Is there a bias against Asian American applicants?

I am hearing a lot of discussion about perceived bias against Asian American applicants. Do you think this is true? Why or why not? How do you know?

Just at CMC or at all the claremont colleges combined?

Definitely not! There is an extremely high population of Asians/Asian-Americans at CMC. I know many people who attend.

OP, congratulations on being accepted to UC Berkeley for Industrial Engineering. Sorry you are disappointed that you were not accepted at “second-tier” schools USC, Northwestern, Swarthmore and CMC. You may think of them as “second tier” but they all have extremely low acceptance rates. What that means is that while you were very qualified, you were competing against lots of others with very similar profiles and qualifications. I really don’t see why CMC was on your list, though. Doesn’t seem a good fit for someone who wants to pursue engineering. Best wishes with Ivy Day!

Swarthmore second tier? You must be joking. Everyone not admitted alleges bias. But look at the number of Asian students at UCLA. Or at the 5Cs. They are very well represented. No group is going to get 100% of the spots.

@collegebound16
I am going to be completely honest in my response.

Your idea that colleges are hiding behind holistic reviews of applications so they can select based on race is ridiculous. You are clearly just bitter that you didn’t get accepted into a few schools and are lashing out cause it affected your self-esteem. Whether you believe so or not, the fact that you got denied wasn’t due to race, but rather to the fact that the admissions departments didn’t feel like you deserved one acceltance when compared to the other applicants. Very few get accepted to all the schools they apply to, especially when they are all top tier ones. Which leads me to my final point: you are either very bitter, delusional, or just plain thick if you believe that CMC or Swarthmore are second tier schools. I understand you may be mad, but be happy you got into UCB, it’s an amazing school.