<p>Generally the consensus here at CC is that ALL Asians have an disadvantage on college admissions since they are overrepresented. I am here to tell you that is false. Some Asians are in fact considered URMs.</p>
<p>DISADVANTAGE:</p>
<p>Japanese
Korean
Chinese
Taiwanese
Indian</p>
<p>ADVANTAGE:</p>
<p>Vietnamese
Filipino
Hmong
Pacific Islander (Samoan)
Malaysian
Indonesian
Plus all the smaller countries</p>
<p>/end rant</p>
<p>Correction.<br>
There is no such thing as Taiwanese. It is not politically or internationally recognized as a country by any major country including the United States and China.</p>
<p>correction: on college apps they give u a option to fill in Taiwanese instead of Chinese.
btw, read some history before making ignorant assertions about whether this is a thing about Taiwanese.</p>
<p>I don't really see how classifying Taiwanese separately or not really makes any difference to this thread, since the OP has it in the same list as Chinese.</p>
<p>Okie dokie.</p>
<p>Umm...none of those are URMs. When colleges say URMs, what they really mean is Hispanic, African-American (not just African), and Native American.</p>
<p>The whole thing is so complicated. But all this stuff is secondary, because they'll have to evaluate you as a student first. If you're not international then it doesn't make much of a difference, because you'll be American and classified as Asian/South Asian, and not by country. But of course, it might make a difference in the admissions decisions, but only in regard to your unique background. There's no better advantage than overall excellence as a student and making the most of the opportunities you have, however small.</p>
<p>i'm vietnamese. but they'll still think i'm chinese/ korean.</p>
<p>friedrice, where'd you find this information?</p>
<p>She/he made it up. She/he thinks that URM means anybody who has a background from a small place.</p>
<p>hmmmm....korea is a pretty small place.</p>
<p>Yeah i hate to say it, but colleges will see that your Asian and you'll be at a disadvantage. It sucks, but 'tis life. And it wont help if you have an 800 math SAT, poor verbal scores and decide to major in Engineering. No, no, then there's a problem.</p>
<p>If you have no sports, high test scores, and other typical asian traits it doesn't matter where you are from. You're still asian, and that's the stereotype that hurts admissions.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Umm...none of those are URMs. When colleges say URMs, what they really mean is Hispanic, African-American (not just African), and Native American.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Not true.</p>
<p>Friedrice is absolutely correct in that not all asians are categorized the same (which is why the applications does ask for subcontinent) and there are some groups (specifically those that s/he mentioned) that are underrepresented in the college admissions process.</p>
<p>Underrepresented doesn't necessarily mean that you will be given an advantage in college admissions. I mean no offense when I say this but the Hmong make up a very very insignificant percentage of the population. Schools are not going to give you 150 points on the SAT just because the Hmong make up 0.00025% of the American population but only 0.00012% of the college population (hypothetical numbers of course).</p>
<p>Blacks and Hispanics are the two largest minorities in the US so it make a lot of sense to focus the attention on them. As for Native Americans, there is a lot of history behind our motivation to make sure they are taken care of.</p>
<p>I'm filipino and I'm hoping that I don't get sucked into the Asian stereotype =/</p>
<p>I think maybe Cambodia, Hmong,Laos, and Pacific Islander but not the rest. Some of the countries in the lower list may fall in the lower social economic categories, but not all applicants will be in that category. For example, Singaporean is not URM. I know they are ethnically Chinese, some come from China, and some are so wealthy that it does not make sense to put in the lower social economic category.</p>
<p>Michelle Hernandez(A for Admissions) wrote that even for a black person, adcom examines the applicant background and determines whether this person truly comes from a disadvantage background. For example, there was one URM that Michelle Hernandez did not admitted because she did not think that student had a disadvantage background.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>What happens if you are Asian and don't have an 800 M SAT, have high verbal scores, and are not majoring in Engineering?</p>
<p>Does anyone know what colleges make of these not-stereotypically-Asian Asians? For example, someone who's been captain of a sport, isn't stellar at math, but is stronger in the language arts and perhaps art, etc. Are they at a disadvantage or an advantage because they're "different" than the "norm"?</p>
<p>You're describing me. I play sports. I do lots of theatre. My verbal score was much higher than my math score. I am much better in humanities than I am in math and sciences.</p>
<p>That said, I wasn't a slacker at math or science. I was pretty well rounded--I just couldn't statistically compete with my fellow Asians in math. Although I still got into many top colleges, I don't think that it was because I was totally different from the other Asians.</p>
<p>While I have no specific data to back up my claim, no one can argue that Japanese/Koreans/Chineses/Indians are generally overachievers and are overrepresented in top colleges.</p>
<p>I am not saying race is a major factor in college admission. GPA and SAT scores are still weighted more heavily than race. But race can be the determining factor whether your in or not.</p>
<p>@ norcalguy</p>
<p>I disagree. It's true Hmongs are a vast minority, but what would colleges prefer:</p>
<p>Two people with exactly the same steller stats (high SAT score, top in class, etc) but one is white and the other is Hmong. AdComs would certainly chose a Hmong. However, if you replace a Hmong with a Chinese dude, this would be a different story.</p>