Rest In Peace Meritocracy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have not explained how this case is an example of discrimination.

I have never seen a thread on DCUM where racism against Asian Americans is admitted as a possibility. I won’t say this is one but there is no denying that some ivy league colleges have downrated Asian American applicants. When a kid says they were taunted with racist slurs, DCUM says it’s normal teen trash talk or a made up story. I could go on but what’s the point?

It more than a possibility but I don't see how this time too has anything to do with discrimination. There is no way a short list of AP grades, one sat score, and 2 sat subject test scores will convince us that this student was a shoe in for those insanely difficult colleges.

+1 And I assume his grades were competitive and he took challenging classes. However, his EC's were unremarkable.

If his grades were so great, why didn't they make the tik tok? Everything else did.

I don't know -- you could be right. But even if he had great grades that he omitted, he still doesn't appear to stand out beyond high test scores to get an Ivy admissions officer to take a closer look.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone feel sorry for this guy. He was dumb enough only to apply to Penn State and UMD and Ivies and equivalents, except CMU. Where were the applications to schools like Emory, Wash U, Northwestern, and Wesleyan and other SLACs. We are not a society based on test scores alone, which (ironically) is a criticism of many of the Asian education systems.

I agree (other than calling the kid dumb—he’s smart but naive) but I don’t see any irony. There is a subset of Asian and other posters on DCUM, and a much larger subset of primarily (but definitely not exclusively) Asian people in the DMV, that believes top colleges should be accepting kids based only on grades and test scores. There is nothing you can say to make this subset understand that private universities in the US apply acceptance criteria that do not exclusively focus on grades and test scores.

The vast majority of Asian and non-Asian parents in this area understand that super-high stats kids are not a shoo-in for ivies if they don’t have other things the schools value, but the rest, presumably like the OP who started this silly thread, don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charlie, my kid will see you in UMD. Similar stats...+ he is Asian American male like you too. Congrats on getting UMD because all of you high stat Asian-American kids have made it a powerhouse where STEM majors are concerned. Will you be super successful in life? Absolutely.

Both of you keep safe and remember this is the beginning of your life and yes, the racism inherent in college and work place was not just something your parents faced. USA is not even pretending to be egalitarian and fair.

Umd is a great education but that is ridiculous to say that this student could not have had many more acceptances if his application list had been more realistic.

If he is going for CS or Engineering...he made the right choice to go in-state (I am guessing here that he is an MD student) because how highly ranked UMD is for these two majors. Try for Ivies and know that it is a crapshoot and then also apply in-state for MD and get a free education. Well done, Charlie!

And no point in doing majors that does not get you a high paying job. He maximized his education dollars. Good for him. And while this was put in tiktok by him, I can bet that he was very aware that while he was an Ivy-level kid who was going to UMD, he was always going to be successful. Regardless of if Ivy rejected him because of racism, this kid is going to UMD with the best credentials. That is a mark of the candidate. I say this is Harvard's loss.

I also think that it is about time that the Asian-Americans realize the kinds of racism they are facing in USA. This is a valuable lesson for Charlie and my kid. Watch, experience and learn the reality of this country and society.

Quit with the whining already. All those Ivies are private schools. You are not owed a place there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charlie, my kid will see you in UMD. Similar stats...+ he is Asian American male like you too. Congrats on getting UMD because all of you high stat Asian-American kids have made it a powerhouse where STEM majors are concerned. Will you be super successful in life? Absolutely.

Both of you keep safe and remember this is the beginning of your life and yes, the racism inherent in college and work place was not just something your parents faced. USA is not even pretending to be egalitarian and fair.

Umd is a great education but that is ridiculous to say that this student could not have had many more acceptances if his application list had been more realistic.

If he is going for CS or Engineering...he made the right choice to go in-state (I am guessing here that he is an MD student) because how highly ranked UMD is for these two majors. Try for Ivies and know that it is a crapshoot and then also apply in-state for MD and get a free education. Well done, Charlie!

And no point in doing majors that does not get you a high paying job. He maximized his education dollars. Good for him. And while this was put in tiktok by him, I can bet that he was very aware that while he was an Ivy-level kid who was going to UMD, he was always going to be successful. Regardless of if Ivy rejected him because of racism, this kid is going to UMD with the best credentials. That is a mark of the candidate. I say this is Harvard's loss.

