I wish I weren't Asian

College Confidential Community
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<p>"One Korean student, applying from a top prep school, got pegged at MIT as “yet another textureless math grind.” At Vanderbilt, a former admissions staffer offered that Asians “are very good students, but don’t provide the kind of intellectual environment” that colleges are looking for."</p>

<p>"Harvard evaluators “ranked Asian American candidates on average below whites in ‘personal qualities,’” and repeatedly described them as “‘quiet/shy, science/math oriented, and hard workers.’” While McGrath Lewis and other high-ranking admissions officials deny the presence of stereotyping, the lower-level staffers responsible for individual applications acknowledge that such practices exist"</p>

<p><a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=515779#%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=515779#&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>This is so racist. It made me cry. I hate being Asian. Textureless math grind? Don't people realize that these are actual human beings they're dealing with? How can they be so insensitive? I can't believe that someone would make a blanket statement about Asians like "not providing the right intellectual environment." This person has a job?
And isn't is just plain wrong to say one type of personality (extroverted, "white") is better in terms of "personal qualities" (a term which by itself is Bu11) than another? That's just naked racism, to rank Asians below whites in personal qualities just because they're PERCEIVED to be quieter and more hardworking. Since when were those BAD things? People are just looking for an excuse to look down on Asians.</p>

<p>I don't mean to make another redundant thread. But this article is really noteworthy and it hit me on a personal level.</p>

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<p>Screw them. I'm Asian and proud of it.</p>

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<p>I wish I could say that, but college is too important to me</p>

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<p>Wow. Well, that's what i mean by anti-asian discrimination.</p>

<p>I love math. Not science. But I'm going to college to study social sciences. Quiet? Textureless grind? Hardly... if anything, I talk way too much, and I'm known to be... what's the expression? oh yes, "a character."</p>

<p>It's disappointing that even at Harvard people would have such stereotypes, but I'm sure there's truth in it too: perfectionism has its drawbacks. And immigration and language barriers do too; Asians usually don't have the social poise of high-class white students either. But I think the right thing to do is not to be upset, but to fight the stereotype as much as we can. And prove we can go to and do well in top colleges anyway. =)</p>

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<p>I personally feel that this latest wave of Asian self-loathing to hit CC is a little bit of an overreaction...being Asian does not destroy your chances at an elite university. There are plenty of Asians at HYPSM and their peer institutions. Whether or not there should be more Asians in elite colleges is up for discussion (I mean that figuratively, let's actually not discuss it, it's been discussed plenty already), but as it is, your chances at any college in America are squarely in your hands. </p>

<p>If you put together an all-around solid application (transcript, test scores, ECs, essays, recs), there's no reason to believe that you don't at least have a shot at getting in anywhere.</p>

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<p>I don't have social problems. Just because socializing is different in another country than here doesn't mean people who grew up with those standards deserve to be ranked lower in personal qualities. Xenophobia, gotta love it.</p>

<p>But yes, I agree, the only thing I can do about it is keep fighting. It's a good thing I want to be an English major.</p>

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<p>Are some of you serious? You hate this and call it "racism"?</p>

<p>This is nothing more than pointing out actual, factual, TRENDS that college admissions committees find after reading hundreds of thousands of applications over a period of years. They try to create a diverse environment, and the majority of Asians do fit a stereotype. Whether that's a bad thing or not, colleges don't want to fill their classes with stereotypical Asians. But it goes both ways. They don't want a bunch of uninteresting white people either. Additionally, just because everyone is a "human being" it does not mean they'll all get in.</p>

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<p>Their argument makes sense.</p>

<p>Many of the Asians are so "smart", because their parents forced them to study their ass off at SATs and their classes, not because they "care" or "want" to do something. Are Asians who score a 2300 on their SAT "smarter" because instead of hanging out with friends their parents made them take SAT practice tests at night versus a white student who got a 1900 on their SATs but also had a life? Think about it. Though Asians tend to be effective test takers and can soak up information and think logically, they tend to have very poor social skills and are awkward in real life situations. A tradeoff.</p>

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<p>I guess if you want to be proactive about it, you could make this work in your favor. If the admissions officer reads nothing but applications by socially awkward Asians, and you portray yourself as fun, adverturous, and pleasant to be around, then your application will really stand out.</p>

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<p>Amen to that Jimmy. I'm part-Asian and proud.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
This is nothing more than pointing out actual, factual, TRENDS that college admissions committees find after reading hundreds of thousands of applications over a period of years.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It appears as if you are defending the use of stereotypes against Asians. Actual? Factual? Trends? Codewords for bias.</p>

<p>
[quote]

They try to create a diverse environment, and the majority of Asians do fit a stereotype.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>This statement is further anecdotal evidence that it is currently OK to discriminate against Asians. I believe that if GoldShadow said anything to the effect of “most Blacks do fit a stereotype” or “most Hispanics do fit a stereotype”, then he would get called out as a racist faster than francium explodes in water.</p>

<p>Sadly, at the moment, it is OK to discriminate against Asians and make such remarks. There are no consequences.</p>

<p>
[quote]

Whether that's a bad thing or not, colleges don't want to fill their classes with stereotypical Asians. But it goes both ways. They don't want a bunch of uninteresting white people either. Additionally, just because everyone is a "human being" it does not mean they'll all get in.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Um, defending the use of stereotypes by claiming they are true is a bad thing. Just to let you know.</p>

<p>
[quote]

