The Asian Disadvantage?

<p>Of course there's that stereotype about ALL asians being smart, but of course it's totally untrue although there are many asians that do well in academics. Boarding school wise, what do you all think about the advantages and disadvantages of being asian and applying to boarding school?</p>

<p>well i lived in japan for a wihle but am not asian and i can honestly say that most asians fall under a stereotype, its sad to say but, it has been proven correctly. Alot of the schools say they get similar applicants and i know that asians sometimes fall under that barrier but, if you do things that are different youll be fine
for example,</p>

<p>my best friend shes korean american and she is hard working but, she plays instruments and does sports no koreans relaly do for like:
DRUMS
Contrabass</p>

<p>she plays:
SOCCER
SOFTBALL
HOckey</p>

<p>i feel that shes really original</p>

<p>she sticks out like a sore thumb
SHES DIFFERENT</p>

<p>Being asian is a huge disadvantage period. There is no question.</p>

<p>All asians are incredibly smart due to the fact their parents stress education so much. Most that apply to prep school have played music for countless years and have won many competitions.</p>

<p>Hey hotchkissjin where do you live because im assuming you live in U.s. currently because you are a U.s. citizen. You have a 50 50 chance it all depends on the school and what they are looking for. </p>

<p>hockeykid no sugar coating in your response. =)</p>

<p>I think there is a disadvantage for Asians because there are so many of them that apply. As hockeykid pointed out, the culture pushes education and many have similar ECs. If you can separate yourself from the stereotypes, then you will have a better shot of getting in.</p>

<p>Definitely. They want you to step out of your comfort zone.</p>

<p>yeah hopefully I can :) I've been trying to do the out-of-asian things like I started playing the electric guitar about three years ago and I've attempted tons of sports.</p>

<p>I think for many schools it is not a bias against Asians and certainly not against Asian-Americans, it's an attempt to keep the Korean student population from getting so large that 1) the students don't need to speak English - which is part of what their parents are paying for and 2) they don't replicate the Korean social system which can include a lot of bullying and hazing of younger Korean students.</p>

<p>That said, there are some schools that are happy to take any paying "customer" and several schools owe their survival to full-pay Korean students.</p>

<p>Very few Asian students are at a disadvantage b/c they are unwilling to step outside their comfort zone. Therefor creating a similarity amongst the activities and ecs of most Asian applicants to top schools. I go to NYU stern and I have a roommate whos gpa was a 3.5uw... for anyone that doesnt know (that is below avg for Stern) but he was also the captain of his Bball team and set the school record for the 100m dash (wasn't an athlete recruit b/c NYU doesn't recruit athletes) very unique individual and for an asain most would consider him outside the norm an i think that def helped him get admitted</p>

<p>sbergman, what is hazing??????</p>

<p>To haze a person. Hazing is defined as an act that, as an explicit or implicit condition for initiation to, admission into, affiliation with, or continued membership in a group or organization, could be seen by a reasonable person as endangering the physical health of an individual or as causing mental distress to an individual through, for example, humiliating, intimidating, or demeaning treatment..</p>

<p>Hazing in the boarding school context, means just like making fun of them, beating them up, basically bullying. Generally there is no "Club" to get into.</p>

<p>I'm half asian with canadien citizenship. I'm sure that counts for nothing unless I applied to havergal or something like that, which I won't be doing</p>

<p>Apply to Havergal! It's a really good school! And Ashbury College in Ottawa, Branksome Hall, and Rothesay-Netherwood</p>

<p>I love canada for chilling in prince edward during the summer, but I don't think I could actually live there. for some reason I get suspicious when people are as nice as canadiens :)</p>

<p>a few of my family/ actual friends have gone/ go to havergal, UCC, and that one with bishop in the name. they sound great, but I want to visit my parents on the weekend not my grandparents</p>

<p>hockeykid841 and anyone else that said asians have a disadvantage
im wondering why you said that..? why do you think asians have a disadvantage? i really want to know why because im asian american myself, but im currently living in china because my dad got relocated</p>

<p>Yeah, i agree all asians have a disadvantage, there are just so many of them applying, not as much as caucasians. But out of all the minorities, they are the biggest group. </p>

<p>There are two types of them International and national. the international ones dont speak much english but provide the school with .......whats the word......diversity.</p>

<p>I think typical asians dont stand out.</p>

<p>Strong points for asians
sports
speaks english
legacy - extremely rare- think about it...</p>

<p>xcyuen!!! Did you end up going to Hill???!!!</p>

<p>Disadvantage comes because there are so many Asians or Asian Americans applying to the top schools and the percent that gets in is smaller for Asian. The same apply to the top colleges and universities. Asians are less than 5% of population and about 20% to 25% of enrollment at many top schools. </p>

<p>The issue seems to me that Asian/Asian American parents tend to look at the prestige factor more than the fit with their children. Virtually everyone that goes to these schools are smart so being smart/intelligent is the base. You must bring more to contribute to the school.</p>

<p>For example, take a look at what sports or music is valuable to colleges (yes. colleges because boarding school sports would mirror most of the college sports).</p>

<p>For example, go to
GoCrimson.com—Official</a> Web Site of Harvard University Athletics for Harvard list of sports. You can select sports and view the team roster including name of the high school they attended.</p>

<p>You can do the same with all other schools you may be aiming for. The skills for music and sports do not happen overnight so it would require for you to assess which of the sports and get special training and join teams and compete, get noticed, etc. It is easier said than done.</p>

<p>Sports are so important to these schools because it is tied to the school pride to beat the competition. This is a foreign concept for Asians in general because it is the test score which gets them into schools and I do not believe there are any sports leagues and competitions at the college or high school level.</p>

<p>Music is good and schools need to fill their orchestra, etc. so choose your instruments carefully. Remember playing piano is not that special unless you are really good and win State level or National level competition.</p>

<p>I think it's ridiculous that people try to formulate their life so that they would get into prep schools/colleges. What happened to doing things because you LIKE it? Not because it will get you into college and you planned it that way, but because you're passionate about something? It's great if you love it and it'll get you into a school, but it doesn't always turn out like that.</p>

<p>I think it's really important to stick to your passions because if you go to one of the top prep schools, it's really hard to keep pursuing at it unless you REALLY like it. Otherwise it just adds on to the already-big pile of stress.</p>

<p>Or that's how it is for me, anyway.</p>