Hired by Google as L4 but rejected by top colleges

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many lame excuses for plain and simple racism on this thread. Sad!

I thought California universities were race blind?

He got (almost) shut out because there were many other better-qualified kids from his HS.

They are officially, but there was some analysis done last few cycles and what’s happening is that UC schools are targeting heavily minority schools vs schools in more affluent areas that are primarily white and asian. This can be done without “considering” race in the application. And now that they’ve eliminated tests completely, it gives them more leeway. The California schools are doing what many schools said they would do after AA was struck down; they’re emphasizing first generation, and geographic diversity to get the proportion of URM students they want. Some of the changes were really striking. At many top performing schools the percentage of kids accepted to the top UC schools went from ~40% to ~15%. Conversely the rate at lower performing schools had the opposite change.

No, UC is a state school system that wants to get a proportion of students from across California.

No true. The person you responded to was correct. There is no “proportionality” rule. They want geographic diversity, true, but not at the expensive of ethnic diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What reports about this are failing to mention that Stanley Zhong’s father Nan Zhong is a software engineering manager at Google (I’m sure that helped Stanley get his job). Nan Zhong previously co-founded two startups, created the #1 ranked communication app on Android (featured by Fortune and Amazing Android Apps for Dummies), and raised $10 million in venture capital. Before that, he led the team that built AWS’s Elastic Load Balancing service.

Wanna place bets on how involved Daddy was on everything from the code and use of AWS architecture to the incorporation and promotion of “his son’s” startup? This is starting to smell like one of those winning science projects that looks so impressive and you can’t believe a student came up with and executed it…and then you find out the kid’s dad just happens to work for a company in the very industry the project is closely related to. I’m wondering now if all the rejections had something to do with computer science faculty at the various schools he applied to putting two and two together about who Stanley’s dad is, and suddenly instead of being impressive, Stanley’s main claim to fame of having a startup was looking like he got his daddy to do his homework for him and let him take the credit.

haters gonna hate

That’s exactly what many people back in the early 2010s said of the few voices who were skeptical of Elizabeth Holmes’ legitimacy. Americans are so besotted with the idea of the wunderkind that they lose all objectivity and critical thinking when they hear an “inspiring” story of an alleged wunderkind. It’s how we get the likes of Holmes and Sam Bankman-Fried. Really, post-Varsity Blues scandal, anyone who looks at a story like this of a kid allegedly doing something like this who has a father with that background and isn’t at least somewhat suspicious, is a naive fool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What reports about this are failing to mention that Stanley Zhong’s father Nan Zhong is a software engineering manager at Google (I’m sure that helped Stanley get his job). Nan Zhong previously co-founded two startups, created the #1 ranked communication app on Android (featured by Fortune and Amazing Android Apps for Dummies), and raised $10 million in venture capital. Before that, he led the team that built AWS’s Elastic Load Balancing service.

Wanna place bets on how involved Daddy was on everything from the code and use of AWS architecture to the incorporation and promotion of “his son’s” startup? This is starting to smell like one of those winning science projects that looks so impressive and you can’t believe a student came up with and executed it…and then you find out the kid’s dad just happens to work for a company in the very industry the project is closely related to. I’m wondering now if all the rejections had something to do with computer science faculty at the various schools he applied to putting two and two together about who Stanley’s dad is, and suddenly instead of being impressive, Stanley’s main claim to fame of having a startup was looking like he got his daddy to do his homework for him and let him take the credit.

Watch the interview.

Oh I did, watching him in his RabbitSign t-shirt promoting “his” startup, listening to everything he and his father said only reinforced the impression that this was all a bit of a put-on which AOs probably saw through, and now they’re milking the wunderkind/underdog story for media exposure. Why else would they have shared their story publicly? Why not just either happily go to one of the two very good schools that accepted him, or happily take the Google job and move on with his life? “We just want transparency,” that’s total BS. They are smart enough to know the “transparency” to satisfy why he wasn’t selected would require showing them the applications of the people he lost out to which would violate the privacy protections in FERPA.

[Anonymous]

It’s his dad who should be admitted lol
So tired of all the lies
Surely his google dad has nothing to do with his job or his startup yeah sure!
And people defending him on fb college groups?
Soviet emigres claiming their kids are first Gen, among others
It’s the same crowd, people from tiger cultures (not only Asian) who stop at nothing to give their kids a leg up… coming to america and lying… well guess what not all Americans are gullible
I am an immigrant myself and believe me I’ve seen people playing the game!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coding is just a technical skill that many people can acquired. Back to the 90s, so many people took a class and become a programmer. Coding skill is so common that it just like a technician in a special field. On the top of the pyramid are those smart people who innovate big ideas and great architecture. There is not evident this kid is extremely smart in that. This kid started coding from very early age. Bill Gate did coding at very age. That is fine. It's because a that time, not many people knows how to code. But now, millions of people knows how to code. even AI is can code too. Doing things millions can do at early age just wasting time. He shouldn't spend his childhood doing coding - a low level jobs like a technician. He should be learning Math, exploring literature and histories. Good colleges are looking people who are special, who are smarter than any others, but not kids who start doing easy thing early. This case is not a race discrimination, and don't get it wrong.

Sad to see Asians attacking Asians like this.

AI can do math and read literature and history books too.

And since Stanley has a 4.4 GPA, that means he did study advanced literature and history.

He did all that and also starred a successful busines whe most teens dropped out of school for a year to play Minecraft. Have you started a successful business?

The only consolation here is that Stanley is too good for college. Hell probably be engineering director in 5-10 years if he stays at Google, making Big Law money and having a lot more fun.

Only on DCUM would somebody use the term “Big Law” money when talking about Tech.

