<p>Reading through many of the posts on this site, I have noticed that some mention race being a factor in the admission process, specifically for those who are Asian. As an Asian myself, how greatly will my race hinder my chances of admission into schools in the top 10 category?</p>
<p>My perception is that being Asian-American does not disadvantage you severely as it might for college admissions. But no doubt, as an ORM, you will not be courted the same way I have observed URMs being aggressively courted.</p>
<p>For int’l Asians, your nationality is the big variable. ORNationalities like China/SKorea are a tough pool. URNationalities like Bhutan or Myanmar may garner you some slack.</p>
<p>As GMTplus7 notes, race works in your favor if you are a URM (under represented minority…African American, Hispanic, Native American) and against you if you are an ORM (over represented minority).</p>
<p>Stereotyping a bit (keep in mind that I am an Asian American), Asian American kids are generally high performing (A- = “Asian F”), with fairly demanding/strict (“Tiger”) parents that place a VERY high emphasis on academics (vs. sports or social aspects of teen life).</p>
<p>So, what you get is a pool of EXTREMELY qualified Asian American applicants. An over represented minority. Especially for the “name brand” schools, as Asian American parents (again, which I am myself, so don’t hate) can be very brand conscious when it comes to education (among other things).</p>
<p>Since the schools are generally trying to build a diverse class, they are not going to admit every qualified Asian American…because there are just too many. So they have the luxury of selecting exactly who they want. Just as it’s been said that many schools could fill their admission classes with 99%-ers (of all races) if they wanted to. </p>
<p>FWIW, when we were going through the process with my older daughter a few yeas ago, I was told by a HADES AO that the Asian-American girls cohort is THE MOST competitive group in terms of admissions. Too many 99% SSAT/4.0 GPA/virtuoso viola players, I guess.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to scare you, just sharing what I understand to be the facts. What I’d focus on for your apps is the answer to the questions: “How are you different than all the other amazingly qualified Asian American applicants?” and “How will you add to the richness of the school in a way that’s different from all the other amazingly qualified Asian American applicants?” </p>
<p>This is also where I think “fit” plays a part. Of the schools you are considering, which one truly “fits” you and your family’s values…and not just from an academic POV? Hopefully one stands out (and for reasons other than great facilities, great matriculation, strong student body)…if it does, make that VERY clear in your application and any correspondence you might have with AOs (without being a nag/stalker).</p>
<p>sevendad, to further stereotype or blame it on Asian or Asian parents as “pursuing brand names” may be detrimental to your community. Asian Americans did “nothing wrong.” If they are willing to work hard and make sacrifices in other aspects of life to pursue what they value most, it’s their rights and should be respected or even admired. And there are good reasons for them to question about the “double standards” just as elite colleges are entitled to build their school communities the way they want. And it is not the first time in history elite colleges are dealing with this type of ‘complaints’ - [Asian-Americans</a>, the New Jews on Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://m.chronicle.com/article/article-content/131729/]Asian-Americans”>http://m.chronicle.com/article/article-content/131729/)</p>
<p>That article has been linked to before here, Benley. And at the time I gave my opinion (that I’m sure was unpopular with a few forum members) that I personally would not want my own children to attend a school that was majority Asian, no matter how qualified the kids were. </p>
<p>Note that I do not see where I am “blaming” anyone in my post above. Those are your words. And I acknowledge up front that I was 'typing.</p>
<p>I was just presenting what I believe to be the situation to someone who asked a question, based on A) being a part of the community and B) actual conversations with many AA parents. I realize that it may be more difficult for my own children to gain admission to BS, and I am fine with that.</p>
<p>My daughter is Asian-born (I am American). She was the ONLY Asian kid in her elementary and middle schools, and so the fact that there is so much diversity (and yes, lots of Asian kids!) at BS was a real draw for us. The school she chose to attend is small, and the AO told us (in a response to my query about diversity) that they admit no more than 3 intl students from the same country each year.</p>
<p>I agree with sevendad. I am an african-american parent. I totally support diversity. I do not want to see schools that is mainly attended by african-americans, asians, Hispanics etc. I have been reading a lot of messages on cc for a while now. I must say that sevendad your messages is so on point. You have made this process a lot easier for me.</p>
<p>So where does a mix* fit into this puzzle?</p>
<p>*American: Half White/Half Asian.</p>
<p>By law, schools have to report their racial statistics to the U.S. Dept of Education. Here, for example, is the breakdown for Groton, from the gov’t website:
[Search</a> for Private Schools - School Detail for Groton School](<a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolName=groton&NumOfStudentsRange=more&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=-1&HiGrade=-1&ID=00603075]Search”>http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolName=groton&NumOfStudentsRange=more&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=-1&HiGrade=-1&ID=00603075)</p>
<p>00 American Indian/Alaska Native
54 Asian
29 Black
16 Hispanic
253 White
01 Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
18 Two or More Races</p>
<p>“Two or more races” is one of the categories. </p>
<p>What diversity targets do BSs have for “Two or more races” in their mix? Your guess is as good as mine.</p>
<p>How do states fit into this mix? I know that certain states (especially in the New England area) are well-represented at boarding schools while others are not. Could this affect someone’s chances of being accepted? For example, would someone who is academically qualified and from Idaho be selected over someone from Massachusetts?</p>
<p>Schools definitely seek geographic diversity. Many states are not represented… At my daughters school, I think there are more countries represented than states. Not many students from the southeast, or southwest, or Midwest for that matter!</p>
<p>cameo43: Thanks, but would that ever be a deciding factor? Does coming from an overly represented state heavily hamper your chances?</p>
<p>@prepschoolhopes: I would look at it this way…let’s say that a school has a target of 20 kids from state X, and 300 kids from state X apply. So you are competing against a pool of 300. Versus state Y, where they only get 3 applicants, but want at least 1. So you are competing against 3.</p>
<p>I think it would be a deciding factor in some cases…say your “on paper” stats place you as 21st “best” kid from state X, but you’d be the second “best” in state y. I would think being from state x would be a disadvantage and being from state y would be an advantage.</p>
<p>Hi!
