<p>Story of my 3 Asian classmates and 1 Asian friend from my area (myself included)</p>
<ol>
<li> All Asian Males</li>
<li><p>All 3.96+ UWGPA from very rigorous courses: Lowest math course among us was Cal III (multi-variable)</p></li>
<li><p>SAT I: All 2350+</p></li>
<li><p>ACT: All 35+</p></li>
<li><p>SAT: All 800’s (other than 1 subject)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>We applied 20+ Ivies (together) + MIT + Stanford and we got rejected from almost every school except 1 or 2 waitlists. No Acceptance! Yes, 0 acceptances among 4 of us!</p>
<p>That’s the empathy this board is known for mini and meteman. </p>
<p>Sorry 20more that it didn’t work out for you and your classmates/friends. It is clearly competitive out there and I’m sure all your hard work and dedication has taught you many valuable lessons that will serve you well throughout life regardless of where you end up going to college.</p>
<p>OK, you guys had scores and grades. So did all the other applicants. What were the positive reasons an Ivy should have picked one of you instead of the zillions of other high GPA, high score students who also applied? 'Cause, if the answer is, “No reason, we don’t stand out” you have your explanation.</p>
<p>Well those were some fairly unsympathetic responses! I’ll be a little kinder - it was a tough year - and being Asian is probably the hardest demographic for Ivy league admissions. Was there more to your applications than grades and test scores? I hope so. Where did you and your friends get accepted? Focus on what you have and make the most of it. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>I’m telling you that your stats are meaningless in a pile of thousands of folks with similar stats, and where admissions for non-legacies, non-athletes, non-URMs, non-offspring of Senators and Ambassadors, non-holders of signficant patterns, non-bassoonists (where needed) is under 5%. It had nothing to do with your being Asian, and the fact that you thought the key metric was your SAT score is probably why you got rejected. Your SAT score got you INTO the pile, but wasn’t a particularly good reason to pull you out - that’s what the admissions people are telling you and your friends. </p>
<p>You weren’t “entitled” to admission, and the admissions departments found folks more qualified to be part of the incoming class. I am sure you will go to a fine college, with great opportunities, and will do just great.</p>
<p>i think people need to look up “sympathy” in the dictionary. the OP never commented on his ECs or anything. you people are just assuming things, and we all know what they say about assumptions. parents too… </p>
<p>getting high scores is a part of getting into good colleges. to say that it is how not to get in (w t f) and something very unremarkable despite the fact over a few hundred people get scores that high each year comes off as bitter. and to arrogantly assume that he has never achieved something in life from this one piece of information that he has given is a little rude. he has already achieved more than many, many high school students. he has perhaps achieved more than some grown ups too, maybe some on this board even…</p>
<p>anyway, i’m disappointed with the responses (except for a few).</p>
<p>^^^ well seriously, let’s say admission for non-hooked applicant is 5%. If out of that non-hooked pool you eliminated those who never should have applied in the 1st place (SAT < 2200, GPA < 3.8, etc)… you might eliminate 80%. That means acceptance rate for high stat kid would jump to 20%. So going 0 for 20 in the OPs group is pretty unusual. For Asians out there, please don’t list piano or tennis as your EC, pick something else.</p>
<p>“Nah. You might eliminate 20-30%. Most people who apply are very well qualified.”</p>
<p>And your odds don’t increase by applying to more schools with the same admissions characteristics. They remain exactly the same. So if you get rejected at one, the chances of getting in at another do not mathematically increase.</p>
<p>I have been mostly lurking here for a long time, although my second child is about to graduate from a college. I always enjoy the postings of many wonderful parents. But I was very surprised and disappointed by some unsympathetic responses in this thread. I totally agree with theColor Red (#11). For all we know the original poster and his friends may also have fantastic list of extracurricular or leadership activities.</p>
<p>The racial stereotyping in this post is remarkable. Contrary to your beliefs, Asians with high stats do not necessarily correlate with playing violin or doing kung fu.</p>
<p>20more: Rejection is hard, and I appreciate that you are hurting. </p>
<p>But I’ll be blunt, where you weren’t: is the purpose of this thread to show that Asians are discriminated against? Because that issue has been discussed endlessly on CC for years. </p>
<p>Many Asians ARE accepted to Ivy League schools. But even more apply. The Ivies simply cannot accept every Asian who applies, even if their SATs were over 2350 and their GPAs were over 3.96. Ivies have only a certain number of beds on campus – if they accepted every valedictorian, every high-stat applicant, they would lack the beds for you to sleep in. </p>
<p>Here’s what you didn’t tell us – what your ECs were, and where you did get in. </p>
<p>If you only applied to Ivies, then (and I’ll be blunt again), you might be able to score high on standardized tests but you lack common sense and research abilities. Because even a little bit of research would have shown you that applying only to Ivies is a stupid college admission strategy. There are many excellent colleges, some of them quite prestigious, that would love to have students like you and your friends. For some reason, many high-stat Asians seem to avoid these schools. </p>
<p>So here’s the secret to successful college admissions to pass along to your siblings and younger friends: Apply to colleges who want the diversity and stats that you offer. Zig where everyone else zags.</p>