<p>I’m planning on attending UC Berkeley next year.</p>
<p>All of my friends that are going are Asian except one person. All of them are very intelligent, either doing MCB pre-med, Econ pre-Haas, Biology/Physics/Chemistry, or engineering.</p>
<p>The reason why almost all of my non-Asian friends didn’t get in, had nothing to do with race as much as it had to do with test scores, grades, and Extracurriculars.</p>
<p>I know that the people who worked the hardest and didn’t want to go Ivy due to cost, are going to UCB or if they prefer SoCal USC/UCLA. I wouldn’t mark it up to race, only to the work ethic and people pursuing things they’re interested in.</p>
<p>I couldn’t imagine someone not wanting to go to Berkeley for this reason, unless it was a dead heat between another college that had a comparable strength department and that applicant was Asian.</p>
<p>I agree. Not to say that racism or ethnic tribalism doesn’t exist in California, but it’s not so pervasive. As a general trend (with exceptions in both directions of course), I’ve observed that east coasters tend to be much more aware of who is Jewish and who isn’t, or who is Irish or Italian or what have you and who isn’t.</p>
<p>^^There is a higher percentage of Hispanics in California than in any eastern state. And the white folks here all came from the more eastern parts of the US, including plenty of Jewish folks, Italians, Irish, etc. There is no shortage of any of them. But the difference is that in CA fewer people care very much or take much notice of those ethnic distinctions.</p>
<p>“Glaring majorities? Most schools in the US are a glaring majority of white students as in 80% homogeneous. Do you mean a minority shouldn’t become a majority??”</p>
<p>i think u misunderstood me, collegestress16. i meant that i think that the UCs–if they really wanted to-- could have entering classes where the numbers were more like 20% of each group. 20% latino, 20% black, 20% asian, white, et cetera. if any group should be in the majority on UC campuses (and i’m not just talking about berkeley), it’s latinos. </p>
<p>thanks for the help with the quote blocks, btw.</p>
<p>this thread has descended into madness… </p>
<p>just want to speak on behalf of the great state of california because there seems to be a little bit of cali-bashin’ going on: i LOVE this state! most native californians ‘flock’ to the UCs and other in-state schools because they love this state too. the majority of graduating seniors prefer to stay in california. this state certainly has its issues (and which state doesn’t?), but i wouldn’t want to live anywhere else for too long. born here, reared here, and will likely die here.</p>
So when a university chooses African-American, Hispanic, or Native American applicants over equally or more qualified Caucasian applicants because it wants to have fewer Caucasian students, it’s promoting diversity, but when it turns down an Asian applicant in favor of a non-Asian applicant it’s racist? Not sure how that logic works.</p>
<p>If I’m not mistaken, the country clubs are still segregated in the East . . . Jewish vs. Christian for example. I’m pretty certain you wouldn’t find that in the West. That said, white Christian transplants from the East and Midwest I’ve observed do not intermingle with other ethnicities no matter how assimilated they are.</p>
<p>I have never been to California, so I can’t comment on race relations personally, but judging by the news about gang wars between Blacks, Asians and Hispanics, I have to say that Californians are also obsessed with race. All this racial tension between the gangs has to start somewhere.</p>
<p>I know lots of Asian who prefer going east because of this reason alone for undergrad. I think the UCB strength is more in post graduation than in UG.</p>
<p>"I hated the racial balkanization, the so-called “ethnic” neighborhoods, where your life was at risk if you wandered into the “wrong” neighborhood and didn’t look like the dominant ethnic group. That’s the way it was back in the 60s and 70s, anyway. "</p>
<p>I hate to make anyone feel even worse, but as someone who grew up in NYC then I have to set the record straight. You did NOT put your life at risk if you were a Jew who wandered into an Italian area, an Italian in an Irish area, a Greek in a Polish area, etc, etc.</p>
<p>It was all about “race”. The usual fears of whites going into black areas or hispanic areas, and some really nasty incidents afffecting blacks in white areas. It was sad, it was shameful, but it wasn’t the kind of ethnic war of all against all that some might read your paragraph above as being.</p>
<p>Many southern areas were white bread, vanilla, and also had their shares of racial tensions. The progressivism of the “upper north” from Maine to Minnesota, is its pride - but its not something that automatically comes from the absence of (white) ethnic diversity - its more a matter of the puritan/abolitionist inheritance, I think.</p>
<p>“I know lots of Asian who prefer going east because of this reason alone for undergrad. I think the UCB strength is more in post graduation than in UG.”</p>
<p>Well, the major EECS, for which Berkeley is ranked 3rd or 4th for undergrad is a pretty compelling reason to go there. </p>
<p>I agree that the only people who seem to have a problem with it is other Asian students.</p>
<p>@tega, you really can’t extrapolate what gangs do to what Californians believe.</p>
<p>The only real area where gangs seem to be a problem is in LA, and they’re avoidable. There are some racist people in CA, but most of the tension is between racist people and people who dislike racist people (most people).</p>
<p>I haven’t read through this whole thread, but my opinion is that it is more a personal preference rather than racism. Some people have a very limited comfort zone, and they are more at ease with people who are just like them. I would find that kind of monotonous, but that’s just me.</p>
<p>There is something to be said for being a minority in any situation. You are not familiar with the cultural differences - the food, the attitudes or expectations, even the language, and it seems strange. Some people would prefer not to live in such a situation.</p>
<p>My daughter used to hear similar things in high school from Asian classmates, along with jokes about her being a lemon cookie (white on the outside, yellow on the inside) because her attitudes were more typical of Asian students than white ones. She didn’t mind. It wasn’t intended to be offensive, and besides, it was true.</p>
<p>Note to Tega: In some spots in the East, there are a lot of Asians. Certain Washington, DC, suburbs are among them. There are also, as you point out, plenty of Jews, Hispanics, and African Americans. But unfortunately, not Italians. Thus, the pizza is terrible. There’s almost nobody here who appreciates good pizza, so there’s no motivation for the people who run restaurants to learn how to make it. :(</p>
<p>Parentofivyhope, if that is so, then the sentiments about too many Asians goes for Asians too. I don’t think African Americans who don’t want to go to colleges that are predominantly black are being racist. In fact, wouldn’t it be racist to only consider such schools? Or is being racist a more narrow definition? I think there is a nuance in the definition that is very negative and has ill will which is not always the case in making certain decisions like a college.</p>