The Magnitude of Asian Discrimination.. I mean Affirmative Action.. at Stanford Admit

<p>Affirmative action is the worst thing. Previous month someone wrongly applied as a African American and got into Stanford and when they informed the admission officers that they are Asian, the colleges send them an email saying that they should apply again and are rejected.</p>

<p>Affirmative action is just there to give a diverse group of people a chance to reach their potential in school. However, job interviews rely solely on ability and one can say that the job interview is the thing that actually matters.</p>

<p>I’m just a sophomore in HS, but as a high income Asian (South Indian), looking at other Asian applicants scares the crap out of me! I can’t live up to them! A lot of them (not all) are kids that only care about grades and miss the whole point of school. </p>

<p>I have had a 4.0 throughout HS so far, but I don’t spend life worrying about college. I run track/XC and play tennis. I volunteer at a free clinic. Those are my passions. My parents are amazing…they don’t put an emphasis on grades, but on LEARNING! I wish that was how people raised their kids. As a result, I LOVE interesting classes. I kill time reading Time Magazine or National Geographic b/c I learn about other people or cultures.
I’m so lucky b/c I have a family who loves to travel and learn about other cultures. I don’t fit the math/science Asian stereotype (in fact, I have no natural talent in that area).</p>

<p>I don’t think I’ll be able to convey this love of learning on my app b/c it seems fake (and weird…most people hate school). I am facing the fact that I probably won’t be able to get into any ivies b/c of the level of competition among Asians. I cannot live up to that.</p>

<p>Sorry for the long post. AA is both helpful and harmful. It is unfortunate that there are all of these stereotypes…they are, in fact, created by the culture itself.</p>

<p>anon-- maybe it’s because they LIED. honestly, if you’re asian lying that you’re african american (or you’re any race lying about being something else) then you DON’T deserve it.</p>

<p>CPU- Noooo! The point being made was that there was a perceived discrimination on the Asian candidate. The marking of African American (instead of Asian American) in the application was inadvertent. It is not realistic to do it intentionally on such an important document. Otherwise, Stanford would not have permitted the applicant to re-apply. </p>

<p>This is the same nonsense comment that little kid, StanfordCS, made calling Euro something inappropriate simply because he double clicked resulting on a double posting, thereby merely glossing over Euro’s comments on the new realities to which I completely agree!</p>

<p>but there is more than one side to that anecdote.
maybe he did it just to see if he would get it? it’s not in best interest but entirely possible.
i know of caucasian kids lying about being URM and getting into colleges.</p>

<p>and that kid should have checked before he sent… that’s a pretty big “mistake”. they ask for race to take into account who you are as a person, because face it, we aren’t all equal, but no one is better or worse than someone else. they way i think and view life is different from that of a hispanic, asian, frenchman, polishman, spaniard, etc.</p>

<p>How is calling someone an idiot inappropriate?</p>

<p>Hey, 5k, leave that little kid (StanfordCS, another Stanford wannabee!) alone. </p>

<p>For all you know he did get a 2400 in his SATs as a junior in high school, and happens to be black. It just so happens he also likes to express himself with “idiot” and " ****ing," he, he, he.</p>

<p>By the way, 5k, what are you - a “kami,” a commie, or a Green Giant??? ha, ha, ha!!!</p>

<p>Euro: I’m a Green Giant! he, he, he!</p>

<p>CPU: You are correct that there are “more than one side to [an] anecdote.” However, I personally never knew anyone who lied in his/her college application!</p>

<p>I think you have quite an imagination, which is commendable, but realistically, no sane person would lie about his or her race, and expect to get away with it.</p>

<p>That said, even if it were true, as you claim, that kids lie as a URM, that was the substance of Anon’s comment that being a URM (other than being an Asian American) is advantageous, and therefore disadvantageous to Asian Americans.</p>

<p>i understand what you’re saying. but lying is worse. if i lied about being white and the school found out, i wouldnt wanna be admitted.</p>

<p>CPU - True!</p>

<p>thank you <em>bows</em></p>

<p>These last few posts are rather interesting, lol.</p>

<p>CPU- You are welcome, return <em>bows</em>, he, he, he!</p>

<p>marine- i’m always right! </p>

<p>haha your respect is appreciated 5k</p>

<p>Freshmen applicants have to be perfect. Look at you guys! Several people say they have a 4.0 GPA through high school. That means 4 years of not missing anything. No screw-ups, no late projects, no Fs. Wow!</p>

<p>When you have an environment where the parents are making an ideal environment for their kids to be a “perfect” applicant you’re talking pure luxury man. Stuff like SAT preparation and multiple test tries. </p>

<p>I grew up somewhere in the middle - one of my brothers is autistic and my father died a long time ago, so my home environment isn’t really the best and we couldn’t afford SAT preparation or multiple tries (I got one shot, and at the time I was so misguided I had no idea what I was doing). This is a white guy in a middle class community!</p>

<p>Now what if you were in a lower class community, in a very noisy apartment building - your siblings are slightly older and have kids. You could still be white, or asian - I knew plenty of people from these two groups that grew up just like that, dropped out of HS, and generally screwed their lives up and now work crappy jobs. </p>

<p>How do you do the amount of homework required to maintain a 4.0 if you’ve got a bunch of little kids - not the well behaved kind, but the kind that smell like poo all the time and run around the store like crazy and drive you crazy because their parents are morons - running around your apartment. Then the neighbors call the cops, and you spend half the evening arguing with your family.</p>

<p>I’m glad to say I never had to deal with that. However, I think this is why things like ERC and “affirmative action” programs exist. That’s if you are lucky enough to be the crazy kid that despite all odds, works your ass off to be a good student. </p>

<p>Likewise, sometimes people are ‘raised for success’ and still end up being a massive failure because they were driven into something they don’t want to do. I don’t think a black kid off the streets of Compton is “naturally” less capable at high end math than a Chinese kid off the streets of Cupertino. </p>

<p>The other thing is, the SAT isn’t a “universal ruler of brain capabilities” that a lot of you guys think it is. It’s a flawed test that most people on this forum figured out how to cheat and beat a long time ago and get really nice scores that they weren’t meant to. If you took the test- having never seen it before in your life and get a 1600, and then go through SAT prep school and all that and pull a 2300, well… the evidence speaks for itself. </p>

<p>The thing is, we’re in a generation of weighted, buffed, super scored and SAT prepped kids. Since the bar has been raised so high, we’ll just have to keep inflating it. </p>

<p>Why wasn’t the 1400 score good enough anyway? XD</p>

<p>Really though, I think that the people admitted to Stanford managed to convince the Admissions reviewers that they should be at Stanford - whether it be with a very large donation through a family member, or at the cost of free tuition and living arrangements.</p>

<p>umm… i dont understand what you’re exactly saying?? </p>

<p>but fyi, my school’s UW goes up to 4.3… </p>

<p>and i am very against standardized tests.
and i’m no prep kid, and i can identify with circumstances you have mentioned.</p>

<p>Lol, I don’t understand either…</p>

<p>bahahaa i give up… CC is too addicting… i’ll probably go mobile but for now… bye for real :D</p>

<p>You have to admit though CPU that 5k is absolutely correct (and had been humble about it) because, as you acknowledged, you would not have wanted to be admitted if you lied. </p>

<p>Ergo, the applicant in Anon’s anecdote did re-apply because he/she wanted to be admitted, and therefore did not lie!!!</p>