do in CS (and be a joy to teach).

It has everything to do with embracing, accepting, and tolerating different perspectives on education by various American racial/ethnic groups. The American priorities include those of Chinese/Japanese/Indian/Southeast Asian Americans’. Their interests should not take backseat to yours, mine, or anyone’s.

I think the poor girl and her parents are all victims of US News rankings. Learning should not be a competition. It should be about self-fulfillment and wanting to do good with the knowledge you gained. If the US News rankings were to disappear tomorrow, I think our higher ed system will be better off, not worse.

No, you still don’t get this. American educational institutions reflect American values. Has nothing to do with your personal, my personal, or any ethnic group’s (presuming that they can be spoken of as a unit) priorities.

USA is a big country with massive diversity. There is no one American value. There are many, based on geography, skin color, country of origin, political inclination, sexuality, SES et cetra.

American values have changed with each new wave of immigration. Asian immigrants have every right to influence and create their own version of American values. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to engage in it. Last I checked this country is free.

Also, as for teaching history:

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-04-26/imiigrant-civics-test-americans-fail/54563612/1

So yes, I agree with you that native born citizens definitely need to be taught more history.

@Mathyone, Suicide rates among Asian American teens is FAR lower than that among Caucasians. As for depression, reported rates are lower as well among Asian American teens, but I guess one can argue that it is under reported. But there is no under reporting suicide rates.

https://www.afsp.org/understanding-suicide/facts-and-figures

Search for Suicide Rates by Race/Ethnicity in the above link. So if the prevalent culture becomes more Asian American-centric suicide rates should drop among US teens. But you can always take your kids to another school, this being a free country, or you can campaign to change your school to one of your liking. What you can’t do though is take away the rights of Asian Americans to campaign for a school culture that meets their needs.

An obvious straw man, because I have repeatedly said that you, I, and posters on CC are not arbiters of American Values. But I will tell you what is especially sought by US. Higher Education, which are not necessarily sought in similar institutions of other countries, including those on other continents than Asia. A premium is placed on ingenuity, creativity, the spirit of enterprise, independence, equality of opportunity. If that doesn’t fit anyone’s particular priorities, feel free to seek an education in one of hundreds of other countries which do not place a priority on such native U.S. values.

An obvious straw man as no one said it doesn’t fit anyone’s priorities. High academic performance is not counter to any of the above. I also find it funny when people who never ventured out of their country of birth lecture immigrants on the spirit of enterprise and independence. As for ingenuity and creativity, I will let the record show that 40% of silicon valley startups are started by first generation immigrants, who are less than 5% of the population. This happens despite the fact that anti-Asian racism is alive and well in the USA. So much for equality of opportunity.

By the way, given the sorry state of K-12 public education in the USA outside of the high SES communities it is hard to see where there’s a lot of pursuit of ingenuity, creativity, spirit of enterprise, independence and equality of opportunity, when teachers teach to the middle to low end of the student body, leaving the high performing kids to their own device.

On this very day when we celebrate the independence of this nation, it is hard to imagine that if and when a person does not even understand that cultural pluralism has become the fundamental social cornerstone of modern day America, that person would remotely be able to offer any insight into what US Higher Education (whatever that means) values today. If one actually believes that “advising” a few HS students applying to college (as a business to make a living) amounts to any credentials as an “educational expert”, I rest my case.

Have a great day.