<p>I am an Indian by ethnicity and a Hong Konger by nationality, will this really work against me in the admissions process? As in, will I have my application looked at in a harsher manner because of my being from a very commonly represented ethnic group?</p>
<p>Since URMs (same goes for legacies), will only get a tip into the admit pile if they are being compared against and extremely similar candidate, (or so we are told by Yale....), I'm pretty sure ORMs will only incur disfavor if they are being compared against a candidate whose ethnicity is a norm for representation.</p>
<p>I'm really tempted to think that there is some severe racial discrimination that goes on in college admissions, but even if it were the case, there's nothing one can do to change the prevailing attitudes of those in admissions, much less one's background. In the words of Doris Davis (she was wearing ALL yellow - ugh); Concentrate on those things 'over which you have influence'.</p>
<p>Stuff you have no control over isn't important. Stuff you have control over is super important.</p>
<p>It certainly isn't going to help you.</p>
<p>collegehopefull is right though, don't worry about it.</p>
<p>ahhh what a bummer. if i get rejected i'm going to keep thinking it was because of race and some otherwise less deserving URM got in over me :(</p>
<p>Less deserving. Really? Everyone who gets in is very deserving, and neither you nor I can determine whether one person is more deserving than another. So I would recommend you just worry about your own application. </p>
<p>Sorry if this seems a bit hostile, just trying to make a point.</p>
<p>yeah sorry i didn't mean that I was somehow more deserving than the other candidates who are to get in, the point I was making is that it will always bug me that being an URM might have been what would have pushed my application over the edge from "nearly there" to "there"</p>
<p>Just remember that you have no idea what your life would be like if you were black or Hispanic or Native American. For all you know, you wouldn't even be in the position to apply to Harvard. Be thankful for what you have, not envious or rueful over what you don't.</p>
<p>yeah... thanks for the advice werg, i appreciate it. :)</p>
<p>well said Werg. I often think of this when I start to wish I was an URM.</p>
<p>You have to realize that colleges aren't looking for the best candidates. They are looking for the best class. That means they want enough athletes for their sports teams, enough musicians for their orchestras, enough outgoing people for their ECs, enough brilliant students to keep up their academic reputations and enough diversity to look diverse. Being Indian/Chinese is probably neither particularly helpful or particularly harmful.</p>
<p>Think about it this way: If you only barely get in, maybe you won't do so well there. If you really think you're more deserving than the typical accepted student, you should be ranked higher in the class by definition, and Harvard won't kick your ass nearly as much as it does the rest of ours. </p>
<p>I was a "ORM" applicant, by the way. It matters a lot less than you think.</p>