<p>One commentary among several that have been in the Daily Princetonian newspaper recently: </p>
<p>[Class</a>, money and admission - The Daily Princetonian](<a href=“http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2009/11/20/24505/]Class”>http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2009/11/20/24505/)</p>
<p>
Going to call you out on this one: Are MATH tests then graded subjectively against the student? What about vocab tests/grammar or language tests/science tests/SATs/the list goes on?</p>
<p>I agree that the OP is 1) qualified to be at Yale and 2) should dispose of his insecurity, but your comment makes it seem like you’re legitimizing affirmative action because of this.</p>
<p>It would certainly be the case that some tests (AP tests come to mind) are graded anonymously, as my professional school tests routinely were, so blatant ethnic prejudice shouldn’t be much of an issue in grading those tests. On the other hand, there is no doubt that there is still blatant ethnic prejudice here in the United States and elsewhere, so the tough issue is knowing what to do about that, besides administering tests by identification number rather than by name.</p>
<p>I haven’t seen any breakdowns, studies or surveys, but I would bet money that the majority, perhaps even the vast majority of black students have “white” names. (As an extension of that, I really don’t think it makes any sense to define a name as “white.”)</p>
<p>The studies that have been done on the issue of prejudice related to given names have usually studied what I would call “mainstream” names rooted in plurality Anglo culture to “ethnic” names that probably wouldn’t be given to children by any descendant of colonial era New England settlers. There are various studies that have used various combinations of names. There is still a substantial advantage in the United States to having a name that might have been given to one of the passengers on the Mayflower. </p>
<p>A black friend of mine, who is now a member of Congress, once gave an example (which I gave upthread) of a name that would sound very “black” to people in Detroit: Leroy Johnson. That, of course, is plausible as a name of a white person who grew up somewhere where no black people live at all. The name Susan Lee might be from almost any ethnic group at all in the United States, and plenty of other names are ambiguous in that manner, but quite a few names are less so. Given names (“first names”) do fall into patterns of greater or less social favor. </p>
<p>As I also mentioned upthread, the Census Bureau has done studies of surnames (“last names”) to see what percentages of people with each surname self-identify with each federally defined ethnic group. Yoder is an example of a family name (a Germanic name found mostly in Amish communities in the United States) that is very strongly associated with “white” racial self-identification. But just about all surnames are used by some individuals who don’t self-identify with the majority group of persons who use that surname. Some surnames don’t have a majority ethnic group associated with them, but only a plurality group. </p>
<p>I think it’s legitimate and inevitable for colleges to know the names of applicants before the admission decision is made. Colleges continue to [admit</a> and enroll students who are “race/ethnicity unknown”](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063506721-post4.html]admit”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063506721-post4.html) from the point of view of the college, so many admission committees are not going out of their way to guess about student ethnicity from names or any other information that appears on the application. The federal ethnicity questionnaire is a federal regulatory requirement imposed on colleges–colleges have to ask about ethnicity–but students are not required to fill out the questionnaire.</p>
<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>There is a lot of talk about how being Asian actually lowers your chances of acceptance. As I’m asian, I wasn’t too happy about this. Haha.</p>
<p>I’m applying to Brown, Yale, and other top-notch schools and would hate to be turned because of my race. So just curiouse…</p>
<p>Does me being filipino, though, affect my chances negatively?</p>
<p>yes
but not as much as being eastern asian (Chinese, Korean)
but yes and quite significantly yes</p>
<p>This makes me nervouse. Haha. If I posted my “resume” would anyone care to chance me taking into consideration the fact that I’m asian?</p>
<p>sure. why not.</p>
<p>and by the way, also understand that you are picked from the pool of your nationality. I don’t know how many filipinos apply to US schools, but as a Korean, I found out that MIT accepts only about 4~5 koreans each year, and there’s probably several hundred koreans applying to MIT. After I realized that, I didn’t even apply there.</p>
<p>Hi Bens,
I’m pretty much in disagreement with maruhan2 after reading an article from the
Michigan Journal of Law and Race. I’m not sure about the applications from Yale or Brown,
but if they separate East Asian and Pacific Islander (like they really should), then I think you don’t have to worry about it negatively impacting you. If they don’t, however, then the school could be making the mistake of lumping the richest kids from Hong Kong along with successful migrants from usually poorer origins in Pacific Island nations >.< </p>
<p>If Asian and Pacific Islander is separated, I don’t see a major disadvantage. Also, considering the huge social need to get more Filipinos in higher education, I could only imagine a positive effect on your admissions. The problem is if you have East Asians (like Taiwanese of Chinese descent, or even just kids who are trying to not present themselves as Asian through trickery) ticking off Pacific Islander in hopes of avoiding the Asian disadvantage. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, I think in the end, SATs really rule the roost here, in addition to your extracurriculars and essays.
