Although I won’t be applying to college this year, I was wondering how beneficial (or harmful) it would be to “lie” about my race. I’m partially black (~25%), white (~25%), and asian (50%). I would like to apply to some Ivy League schools, but I’ve heard a lot about Asians being discriminated against in the Ivy League admission process. I’ve read about this online, and I tend to have a lot of Asian friends (and relatives, obviously), and they all say they’ve seen this, especially with older siblings who are now in college. I’m very proud of being partially Asian (Cambodian), but would it be helpful to leave that out of an Ivy League college application? I don’t want to “cheat the system,” but from the experiences of people I know, it sounds like I’d be the one cheated out. I just want to make my chances as even as possible, without putting me at a racist disadvantage imposed by schools. If you don’t think this discrimination exists, then please mention that in your response as well. Thank you in advance!
Lying is never a good idea. Your race is probably in your school records as reported by your parents when you enrolled and if asked your counselor would presumable know. Most schools let you check multiple boxes so be truthful and include all 3 components of your racial background.
you’re not going to find any support here for your scheme. But if I may appeal to your common sense. At the selective schools, one’s character is of great importance. The fact that you’re contemplating this shows something that will leach out in other areas – which will show up in your LORs, personal statements, etc. – and will be a mill stone on your chances.
Do your best to quash this part of your make-up. It’ll be good for you in the long run too
Personally, I didn’t see trying to work around a racist system to give myself an equal chance and reduce discrimination as a character flaw, but I suppose I can see where you’re coming from.
If you want to apply to Ivies you have to do a lot better than believing others’assumptions based on hearsay and speculation. They like kids who can think and process independently. Seems you don’t know how kids are reviewed. Makes me wonder what else you missed.
Thank you for that, but groups have been calling for the investigation of the admission processes of these schools. These schools often claim they don’t have quotas, but always have a steady percentage of Asians enrolled, even as the amount of qualified Asians has doubled in recent years. It obviously depends on what you believe, but with more reports of discrimination coming out on the national level, it’s a wee bit hard to deny, in my opinion. All of the statistics point to said discrimination, but apparently finding and comparing statistics and reports per school by myself is not independent thinking…
Calling for investigation is not a conclusion. You will need to think on a higher level to gain admissions to a tippy top.
And these so-certain comments about race have one home: the Race and College Admissions thread. Go for it, you can vent there.
Why lie? Just don’t check any box.
I’m aware it’s not a conclusion, but as far as I’ve found, no evidence goes against the claims of these groups. That is, unless you’ve independently researched this as well and can show me there isn’t discrimination? Or an explanation for the acceptance rate remaining constant, with the high achieving Asian students increasing? I’d love to hear you’re higher level thinking.
@sleeplessmom1 do they consider that lying? Personally, I think race shouldn’t be involved in the admissions process, but would they be inclined to ask (or flat out reject) me about it?
Yes, several of us are closer to admissions than your friends and family.
It takes a high level of skill and savvy to gain admittance to an Ivy. Te competition is fierce for all applicants. Please focus on your actual prep, what the colleges state they want and look for, your own savvy in approaching this.
I’m aware that competition is fierce, but I (as well as the 130+ groups that have called investigation) don’t understand why such a small amount of highly qualified, successful, and involved Asians are admitted, when it’s not anything like this for other racial groups.
From what i can tell, the East Asians that are typically discriminated against are of Korean, Chinese, & Japanese ancestry. Isn’t it possible that Cambodian ancestry might be seen as a favorable factor in admissions?
I don’t know why you are putting so much emphasis on race. I agree with @lookingforward.
Are the rest of your stats so abysmal that you are only relying on race to try to gain admission???
Our family is URM, but at the ivies, there are so few slots, none of my high-stats, NM kids got into the top 5 schools. Yes, they were waitlisted. Yes, they had the laundry list of events and sports.
The truth is that there just are not enough seats for the hundreds of thousands of qualified applicants. If you aint dead on in your stats, GPA, and numbers of AP/IB courses, and not from a small populated state, it’s a crap shoot.
Colleges don’t rank the SATs and take the top ~2,000 scorers; they consider the entire application. Every department wants kids in their majors so if 5,000 students want computer science and they can only take 200, those 4,800 kids who were rejected weren’t rejected because of their race. If they have a band and this year the band needs tuba players and drummers, the tuba players and drummers who got accepted didn’t get accepted because of their race. When 20,000 people apply for 2,000 spots, many qualified kids aren’t going to be accepted. Focus on making your app as strong as you can and make sure your list includes some matches and affordable safeties.
Please move any further discussion to the Race in College Admissions thread pinned in the College Admissions forum. Closing.