<p>Since I read in many places that Stern is 60-70% Asian, I was wondering if being Asian could actually be an advantage at Stern as opposed to being a disadvantage at most other schools. So... could someone shed some light on this? Does Stern like Asian applicants or something?</p>
<p>PiesAreD,</p>
<p>Stern is the most statistics oriented school at NYU. And Asians generally excel at test taking, studying hard and competing in academics. Also, with the math, engineering, and science emphases in Asian cultures, it is not a surprise, Asians excel in these areas.</p>
<p>Studying really hard for the standardized tests is a top objective for a lot of achieving Asians, along with maintaining top grades. And guess what, SAT, ACT AP exam scores and high GPAs are valued by Stern admissions.</p>
<p>Plus the pragmatic factor which many Asians lean towards (haha, with the mighty influence of parents). Invest with good chance of return on your money. Ahh, a match made in heaven, Stern and Asian strengths/ mentality. (Sorry if I am speaking in generalities; there are Asians who are not of this ilk, but they probably feel some negative pressures, according to studies by researchers such as Lawrence Steinberg.</p>
<p>@evolving</p>
<p>You’re completely right. Although a stereotype, it’s something that all of us Asians can probably relate to. Oh that parental pressure :)</p>
<p>Euglena,</p>
<p>Ahhh, You know first hand what it is like to be blessed or is it cursed? Or maybe a little of both? I certainly would not want the tiger mom to be my parent, Harvard or no Harvard. :)</p>
<p>Hi evolving</p>
<p>This is interesting and I have read some of what is related to tiger moms. But i have a different take on this and that is why should it be a blessing or curse. Parents are called parents for a reason. I feel that a child entering his teen years as it has so much going on the hormones, the girlfriend/boyfriend, peer pressure, with so many questions and and the pressure to fit in, the focus from academics can sometimes be lost. And that is where parents come in. A child may not always be able to see the bigger picture and therefore guidance is of utmost importance. Therefore striking the right balance so that the guidance does not turn into imposing. It is a tough job to be a parent who can also be a friend to their child. </p>
<p>The struggle for us Asian parents, and i am going to say this for myself, is to constantly be an involved parent and also be a friend. Respecting and trusting your child as an individual capable of making the choices that they want but being there always to hold hands when required and also be strict and being able to convey what is the right thing to do without making the exercise a ‘curse’. We do the tightrope walking all the time and end up being labelled as tiger moms, not fair at all. But i guess it all boils down to the values we grew up with and therefore try to pass it on to our children, innovating the process down the line.</p>
<p>But I do want to share this with you regarding stereotypes,</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Russell Peters - Beating Your Children](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>I agree with evolving, simply being asian doesn’t give you an upper hand on admissions at Stern. However, since they focus greatly on your test scores and gpa for admissions, many asians have the advantage due to their comparatively higher scores.</p>
<p>@evolving
My parents weren’t that strict, but definitely more than the normal “American” parent. However I know parents in my community that won’t let their children sleep till 3 AM. First the child goes to academy from 3-10. Then, they (the mom and dad) literally take turns watching the kid study till 3 AM, and if she falls asleep they wake her up. I wish I was joking/exaggerating, but I am not. All this to get into an Ivy League school. The child has become socially awkward after being tortured like this. It’s really a sad thing to see.</p>
<p>Yeah… Asian parents can be really crazy. There’s this 8th grader in my neighborhood who’s amazing at piano and often holds paid concerts in prestigious concert halls. He’s also pre-Julliard. However, he has no friends or social life at all because his parents lock him in the house and force him to practice hours and hours every day. Sometimes when I walk by his house, I can hear his parents screaming at him. </p>
<p>My parents on the other hand, while still strict, aren’t nearly as bad as his parents. While most stereotypical Asian parents won’t settle for anything less than HYP (I’ve heard of a kid several years back who was thrown out of his house for several days for getting rejected from HYP and accepted to Cornell), my parents would be overjoyed if I got into Stern. </p>
<p>Now for a completely unrelated question: Do you guys think that standardized test scores are more important than GPA? Because I know several people who got in with ~3.5 UW/2300+/little to no ECs.</p>
<p>Maybe not the pure GPA, but test scores are probably a little less important than GPA when put in comparison with class rank. For example, I know plenty of kids from my school who got into more selective schools than me (not that I’m not happy to go to Stern) with lesser EC’s, worse standardized test scores, but higher class rank than I. Obviously, there are other factors to consider here such as some applying ED/EA, URM, and parent legacies, but from a objective point of view, it would seem that the better grades certainly helped them get the acceptance letters that I didn’t.</p>
<p>Sorry if I wasn’t specific enough, but I was talking about Stern when I asked the GPA question, because several of my friends got in with low GPAs but very high SATs. Do you think standardized test scores are more important than GPA (without class rank since many schools such as mine don’t report class rank at all) or of equal importance for STERN?</p>
<p>I think they’re of equal importance. I got in with a 3.8W and 2230 SAT. And in regards to the Asian stereotype, my parents are not the typical Asian parents: they didn’t force me to play an instrument or force me to study. They only wished that I tried my best. They did wish that I could get into an Ivy but they are thoroughly happy I got into Stern. And they even told me that they would support me in whichever college I chose (when I was deciding between colleges), which is atypical of Asian parents, who tend to take the reins on the whole college decision process. I guess it really comes down to the individual parents.</p>