If you really are worried though, maybe you should just tick other?
Good luck!</p>
<p>East Asians are usually considered with Pacific Islanders</p>
<p>O.K. Here it goes…</p>
<p>Act Composite: 32 (All subscores above thirty)</p>
<p>Classes: currently ALL of my classes are recieving college credit except band. We have a college in the schools program, but no AP or IB (I don’t even know what IB is…). This semester I am taking Band, Calculus, Anatomy, American Government, Physics, Spanish 4, and College Writing just to give you an idea of my classes. I have always taken the hardest possible courses my school has to offer.</p>
<p>And Here is my resume that I plan on attatching to the Common App…</p>
<p>Cumulative GPA: weighted, 4.119; unweighted, 4.0
Class rank: 1 of 167</p>
<p>Extracurricular Activities
Science Fair; Fish Biology Projects (2004-present)
-Studies on Fish aging structures with mentor from the DNR.
-Studies on Oryzias latipes DNA sex-reversal due to global climate change.
-Awards:
-International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) alternate (2007-2008)
<p>Community Service
National Honors Society; complete fifty hours of service (2008-present)
-Must also serve in soup kitchens and serve as a Salvation Army bell ringer
Age to Age Society; community service goal to bridge generations (2008-present)
-Helped lead group of fifteen in construction of a city park garden
Rotary Club; Elected Jr. Rotarian for district club (2009-present)
-Work with literacy program and ice golfing fundraiser
-Public speaking presentation
Mission Trip to Guatemala (One week in summer 2009)
-Repaired a school, clothing and food delivery, and taught school children
Mission Trip to Minneapolis (Fall 2009)
-cleaned outside district soup kitchen
Cloquet River Watch; healthy river project (2006-2007)</p>
<p>Other Awards/Nominations
Selected nation wide to compete on Discovery Kids Channel’s reality television show Endurance (2007-2008)
-One of sixteen participants selected from over 10,000 applicants to be filmed for show in Fiji
-Won first place in the competition; won Grand Prize trip to Australia
Principal’s Honor Role (2006-2009)
Nominated for Boys State; one of four boys in Jr. Class (2008-2009)
Nominated for Congressional Student Leadership Conference (2007-2008)</p>
<p>Work Experience
McDonalds Employee (summer 2009-present)
-Customers send positive reports about my work to management
Babysitter (2008-present)</p>
<p>So what do you think?</p>
<p>Also, my resume is more than one page…is that bad?</p>
<p>Shiroiryuujp,</p>
<p>Hmm. I see we have some conflicting informatoin here. Ha ha. What you say does make sense though and I’m really hoping that that it does come as more advantageous…</p>
<p>I guess I will find out eventually. I’m applying to Brown, Yale, Amherst as my most difficult schools to get into…</p>
<p>definitely worth applying
and I love the discovery channel thing by the way. 
I wish I could have done something like that. was it something like Survivors?</p>
<p>brown and amherst, I think it’s actually your match.
(you are just that good right now)</p>
<p>and yale may be a reach but a reasonable one.</p>
<p>Just curious. It seems like you’re into science, but none of your schools that you want to go is really a science type</p>
<p>they cant group you and review you by race. thats borderline illegal.</p>
<p>collegebound…
have u heard of affirmative action?
have u read CC’s most intense thread talking about race in admission?</p>
<p>^yes, that goes specifically against AA, does it not? Dont schools just have to meet a certain quota?</p>
<p>Maruhan2,</p>
<p>Thanks for the review. haha.</p>
<p>And I am considering getting a degree in biology of some type, and then continuing on to get a Graduate Degree in Marine Biology? But it’s all up in the air really…Brown would help me to pursue that goal. However, Amherst and Yale I feel would give me a solid foundation…</p>
<p>What school’s would you reccomend?</p>
<p>Collegebound41,</p>
<p>Is it though? Essentially they are trying to foster a better interaction between different cultures…not prohibit it. I can see where it would be iffy though.</p>
<p>^^
Collegebound,</p>
<p>not for us Asians. AA just works against us, sadly. We’re over-represented and so they cut students in order to meet that quota</p>