Many of the Asians are so "smart", because their parents forced them to study their ass off at SATs and their classes, not because they "care" or "want" to do something. Are Asians who score a 2300 on their SAT "smarter" because instead of hanging out with friends their parents made them take SAT practice tests at night versus a white student who got a 1900 on their SATs but also had a life? Think about it. Though Asians tend to be effective test takers and can soak up information and think logically, they tend to have very poor social skills and are awkward in real life situations. A tradeoff.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>My friend, do you believe that Asia is a monolithic continent? Do you believe that there is no difference between a Han and a Hmong? Do you even know which of those groups is the majority in the People’s Republic of China?</p>

<p>This paragraph provides FURTHER anecdotal evidence that it is acceptable to discriminate against Asians. Tomtomtom did nothing but assert stereotypes as truth.</p>

<p>Persons like GoldShadow, Tomtomtom, and epiphany pretend that there's no discrimination against Asians in academia. They attempt to defend their use of stereotypes by stating that they are "true."</p>

<p>I don't mean to be polemical. I just believe it is unacceptable for such discrimination to be openly thrown out without fear.</p>

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<p>Argrgh I'm so resentful of Golden's direct comparison to the problems faced by Jews because it is not as severe a systemic pattern of bias and discrimination!</p>

<p>FURTHERMORE the REASONS for any plausible bias against asians are very different from those enunciated for keeping jews out; anti-semitism was bolstered by tangible effects, i.e., anti-semitic rich white people didn't want to send their white christian soon-to-be-rich well-connect children to a school with so many jews.</p>

<p>Now I know that people talk about the problem of this threshold (for asians) at boarding schools, but it is not one that I have heard come up for college--that there is some terrible danger of admitting too many asians until "no one else will apply" as was the fear at the ivies back in the day. When they talk about "no one" of course they meant rich well-connected people, the gentry, and that is basically what happened at Columbia and Penn, which went farther than Harvard did before they did something (quotas, etc) to bring down their jewish numbers. Harvard peaked at ~22% before they found ways to keep it down.</p>

<p>Ugh.</p>

<p>Maybe it's because I'm jewish, but I just resent the comparison on the basis of scale... Kinda seems like hijacking the past a little bit.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Argrgh I'm so resentful of Golden's direct comparison to the problems faced by Jews because it is not as severe a systemic pattern of bias and discrimination!

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Consider the possibility that the situation for Asians could be worse.</p>

<p>A Jew who is fed up with being discriminated against because of his heritage can adopt a non-Jewish identity simply by changing his name. A couple of generations ago, quite a few Jews did exactly that. </p>

<p>An Asian doesn't have that option.</p>

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<p>I agree with Marian.</p>

<p>Ashkenazic Jews had and still have very distinctive surnames. However, in external appearance, there's not much difference between them and, say, the English.</p>

<p>Thus, a mere name change was enough for one to be removed from the pool.</p>

<p>It is of course possible for Asians to change their last names. In fact, Koreans have done this rather well. Kim and Park don't sound all that Asian. The former is a girl's first name and the latter is a well-known place to relax and have fun. The now uncommon Chinese surname Ouyang has been anglicized as O'Young, almost giving it an Irish flavor.</p>

<p>There's just one problem. Phenotypically, we don't look anything like Europeans. The only exceptions are Turkic peoples, some of whom do look very European.</p>

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<p>I have to sort of agree with the college view of Asians..</p>

<p>It's alwasy the Asians that do better than others..
Don't get me wrong.. I'm pure Asian, but not the type that does very well in everything...</p>

<p>I just don't understand why Asians are so worried about tests, grades etc.?
there's really no need to worry for it unless the person is failing the class...</p>

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<p>I dont think HYPSM and other elites will have a mass rejection of overqualified Asians in favor of weaker everyone else. If you are Asian and push yourself towards a nonstereotypical major like Classics or Egyptology or English, you stand out more than the other Asians who flow towards the sciences and math. More Asians who are strong students lean towards science/math. I would guess Whites who are strong students lean in both directions equally with maybe a slight tilit in the humanities. Colleges will have a rough time filling up 50% of the class with Asians, 80% of whom are into science and math. In elite school admissions, you need to stand out. It is harder for an Asain to stand out in a sea of very strong Asians, but it is also hard for a white person to stand out in a sea of very strong white people (not to mention the legacies, a majority of whom are white for obvious reasons). It is easier to stand out when your intersts are different and you can add something to the college besides annother smart person interested in economics or premed. The thing is that Asians are stereotyped as the smart race so Asians are seen complaining that they have a harder time getting into top colleges. Asians should learn to suck it up and find other colleges that match their interests like HYPSM do, but with easier admissions criteria.</p>

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<p>b4nnd20: "I wish I could say that, but college is too important to me" [in response to: "screw them, I'm proud I'm Asian"]</p>

<p>Hate to say it, but that's the Asian stereotype right there...putting college/school before everything, even personal beliefs...I think THAT is what colleges are trying to avoid. It's a particular type of person who is unfortunately more common among Asian populations than among white/black/Hispanic populations, and so it's unfortunately become the stereotype for Asians as a whole.</p>

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<p>Well I guess the answer is for me to take up recreational pot-smoking, get regular Bs, and just generally lighten up 'cause it's totally my own fault that I'm "this way."</p>

<p>Right?</p>

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<p>let"s face it< how many profiles can you read here on cc and know that the poster is asian whether they tell you or not? if this is any indication of what adcoms face you can understand how jaded they become</p>

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<p>Sucks for us Asians who don't fit the stereotype. But what about the Asians who really do want to become doctors and scientists, and would be really good at it? I have friends like that who fit the stereotype of Asian computer nerd, but they are really passionate about it, and it makes me sad to think people deride them for their passions.</p>