I also think that it is about time that the Asian-Americans realize the kinds of racism they are facing in USA. This is a valuable lesson for Charlie and my kid. Watch, experience and learn the reality of this country and society.

Quit with the whining already. All those Ivies are private schools. You are not owed a place there.

And the world does not only spin for STEM majors with 1590s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charlie, my kid will see you in UMD. Similar stats...+ he is Asian American male like you too. Congrats on getting UMD because all of you high stat Asian-American kids have made it a powerhouse where STEM majors are concerned. Will you be super successful in life? Absolutely.

Both of you keep safe and remember this is the beginning of your life and yes, the racism inherent in college and work place was not just something your parents faced. USA is not even pretending to be egalitarian and fair.

Umd is a great education but that is ridiculous to say that this student could not have had many more acceptances if his application list had been more realistic.

If he is going for CS or Engineering...he made the right choice to go in-state (I am guessing here that he is an MD student) because how highly ranked UMD is for these two majors. Try for Ivies and know that it is a crapshoot and then also apply in-state for MD and get a free education. Well done, Charlie!

And no point in doing majors that does not get you a high paying job. He maximized his education dollars. Good for him. And while this was put in tiktok by him, I can bet that he was very aware that while he was an Ivy-level kid who was going to UMD, he was always going to be successful. Regardless of if Ivy rejected him because of racism, this kid is going to UMD with the best credentials. That is a mark of the candidate. I say this is Harvard's loss.

I also think that it is about time that the Asian-Americans realize the kinds of racism they are facing in USA. This is a valuable lesson for Charlie and my kid. Watch, experience and learn the reality of this country and society.

Quit with the whining already. All those Ivies are private schools. You are not owed a place there.

Oh shut up and go and parent your worthless kids!

[Anonymous]

If you mean the kid with the highest score gets in and no other things considered, that is France. Never has been US. And it shouldn't. That is just a portion of who the kid is. It is a thing that high scoring Asian kids get treated like this kid did. Could be race, could be other things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It has never been a meritocracy. The Jews knew this in the last century when the Ivies imposed limits on their numbers. The Asians have known this for the last few decades, too, with the limits put on them.

This leads to various forms of corruption, major (donors buying a building), minor (Varsity Blues), and moral (athletics), etc.

It stinks to high heaven.

So. much. WHINING.
Stop with the Harvard obsession people. It's not healthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the real question should be why are so many people so completely, irrationally OBSESSED with HYP? It’s insane.

Agree. 💯 There are plenty of other good schools and this kid should have applied to a few. His college counselor really messed up! No one should apply only to reaches and safeties.

How much you want to bet his college counselor told him that and he didn't listen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charlie, my kid will see you in UMD. Similar stats...+ he is Asian American male like you too. Congrats on getting UMD because all of you high stat Asian-American kids have made it a powerhouse where STEM majors are concerned. Will you be super successful in life? Absolutely.

Both of you keep safe and remember this is the beginning of your life and yes, the racism inherent in college and work place was not just something your parents faced. USA is not even pretending to be egalitarian and fair.

Umd is a great education but that is ridiculous to say that this student could not have had many more acceptances if his application list had been more realistic.

If he is going for CS or Engineering...he made the right choice to go in-state (I am guessing here that he is an MD student) because how highly ranked UMD is for these two majors. Try for Ivies and know that it is a crapshoot and then also apply in-state for MD and get a free education. Well done, Charlie!

And no point in doing majors that does not get you a high paying job. He maximized his education dollars. Good for him. And while this was put in tiktok by him, I can bet that he was very aware that while he was an Ivy-level kid who was going to UMD, he was always going to be successful. Regardless of if Ivy rejected him because of racism, this kid is going to UMD with the best credentials. That is a mark of the candidate. I say this is Harvard's loss.

I also think that it is about time that the Asian-Americans realize the kinds of racism they are facing in USA. This is a valuable lesson for Charlie and my kid. Watch, experience and learn the reality of this country and society.

Quit with the whining already. All those Ivies are private schools. You are not owed a place there.

And the world does not only spin for STEM majors with 1590s.

+1,000,000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charlie, my kid will see you in UMD. Similar stats...+ he is Asian American male like you too. Congrats on getting UMD because all of you high stat Asian-American kids have made it a powerhouse where STEM majors are concerned. Will you be super successful in life? Absolutely.

