<p>most parents reading this thread may not realize why UCLA and Berkeley have so many Asians, compared to other good schools nationwide.</p>
<p>While the reason can be attributed to a large Asian American community, I believe that the more compelling is the tradition.</p>
<p>UCLA and UC Berkeley are the first schools ever to have accepted Asian students, much earlier than Harvard, Yale, or Princeton started accepting Asian students.</p>
<p>So with this tradition, many people back in Far East Asia recognize the brand names of UCLA and UC Berkeley. In fact, a Korean apparel company bought a right to use "UCLA" and its logo as their brand back in 1999.</p>
<p>And because of this tradition of being the first US higher education to accept Asian students, there are many people, including media, who often say "the prestigious US colleges such as Harvard,...and UCLA...."</p>
<p>I know the comment is really overblown given the fact that UCLA in many areas doesnt and shouldnt deserve to be spoken in the same breadth as some of the Ivy League schools. :)</p>
<p>about the popularity in asia thing... i always thought the UCLA name carried a lot of weight in asia (and that UCLA has the most college sports apparel sold in asia), but i have also heard opposite, that the only schools that carry weight are berkeley and HYPSM. </p>
<p>"While the reason can be attributed to a large Asian American community, I believe that the more compelling is the tradition."
It is also traditional that Asians attend colleges near big cities, I don't know the reasoning behind this phenomenon, but if you look, Asians (both american born and immigrant) gravitate to harvard, stanford and penn much more than to dartmouth or duke. As for berkeley and UCLA, they are also located near areas of high asian population concentration (san francisco for berkeley, san gabriel valley and now lots of "fringe" areas in LA/OC for UCLA), and most asian parents prefer their kids to stay close to home (in contrast to white americans, where moving across the country for college is ordinary). </p>
<p>"there are many people, including media, who often say "the prestigious US colleges such as Harvard,...and UCLA....""
its also because UCLA has a lot more visibility than brown, wash U, dartmouth, uchicago, etc. in fact, among the general public in the US, it has more visibility than the smaller top privates (especially those without big athletic programs).</p>