Did you guys see this?
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/05/20/408240998/is-harvard-showing-bias-against-asian-americans
I am a bi-racial indian-caucasian male and feel like this will be a huge detriment to my application despite performing very well in school. I feel like Harvard and other institutions are taking away my sense of cultural identity by grouping me in with every other Chinese, Pakistani, Korean, Vietnamese etc. person.
What do you guys think?
Taking away your cultural sense of identity? LOL. I would suggest you not let your sense of identity become dependent upon a university’s admission practices…
As an Asian who got into Harvard myself, this lawsuit won’t go anywhere.
As an Asian who got into Harvard yourself, are u privy to the inner workings of Harvard admission practices? Or does it just stroke your ego to think you are special, unlike the thousands of other high-achieving Asian applicants who are mere drones?
No, not at all, but I think the main focus of the controversy revolves around comparing test scores which is not the end-all-be-all of admissions.
Of course test scores don’t need to be the end all be all.
But one racial group shouldn’t be required to jump a higher bar for scores, ECs, leadership, etc.-- and especially a racial group that is a minority & subject to discrimination. And that is what is happening. When Shannika Jones plays the violin, the admissions people pat her on the back. When Shao Min Jung plays the violin, the admissions people call her a robot.
The issue is not comparing 2 applicants who comprise 2 data points, but comparing thousands of applicants who comprise clouds of data. When the clouds of data for different racial groups don’t overlap, then there’s fair basis for a lawsuit.
Every year, 29,000 New York City 8th and 9th graders sit for an SAT like test, with the top scoring kids admitted to Stuyvesant High School and seven other specialized high schools. Admission is based solely on that one test — transcripts, teacher recommendations, guidance counselor reports, essays, interviews, and ethnicity are NOT considered. The acceptance rate at these schools is 4% — that’s less than HYPSM.
Stuyvesant High School is currently 72% Asian. Most non-Asian students are white. Admission to African American, hispanic, and latino students every year can be counted literally on two hands. No one is happy with the lack of diversity at Stuyvesant, but neither New York State or New York City has come up with an alternative plan.
If Harvard were to admit by test scores or a combination of test scores, transcripts, EC’s – and completely ignore ethnicity – I imagine the college would look pretty similar to Stuyvesant. Would that be a positive or negative? An argument could be made for both sides, but the end result would be that the mosaic of Harvard would be radically different.
UMich is legally prohibited from considering race, and it doesn’t “look” like Stuy.
^^ One of UMich’s required essays specifically asks about diversity (i.e. ethnicity or race), although it’s couched in “community”: http://admissions.umich.edu/university-michigan-questions
My specific issue is with how the ivies regard bi-racial applicants. Because I am asian-caucasian I am forced to compete with all asian students AND all caucasian students instead of being regarded in a category of my own. This obviously places me at a distinct disadvantage in the admissions process. I said that they took away my sense of cultural identity because I am the sum of two parts not either or. This lawsuit probably won’t go anywhere but I think it ignites an important debate.
Why would anyone have a problem with Stuyvesant being 72% Asian?
Why not just prohibit the use of racial identity on the application? How about the adcom not having access to the applicant’s name, address, or any other personally identifiable information. Base it solely on the tests, essays (stripped of ethnic and PIIs), and ECs (no ethnic or racial identification of groups allowed)? Make it entirely ethnic or racially blind.
Have you considered that other data on the application might prevent it from being truly “racially blind”?
Imagine if people had said they’d dislike a school being 72% black …
The fact is white America doesn’t like asians and wants to keep us out of power and prestigious positions. Fact of life.
Also for everyone who thinks harvard is racist against asians, stanford is way worse. Gets 40% of its students from California and is 50% stem yet even less asian than harvard.
@JustOneDad, that’s why I said strip out all ethnic/racial PIIs. I know if such a system were in place, people will still try to game it to let the adcom have a clue about their (favorable) ethnic identity.
Yes, Stanford’s bias against Asian male applicants is well known in the Asian-American community.
Strip it all out? Do you mean, like, their name and any organizations they belong to?
I think applications in all arenas of life should become name blind. This would mitigate lots of problems. For example, a study found that identical resumes with a white name instead of a black name received 6x as many call backs. Making applications name blind would help to reduce the effects of racism in a lot of areas.
So, we’d be raising hands or not for JohnDoe1161 from Anywhere, USA?