<p>I hope you guys understand what I mean, so I don't have to necessarily go into specific examples. But do colleges not give people as much credit for something just because of their ethnicity??</p>
<p>(i.e. asians --> math team, african-americans ---> sports, etc.)</p>
<p>uh i dont think african americans will be looked down on for being athletes. thats a good thing, but i do think asians on math teams is kind of insignificant because it is too common. Most asians I know that get into prestigious universities major in the humanities.</p>
<p>Nah, my friend (Asian) got into UPenn, Columbia and Duke with heavy involvement in band and Science Olympiad.</p>
<p>^Yep, me too (Asian involved in Science Olympiad). It was one of my only 2 major activities. </p>
<p>It matters more how well you do something, rather than what activity you participate in.
There is the downside in that competition is tougher in those stereotypical areas.</p>
<p>yeah, i’m asian, and i’m heavily involved in math/science, and i got into pretty good schools… so it really depends on the depth of those activities, regardless of the activity chosen (to some extent)</p>
<p>
…why exactly would those two scenarios be any different?</p>
<p>Is being proficient at math not “a good thing”? -_-</p>
<p>A Chinese-American who spends their Saturdays in Chinese school learning Mandarin and about Chinese culture, and plans to major in biochemistry wouldn’t be as interesting to colleges as would be a Chinese-American aspiring English lit major who is in a punk rock band that gets paid for weekend gigs. Why? Far more Chinese-Americans go to Chinese school and plan to go to medical school than are in punk rock bands and plan to major in the humanities.</p>
<p>When it comes to URMS, their choice of EC isn’t as important because colleges have a hard time attracting qualified URMs. Consequently, a basketball playing black male student who has a rap group and plans to major in psychology would be adding to a college’s diversity so many colleges wouldn’t mind that his ECs and interests aren’t that uncommon among black students.</p>
<p>
That makes sense.</p>
<p>
That does sound pretty awesome.</p>
<p>Lol, I don’t think so, if you’re good.</p>
<p>The president of our school’s math team was accepted into Harvard.
And members of our school’s very asian robotics team got accepted into Harvard, MIT and Caltech.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, this is just my opinion, but I don’t think what you said is true at all. Colleges look for how passionate you are about something and if some Asian kid happens to be really passionate about biochemistry and Chinese culture, show it and are qualified, that is more important. Just because many Asian students do end up wanting to pursue a career in science or medicine, doesn’t make them any less interesting to a school.<br>
In response to the OP, I don’t think colleges judge look at you any differently based on activities commonly participated in by others of your ethnicity. Like others before me mentioned, it is about talent and your unique personality/character.</p>
<p>"l. Colleges look for how passionate you are about something and if some Asian kid happens to be really passionate about biochemistry and Chinese culture, show it and are qualified, that is more important. Just because many Asian students do end up wanting to pursue a career in science or medicine, doesn’t make them any less interesting to a school. "</p>
<p>The top colleges that care about creating classes that are diverse in all meanings of the word want a variety in the types of students that they select. Yes, they also want students who have some kind of intellectual passion, including for ECs.</p>
<p>A lot of Chinese-American students go to Chinese school on their weekends. Some such students are very passionate about Chinese school. Biochemistry is a popular prospective major of many Asian students, many of whom also are planning to be doctors. Odds are that there will be far more Chinese American applicants who are passionate about Chinese school, and plan to be biochemistry majors headed to medical school than there will be Chinese-American punk rockers who plan careers in the humanities.</p>
<p>Consequently, the latter type of student would stand out more in the admission school than would the Chinese-American student whose passionate about things that are common for people of their own ethnic group. Certainly, some such students will gain admission to top colleges, but all things being equal, it would be harder for them to gain admission than for someone of their ethnic group whose ECs, career aspirations differ greatly from other Chinese-Americans.</p>
<p>Interviewers and admissions officers are also far more likely to remember applicants who differ from what’s common.</p>
<p>My ECs and major are non-like stereotypical Asians 
I just hate to be like typical Asians…</p>
<p>When you say “qualified”, what does that typically mean? Certain GPA level? Certain SAT/ACT scores?</p>
<p>Qualified = students with the coursework, gpa, scores, and anything else (i.e. character) that the college believes are necessary for admission. At places like Harvard, about 90% of students who apply qualify for admission, according to the dean of admissions there.</p>
<p>Are starting a business, running, and creative writing considered typical activities for someone who’s mixed Asian? (Half-Malay, half-Pakistani, to be precise).</p>
<p>That would be ****ing awful. I could understand things directly correlating to ethnicity, but not simple stereotypes like that.</p>