<p>Hah, I think I've found the secret... I was talking with my dad about where I should send my acceptance deposit, and he made this comment... "When I was your age, the way I decided which college to go to is the rankings; I didn't even know what major I wanted to be in" (Both my parents grew up and went to college in Asia)</p>
<p>I'm a little better off because I know I'm doing computer science (and hah, my dad ended up choosing computer engineering as his major) but I guess this is why those Asian parents like rankings and prestige so much; it was the only way they knew how to rank colleges back then.</p>
<p>Just some perspective, perhaps? Am I overgeneralizing? Or does this seem like a plausible explanation?</p>
<p>i also think “family honor” and keeping the family name noble is a factor.
asian parents LOVE to brag/talk about what college their kids go to. i guess that’s the case with all parents, but asians seem to think that intelligence is the best thing a person could achieve.</p>
<p>Maybe I can shed a little more light on this situation.</p>
<p>I lived in an International House in Asia about three decades ago, and had friends from several Asian countries where university admissions was determined completely by scores on a nationwide entrance examination given once per year. The highest scoring student in the country had his/her choice of programs; that was true of the second-highest scorer, and the third highest, etc., until programs starting filling.</p>
<p>In those countries there was a pretty clear hierarchy of universities. There was also something of a pecking order of departments within a given university.</p>
<p>People who were were raised in countries where there are clear hierarchies of universities may have developed certain assumptions about hierarchies of universities in the United States. People who were raised in countries that don’t have a tradition of small but elite colleges sometimes don’t understand that smaller institutions labeled as a “college” rather than a university in this country may still be viewed as elite institutions here.</p>
<p>It’s not racist to observe the prevelence of culturally transmitted beliefs in people with different cultural backgrounds, although it’s wise to remember that an individual member of whatever set of people you’re observing shares every attitude that may be relatively common among the set.</p>
<p>Why do people care so much about “fit”, urban/suburban environment, or what the campus looks like? You’re only there for four years to learn, who cares how nice the dorms are or how good the weather is.</p>
<p>AT9- What you are thinking of is ethnocentrism. Racism is when the basis of discrimination is someone’s perception of race. That is not going on here. Not trying to be a smart ass but there is a difference even if we don’t think so in the United States. </p>
<p>The point is that to some people love to brag and compare things like the prestige of college. To generally speak these are upper middle class families that compare everything not just college prestige. CC does not accurately represent any certain social class. Most, it may be hard to believe, don’t care where you went to college. Unfortunately, this does not match up with the ideologies of the people that hire in the United States. I would say that the CC ideals are closer with the people that hire.</p>
<p>“This is a civil discussion about why certain traits tend to exist among different cultures and races… that is not in any way racist.”</p>
<p>First of all, I stand corrected I should have said prejudiced. Now to this quote, this “civil” discussion started off with an ignorant prejudiced premise. It was a hollow sentiment and should not be tolerated in a forum where people come to find out information about COLLEGES and UNIVERSITIES. Of course race might be an aspect of that discussion, but not when it starts like this, especially given that many of the following comments are rooted in equal ignorance.</p>
<p>Ok, “civil” might have been a stretch haha. From the context of the OP’s post, it looks like he (or at least his parents) are Asian. So I fail to see how ignorant that premise is. It’s a discussion about why Asian parents apparently rely heavily on rankings. What I meant by “civil” is that no one has been bashing Asian people, or anyone for that matter. And for the most part, everyone has been mostly respectful. Lighten up a little bit, you seem to be a little hypersensitive with regard to this topic. =)</p>
<p>Now, whether or not this belongs in this sub-section is debatable.</p>
<p>Why are we Americans so obsessed w/ rankings?</p>
<p>We not only rank the “top” universities, we also rank the “top”</p>
<ol>
<li><p>hospitals per specialty</p></li>
<li><p>the best places to live</p></li>
<li><p>the best cars to buy</p></li>
<li><p>the auto manufacturers w/ the best reliability record</p></li>
<li><p>films of all time (broken down into genre or not)</p></li>
<li><p>the physicians within a city</p></li>
<li><p>restaurants (within a city or w/in a certain type of cuisine)</p></li>
<li><p>airlines/airports</p></li>
<li><p>places to visit/travel</p></li>
<li><p>beaches</p></li>
<li><p>musical artists </p></li>
<li><p>college sports teams</p></li>
<li><p>sports teams of all time</p></li>
<li><p>sports plays </p></li>
<li><p>rollercoasters</p></li>
</ol>
<p>and so on and so on…</p>
<p>Magazines and other publications know that one easy way to boost sales is to do some sort of ranking.</p>
<p>Frankly, this whole Asians are “obsessed w/ rankings” is overplayed.</p>
<p>The vast majority of Asian students in the US attend community college or state universities.</p>
<p>Based on the percentages, one could just as easily ask why are Jews so obsessed w/ rankings/prestige.</p>