Both of you keep safe and remember this is the beginning of your life and yes, the racism inherent in college and work place was not just something your parents faced. USA is not even pretending to be egalitarian and fair.

Umd is a great education but that is ridiculous to say that this student could not have had many more acceptances if his application list had been more realistic.

If he is going for CS or Engineering...he made the right choice to go in-state (I am guessing here that he is an MD student) because how highly ranked UMD is for these two majors. Try for Ivies and know that it is a crapshoot and then also apply in-state for MD and get a free education. Well done, Charlie!

And no point in doing majors that does not get you a high paying job. He maximized his education dollars. Good for him. And while this was put in tiktok by him, I can bet that he was very aware that while he was an Ivy-level kid who was going to UMD, he was always going to be successful. Regardless of if Ivy rejected him because of racism, this kid is going to UMD with the best credentials. That is a mark of the candidate. I say this is Harvard's loss.

I also think that it is about time that the Asian-Americans realize the kinds of racism they are facing in USA. This is a valuable lesson for Charlie and my kid. Watch, experience and learn the reality of this country and society.

Quit with the whining already. All those Ivies are private schools. You are not owed a place there.

Oh shut up and go and parent your worthless kids!

You have serious mental health issues.

[Anonymous]

Him being Asian + Male certainly hurts a lot.

However, the US has never been a meritocracy. The closest thing to meritocratic admissions in the US is Berkeley, the rest of the UCs and Caltech. Otherwise the top privates have heavy bias for legacy, donor money and the otherwise wealthy (welcome, equestrian athletes), and publics have regional biases (rural is easier), donor money (Michigan, UVA), etc. etc.

He should've definitely applied to Michigan, UVA, Rice, etc. though and probably could gotten in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Him being Asian + Male certainly hurts a lot.

However, the US has never been a meritocracy. The closest thing to meritocratic admissions in the US is Berkeley, the rest of the UCs and Caltech. Otherwise the top privates have heavy bias for legacy, donor money and the otherwise wealthy (welcome, equestrian athletes), and publics have regional biases (rural is easier), donor money (Michigan, UVA), etc. etc.

He should've definitely applied to Michigan, UVA, Rice, etc. though and probably could gotten in.

Agree he would have likely done well at those schools and plenty other good ones as well. I wonder why he didn’t apply more broadly, and why he posted the video at all? UMD is nothing to sneeze at, though. Go Terps!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Him being Asian + Male certainly hurts a lot.

However, the US has never been a meritocracy. The closest thing to meritocratic admissions in the US is Berkeley, the rest of the UCs and Caltech. Otherwise the top privates have heavy bias for legacy, donor money and the otherwise wealthy (welcome, equestrian athletes), and publics have regional biases (rural is easier), donor money (Michigan, UVA), etc. etc.

He should've definitely applied to Michigan, UVA, Rice, etc. though and probably could gotten in.

Not for nothing, but many schools have canceled equestrian and it will help you get into very few schools and you have to be among the top few in the country.

Signed—mom of an equestrian

(I do understand that you were using it as an extreme example. Just setting the record straight.😀)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone who applies to competitive, elite colleges has similar stats. It’s a crap shoot as to whether or not you get in.

You should try campaigning against legacy admissions if you think the college application process is truly a meritocracy.

+1

And also campaign against racial discrimination(preference for black and Hispanic students).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't agree that there are a million other kids with 800 Math SAT and 800 Physics Subject test. College is about academics. Or it should be. And he should have gotten into one of these schools. There are not that many more qualified applicants. The college have chosen to make bullshit excuses for some other agenda to select less qualified kids. I don't even know what that agenda is. But come on people, college IS about the ability to score 800 on a Physics test!!!Yes, there are some discrepancies they have to sort out being different grades and should put a little weight on recommendations or ECs but only when comparing kids in the same bucket. I have no dog in this fight. My kids at 1250 and 1450 -- not Ivy. But people actually think this is fair -- I don't get it. Maybe he worked to get so smart or maybe he was born that way ---- doesn't even matter to me. This isn't a job interview. It is selection into an academic program - why should it be based on this. I am disgusted but wish him well.

Tell that to all the college athletes out there with lower test scores/gpa's who got into the select colleges over the candidates with perfect numbers.