<p>I know someone from my school who’s going to Stern. She’s Asian but she doesn’t fit your stereotype of uber-competitiveness. Furthermore, one of my best friends is Asian and she’s one of the most laid-back people I know. My other friend, who’s white by the way, is so competitive that she stayed up for 48 hours straight to study for a final. </p>
<p>Asians are very nice people. You shouldn’t discriminate against them because you feel threatened by their work ethic.</p>
<p>@Recharge
I am Asian. I might be going to NYU. My idea of studying constitutes skimming over the material the period before a test. So. There you have it. Stereotyping is bad, kids. Just say no.</p>
<p>On a more serious note, competition is what fosters great learning; if you feel as if you wouldn’t thrive at NYU because of the intense level of competition, that’s your own problem, but don’t pin it on Asians.</p>
<p>I myself am Asian, forgot to tell you guys beforehand. I know some chill ones in my school, but they’re the very rare exception. Generally speaking, intense studying is the norm.</p>
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<p>That’s pretty much what I do in high school, but I’m just going to break it to you now… you’re not going to go anywhere in Stern with that method.</p>
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<p>See, this is where our philosophies differ. I believe cooperation is what fosters great learning, not competition.</p>
<p>Some of you are being ridiculous. Any top school or program is going to be filled with competitive, intelligent students on basis of self-selection. It’s not like the white/hispanic/black kids at Stern are going to be slackers while the evil Asians will ruin the curve. It doesn’t matter if you go to Wharton, Ross, Haas, Stern - any competitive business school won’t be easy. My boyfriend is in Stern Finance and yeah, it’s hard, but i’ve never heard him say it’s cutthroat like some of you are thinking. </p>
<p>My major (chemistry) also has harsh curves and a large Asian population, but still a cooperative atmosphere, despite the competition to get into Grad/Med schools. Most Sternies aren’t headed to Grad school, so GPA doesn’t matter much at all. For Business, interpersonal skills, work experience and internships are arguably more important, not being a straight-A grind who sits in Bobst all day.</p>
<p>That said, if you feel another school is a better “fit” for you - maybe you prefer a grassy campus or traditional feel or something special about another college - go there of course! Stern is hardly the best business school in the country.</p>
<p>Recharge, you probably won’t succeed in Stern as you aren’t competitive. Most sternies are ambitious and willing to work hard to reach their goals. Competitiveness fosters learning for everyone and I pick Stern because of that. :D</p>
<p>I am not bashing Stern at all, if you look at my posts in this thread, none of them are bashing Stern. I do not believe Ross is better than Stern.</p>
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<p>No, the business world is dynamic - not studying endlessly to achieve great results. Stern is incredibly finance-focused which is not something I want for sure.</p>
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<p>That is probably true. </p>
<p>My point was simply that I am not willing to work so intensely, and Asians are particularly adept at doing just that. You can call me a racist if you want, but that won’t change the fact that what I say is true, which probably both you and I can attest to from anecdotal evidence. You guys shouldn’t have to attack me for offering my point of view, even if you think it’s unreasonable.</p>
<p>Outliers is definitely worth reading if you haven’t already picked it up.</p>
<p>I’m currently a freshman in Stern finishing up my second semester and I love it. People talk about it being really competitive and I guess it is, there’s a built-in “stern curve” that some professors either use or don’t (usually 30% As and A-s, 60%s Bs, 10% Cs or so) so in effect unless you are in the top __% of the class you might not get that A you want. But I haven’t had people attempting to sabotage me or anything yet, so I dunno. Also, all my best friends are sternies and a good half of them came from my cohort (a group of 50-60 people you’re put into for welcome week). And they’ve helped me out in classes before, so it’s not like a lost cause, haha.</p>
<p>Are there going to be mean, overly-competitive sternies? Of course, I’m sure you can find that at any school. But I think people shouldn’t knock it if they don’t really take classes at Stern yet/etc. I thought the “competitive” atmosphere would skewer me and here I am just fine, haven’t made too many enemies yet. :P</p>
<p>Also, the discussion on asians, seriously? Yes there is an abundance of asians (and a lot of brown people, haha, there were never really a lot of indians in my HS so it was really nice to meet some at NYU) and as it happens my best friends are asian/brown, but I think everyone in Stern works hard, not just one race. That’s just… like what?</p>