We sat together, during lunch, at the Emma Willard Open House in November. My daughter was over-the-moon about EW and at this juncture we have decided to limit her apps to the 3 schools that would be a great “fit” for her: EW,Westover and MPS. (I sense that only 2 of the 3 schools are a perfect fit but she’s allowed to disagree with me and have a voice in this process so I’m not naming names and I’m going to trust her intuition.) She just got her SSAT scores from the December test and is pretty downcast about the outcome. I can’t seem to sell her on the fact that she scored better than 74% of her peers. She was hoping to do better and score in the 80’s. I’ve read your posts and agree that a retake in January would probably ruin her Xmas Holidays/vacation with no guarantee of any/much score improvement. I tried to send you a personal message, just now, but because I’m a CC newbie, I can’t send a PM until I’ve posted on CC a dozen times. In addition to her total score of 74%, we have read your post on the OR (over-represented)population of Asian Americans (she is an Asian American who is in need of FA) and now, for the first time in the BS process, I’m no longer confident about her chances of getting accepted to the 3 schools we mentioned.
Her PS grades are high 80’s/low 90’s this Fall, and she’s an accomplished clarinet player.
No sports or EC. Just need some reassurance and advice. Feeling anxious. Thanks!</p>
<p>I really think she’s going to have to knock it out of the park with her essay. Maybe I should pay the extra fee to SSAT so I can take a look at her writing sample. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>VonnyKCM…I will send you a PM.</p>
<p>Thanks, I’d really appreciate it!</p>
<p>okay well yes it is technically a disadvantage because many asians from all over the world usually apply to boarding schools in the US.</p>
<p>@Sevendad,</p>
<p>I have one question for you. Assume there is a couple of students as follows: one is China-born American citizen living in US. The other is Korean residing in Korea. They are both applying to top boarding schools in the U.S. If they applied to the same school, do you think they would compete against each other? </p>
<p>To categorize, I was wondering if there are actually 3 different classifications for admission process?? </p>
<ol>
<li>OR Asian residing in his/her own country and applying as an international student</li>
<li>OR Asian but US citizen residing in US</li>
<li>OR Asian residing in US but no US citizenship (US resident with a green card)</li>
</ol>
<p>Do applicants in each category compete against peers within the same category? I would appreciate your answer.</p>
<p>Having phoned more than a dozen schools to make sense of our own foreign residency situation, we’ve discovered what constitutes an ‘INT’L’ student varies from school to school for: admissions-pool, FA-eligibility, & status of matriculated student. Our questions to the AO’s were about nationality & residency, not race. This is what we have gathered:</p>
<p>If u are a U.S. citizen or green card holder AND your principal residence is in the USA, u are in the DOMESTIC applicant pool.</p>
<p>If u are a U.S. citizen residing overseas, most (not all) schools put you in the INT’L applicant pool. Off the top of my head, I recall Exeter & Loomis put u in the DOMESTIC pool. Regardless of what pool u fall in, the schools want u to pay the int’l applicant fee (groan) since u have a foreign mailing address.</p>
<p>If you are not a U.S. citizen nor green card holder, u are put in the INT’L applicant pool, even if u are residing in the U.S. on a legal visa.</p>
<p>All the selective schools are inundated w applications from China & SKorea, but the schools put caps on the number of kids from any one country to about 5% of the student body. So u can assume up to 10% of a selective school’s student body will be from China+SKorea. Int’l applicants from china are competing against other intl applicants from china, and not against chinese-american applicants.</p>
<p>If you add the smattering of int’l kids from other countries in Asia: Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan etc., the total number of international students from Asia may comprise up to 15% of the student body. And most, not all, of these kids will be asian race.</p>
<p>Since the U.S. Dept of Ed reports racial data but not nationality data, I can only assume that the number of reported Asian race students is the sum of DOMESTIC + INT’L. So if a selective school has 25% asian race kids, then 10-15% will be INT’L. Knowing how many are DOMESTIC asian race is tougher to figure out because the Dept of Ed racial statistics are inaccurate, since many applicants do not identify their race.</p>
<p>Thank you GMTplus7 for the great info. It helped. </p>
<p>I wasn’t exactly sure if US citizens residing outside US would be put into the int’l applicants pool. So, if the US citizen lives in China, will he or she be competing against the US applicants living abroad?</p>