<p>^^^^^^^^
That question, plus:</p>
<p>Say you are a stereotypical Asian. How much does it affect you app?</p>
<p>A stereotypical Asian works in the fields, wears pointy hats and knows kung fu.</p>
<p>DUH.</p>
<p>They also don’t go on the internet to talk about the asian stereotype, especially not if the topic has been done to death over a period of a couple years…</p>
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<p>Actually, I’m pretty sure they do. ESPECIALLY if the topic has already been hashed out to death.</p>
<p>clearly the OP is ■■■■■■■■… this inferiority complex people have towards Asians is disturbing</p>
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<p>I said the stereotypical Asian. Not the self-deprecating Asian.</p>
<p>A somewhat athletic, narrow-eyed math/science genius who is a black belt at some form of martial arts and has been playing the piano and violin since the age of 4.</p>
<p>most people who post on this site…?</p>
<p>I have observed a truly suprising number of high-scoring, math-and-science-loving, tennis-playing Asian violinists on CC. I think it is not just a stereotype, but is actually a cultural norm. Asian kids are not genetically predisposed to play tennis and the violin as opposed to ice hockey and the bassoon–but they come from a cultural environment in which certain choices are valued above others, and parents tend to promote certain activities over others.</p>
<p>The downside of this for Asian kids when they come to apply to U.S. colleges, is that many of them appear to occupy the same niche.</p>
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<p>Which, of course, is the American cultural norm to say that even the highest achievements should automatically be looked down upon if it comes in “similar packages”.</p>
<p>I guess this is just the American way of the infamous “everyone’s a winner” ethic, to value something because it’s “unique” (whatever that is supposed to mean these days) rather than real, actual achievement.</p>
<p>No, the American way is to build a diverse student body with a variety of experiences, interests, and achievements. It is not just a numbers game, which is understandably frustrating to people from countries where college admission is strictly a numbers game. At the simplest level, a college may not be interested in admitting 30 very excellent violinists, no matter how many competitions they’ve won, but it may be very interested in a single good bassoonist. That’s because the school orchestra may already be pretty well stocked with violinists. Similarly, a university or LAC is not going to overstock itself with students who are going to major in the sciences. Admittedly, the process is not clear, and sometimes results in anomalous-appearing results. But the goal is not to simply admit the applicants with the highest grades and scores.</p>
<p>And let me add something about “real, actual achievement.” American universities do value real achievement, but most especially if it is self-directed achievement on the part of the student. A student, no matter how accomplished, is likely to be less impressive if he appears to be following a preprogrammed course established by others, as opposed to a student who is an innovative leader. Sure, you may have studied five hours a day, and practiced your violin six hours a day, but why did you do that? This matters as well.</p>
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Most of your argument seems to be grounded on idealism rather than reality. Sure, the way you put the American attitude sounds much more appealing/fulfilling/whatever… but does does it make any sense beyond just a fancy description? For instance, tell me the difference between “self-directed achievement” and “preprogrammed”… and try to elaborate on the bolded points.</p>
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<p>I’m not going to ask you for a source because obviously you were trying to disproportionately portray the “negatives” of a certain lifestyle. But I’ll answer your question anyways: maybe because they enjoy it?</p>
<p>I’ve noticed a consistent argument across CC about high achievers in general:
- they don’t enjoy what they do, and are only in it for the money or grades
- not only do they not enjoy themselves, but all low/semi-low achievers actually do enjoy everything they do</p>
<p>So clearly, many people think (or like to think) that striving for high academic achievement and enjoying what you do are mutually exclusive, but then again, that is the American way of thinking. Read my post above.</p>
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<p>So, in other words, you’re saying the stereotypical Asian is very much like the stereotypical Jew - lol!</p>
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<p>And yet, a no. of posters continually affix such generalizations to Asians specifically (altho studies say otherwise), and totally overlook that such generalizations (if true) apply to black immigrant students (which the Ivies and other top privates go out of their way to recruit), Jews and immigrant students from Eastern Europe.</p>
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OK. A student who has started his own business or charitable organization, or has done original research, or has exhibited original creativity, is, I think, more impressive to U.S. universities than a student who has achieved mastery of something by practice (i.e., violin playing). The pre-programmed part is the Suzuki violin class begun at age 4. You can judge for yourself whether this attitude is good or bad–I’m just trying to explain it to you.</p>
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Well, sure. It’s the high-achieving immigrant with a preference for a portable career (like medicine). That’s a cultural norm–my whole point.</p>
<p>And the comparison of Jews and Asians is important, because it comes back to the idea of “holistic admissions” which at one time was used to limit the number of Jews at top schools. Today, it probably is having the effect of limiting the number of Asians at some schools. In my opinion this is not because of animus against Asians (as it was against Jews), but it may not look much different if you’re on the receiving end.</p>
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<p>pardon me for making a generalization, BUT it seems that an Asian/Indian is more motivated to do either of those things than someone of different race (stereotypically speaking, of course). LOL</p>
<p>Perhaps, and perhaps you are doing a bit of stereotyping yourself. If you take a look at the admitted/rejected results threads on the Yale, Harvard, etc. boards, you will get some idea of the kinds of extra-school achievements that seem to result in admission to those schools. But assuming that stats are the same, an Asian who has started his own successful business will probably do better than the one who is first violin in the county honors orchestra and a member of the tennis team.</p>
<p>Tall, listens to hard rock, slightly lazy.</p>
<p>Uh, not really ■■■■■■■■ here. I am Asian and just wanted to know. I think I might be a stereotypical Asian and I just wondered if my app will be killed or not.</p>
<p>Hunt - thanks for adding some value to the discussion at hand… It’s pretty hard for people to refrain from making irrelevant comments… I don’t mean to judge… but I do! :)</p>
<p>Stereotypical Japanese kids nowadays.(2009 version)
- read much manga and watch much “anime” on TV
- do karaoke a lot but never play musical instruments
- swim, swim, swim (shifted from soccer and baseball)
- spend weekday evenings at JUKU (prep for middle schools, high schools)
- surf internet and watch comical posts in youtube</p>