Why is having "normal" SATs bad for Asians?

Applying to College
1

<p>If an Asian girl has an SAT score that is only "par" with the college, why is that so bad? I've been reading this board, and that's what I keep seeing.</p>

2

<p>Asians are generally stereotyped as being more of the “grinder” type, and due to some Affirmative Action practices, Asians in general are sometimes expected to have higher SATs than other ethnicities in order to help keep racial diversity at certain institutions.</p>

<p>However, this isn’t true for all institutions.</p>

3

<p>Statistics?
<a href=“http://opr.princeton.edu/faculty/tje/espenshadessqptii.pdf[/url]”>http://opr.princeton.edu/faculty/tje/espenshadessqptii.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>A bit outdated, but still useful.
Asians don’t have it tough, it’s just that they don’t get that much slack because of their ethnicity like other URMs. Normal SATs are not THAT bad as some people put it.</p>

4

<p>How does that help keep racial diversity?</p>

<p>What if the Asian comes from low income, non-English speaking parents, first generation home?</p>

<p>Do they still expect her SAT scores to be on par with the rest of the Asians who apply? Do these factors cancel out the “high SAT expectation” so that she only needs to have SAT scores that are “on par” with the institution? Or at this point can they be slightly lower?</p>

5

<p>I would bet they’d take those circumstances into account. Don’t worry/stress over SAT’s so much, what are your SAT scores anyway, if they’re anywhere in the 2000+ range you should be alright…</p>

6

<p>1330ish Math and verbal are my SAT scores, but my SATS as a whole are about 100 points above 2000.</p>

7

<p>Where are you thinking of applying? But a 2100 is pretty good, so I wouldn’t worry at all. </p>

<p>Don’t let the often lofty expectations get to you.
I’m Indian and my cousin got into Brown with around a 2150 on his SAT, so don’t worry about it, as long as your gpa and ec’s are strong you have a fighting chance.</p>

8

<p>yea a 2100+ is not bad at all…people on here will tell you it is but it really isint…</p>

9

<p>it’s ‘bad’ cuz the national average for asians are higher..so there’s higher expectations for asians..but i really can’t see a college rejecting an asian cuz hir SATs are “normal”</p>

10

<p>^^ i doubt that…source please?</p>

11

<p>Hold on a second, and let us back up. The percentage of people getting a 2100 on the SAT is EXTREMELY SMALL! A 2100 is by no means “an average score.” I believe that people tend to forget that the AVERAGE SAT score is a 1500. </p>

<p>Of course, by average score, you could be referencing that specifically to the universities you are looking at, where 1500 would be automatic rejection unless you are some super athlete or something along those lines.</p>

<p>Just remember people, the AVERAGE SAT score is a 1500! ;-)</p>

<p>You should pat yourself on the back for a 2100, and realize what an accomplishment that is. Don’t bash yourself! It is just one silly exam!</p>

12

<p>I just don’t like it when people get their score of 2100 and say they’re just average. Yeesh, open your eyes, people. Open your EYES! Take a look at the national SAT standings and your score of 2100 is 95+ percentile. Gosh.</p>

<p>Now stop nagging about your poor scores and that all colleges will reject you just because you imagine yourself as a “bad Asian student”. Your scores are good and keep your chin up, but not too high up.</p>

13

<p>^^ agree with cyborgxxi</p>

14

<p>Actually the average SAT is 1550, the average for Asians is about 20-50 points higher.
And I personally think that a good score would be in 99th percentile, especially for elite colleges…something like 2290 I believe?
And they won’t cut you slack for being poor. Many of the affirmative action admits are upper middle class, I’d venture to say most–but they improve the racial percentages. It’s about numbers :-)</p>

15

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<p>The ‘studious Asian’ stereotype seems to transcend class boundaries much more often than other stereotypes. And since this is a cultural phenomenon, whether the parents are recent immigrants or not has very little effect.</p>

<p>It helps racial diversity because a race-blind institution would admit a much greater percentage of Asians into their student body than the percentage of Asians who live in the United States. As it is, many institutions already do. University of California - Berkeley has a student body that is about 50% Asian… this is about 4 times the percentage of Californians who are Asian or Pacific Islander… about 13%.</p>