<p>Before I post anything, I have to say that I am ignorant of this issue, and I just want to see how others view it. Please do not fire back at me. </p>
<p>I read a very interesting article relating to colleges in general that mentions Asians having a double standard:</p>
<p>I was then curious if this applied to University of Wisconsin-Madison and see if University of Wisconsin-Madison lacked diversity, which brought me to this article:</p>
<p>I then went to my application and unchecked my ethnicity, which brought up this message:
"You have not responded to the racial/ethnic heritage question but are strongly encouraged to do so. Your response to this question will help the UW System meet federal reporting requirements. Your response may also assist in identifying opportunities and awarding scholarships and financial aid." (this might be irrelevant but I thought I would include it anyways)</p>
<p>Also, I noticed this:
African American or Black
American Indian or Alaska Native
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
Cambodian
Hmong
Laotian
Vietnamese
Other Asian
White
I'm curious why those Asian groups were picked rather than the big ones: Korean, Chinese, Japanese, etc.</p>
<p>At UW, like most Top State Schools in the country, being Asian is not a factor for being admitted, or not. There are a lot of Asians in the school.</p>
<p>I don’t know the answer to your question about the listed ethnic groups for sure, but my guess would be that the Asian groups listed (Hmong, Laotian, Vietnamese) are considered underrepresented minorities, while most other Asians are not. They’re probably trying to distinguish between URMs and non-URMs.</p>
<p>Vietnamese, Hmong and the smaller Asian groups are underrepresented minorities while Chinese, Korean, etc are just minorities.
I assume that you are Vietnamese (from your username?). I would reccommend that you check the box for your ethnicity. There really are a lot scholarships for URMs that you could qualify for, and you would only be recommended to apply if they know you belonged in that group. Examples of the scholarships, I believe are the People’s Program, the Great People Scholarship, the PK scholarship and the CS scholarship.</p>
<p>Definitely check the box. Wisconsin has many residents whose families came because of the Vietnam War- these are the underrepresented Asian minorities targeted as they typically are not rich and well educated. Other Asians, such as Indians, Chinese, Koreans and Japanese, are less common in Wisconsin but typically came as well educated immigrants to this state. The percentage of “other” Asians going to college is most likely higher than other groups.</p>
<p>Also once you get here you should look for the VSA (Vietnamese Student Association) club as a good club to join! We organize a lot of fun events and put on a yearly Culture Night Show.</p>
<p>It is almost certain they are trying to distinguish those particular SE Asian ethnicities from more broadly held assumptions about Asian-American culture. Applicants from those particular groups are more apt to be from families who have immigrated relatively recently and share war-displacement and refugee experiences. It could also be argued that the historically recent U.S. role in that area of the world was such that American institutions incur a special responsibility to families that originated there.</p>
<p>Bottom line is that, if you are Vietnamese, your background will be viewed as an asset by the admissions office.</p>