You do realize that kids looking to make it in Techntalk in multiplies of 100x “Big Law” money.

Let’s not sell this kid short!

Yes, my DC is a quant and makes about 470K after 4 years with only BS (although from the best CS program in the country) so saved 3 years and $250K. Likely to make $700 to $1.5M in another 4 to 5 years.

This is great. How many hours a week do they normally work? DC received an offer for a quant internship, the compensation is super high but I wonder how many hours they end up working.

Works usually 5 to 6 days a week about 55 to 65 hours per week on average.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many lame excuses for plain and simple racism on this thread. Sad!

I thought California universities were race blind?

He got (almost) shut out because there were many other better-qualified kids from his HS.

They are officially, but there was some analysis done last few cycles and what’s happening is that UC schools are targeting heavily minority schools vs schools in more affluent areas that are primarily white and asian. This can be done without “considering” race in the application. And now that they’ve eliminated tests completely, it gives them more leeway. The California schools are doing what many schools said they would do after AA was struck down; they’re emphasizing first generation, and geographic diversity to get the proportion of URM students they want. Some of the changes were really striking. At many top performing schools the percentage of kids accepted to the top UC schools went from ~40% to ~15%. Conversely the rate at lower performing schools had the opposite change.

No, UC is a state school system that wants to get a proportion of students from across California.

No true. The person you responded to was correct. There is no “proportionality” rule. They want geographic diversity, true, but not at the expensive of ethnic diversity.

Top 9% at each and every California high school. Widely publicized

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coding is just a technical skill that many people can acquired. Back to the 90s, so many people took a class and become a programmer. Coding skill is so common that it just like a technician in a special field. On the top of the pyramid are those smart people who innovate big ideas and great architecture. There is not evident this kid is extremely smart in that. This kid started coding from very early age. Bill Gate did coding at very age. That is fine. It's because a that time, not many people knows how to code. But now, millions of people knows how to code. even AI is can code too. Doing things millions can do at early age just wasting time. He shouldn't spend his childhood doing coding - a low level jobs like a technician. He should be learning Math, exploring literature and histories. Good colleges are looking people who are special, who are smarter than any others, but not kids who start doing easy thing early. This case is not a race discrimination, and don't get it wrong.

Sad to see Asians attacking Asians like this.

AI can do math and read literature and history books too.

And since Stanley has a 4.4 GPA, that means he did study advanced literature and history.

He did all that and also starred a successful busines whe most teens dropped out of school for a year to play Minecraft. Have you started a successful business?

The only consolation here is that Stanley is too good for college. Hell probably be engineering director in 5-10 years if he stays at Google, making Big Law money and having a lot more fun.

Only on DCUM would somebody use the term “Big Law” money when talking about Tech.

You do realize that kids looking to make it in Techntalk in multiplies of 100x “Big Law” money.

Let’s not sell this kid short!

Yes, my DC is a quant and makes about 470K after 4 years with only BS (although from the best CS program in the country) so saved 3 years and $250K. Likely to make $700 to $1.5M in another 4 to 5 years.

This is great. How many hours a week do they normally work? DC received an offer for a quant internship, the compensation is super high but I wonder how many hours they end up working.

dp.. my DS is a CS major, super high stats. I told DS to look at quant, and he said no because he heard they work crazy hours. He wants work/life balance. Both my spouse and I have decent work/life balance, and that's what DS wants.

I think it makes sense to work crazy hours for a few years when someone is young and has no family yet. They will make a ton of money as a quant and can switch to a normal and balanced job later. DC majors in both CS and math and interviewed for both quant and software engineer roles at the same company, and the company decided to offer a quant role.

pp here.. I don't disagree, but DS didn't want that kind of life.

I had a chance to work for a startup when I was childless and not married. I said no. I didn't want to work that much. I still made a decent amount of money at a regular job, enough to be able to retire before I turn 60.

[Anonymous]

Next time, he needs to be less Asian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Next time, he needs to be less Asian.

Only whites get sympathy. If you are Asian you are being pushed by parents. In this country if you join travel sports and keep playing sports, that is fine. I know so many parents who themselves were athletes and push their kids even if the kids are not interested. However, no one says anything about those kids. I live close to Darien, CT and there are dads always practicing sports like lacrosse (which we all know is played mainly in rich white suburbs for college admissions) with kids but those dads are seen as being involved. If this kids dad is at Google and is nurturing his son's love for technology, what is wrong? So many double standards. But these double standards will only make Asian kids stronger, they know they have to be much better to be considered equals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s wrong with UC? I truly can’t see why their public universities don’t want their best high schoolers. Busit too many good students. Maybe they secretly practice yield protection, but it feels so wrong.

If they already accepted a bunch of better-qualified kids from his HS, then it’s not surprising that he wasn’t admitted.

He’s competing against the other top kids from his HS for seats. He just didn’t do as well as them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Oh I did, watching him in his RabbitSign t-shirt promoting “his” startup, listening to everything he and his father said only reinforced the impression that this was all a bit of a put-on which AOs probably saw through, and now they’re milking the wunderkind/underdog story for media exposure. Why else would they have shared their story publicly? Why not just either happily go to one of the two very good schools that accepted him, or happily take the Google job and move on with his life? “We just want transparency,” that’s total BS. They are smart enough to know the “transparency” to satisfy why he wasn’t selected would require showing them the applications of the people he lost out to which would violate the privacy protections in FERPA.

it's a good business.. free publications and stuff. It will be silly not to capitalize it. You just hatin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Next time, he needs to be less Asian.

Only whites get sympathy. If you are Asian you are being pushed by parents. In this country if you join travel sports and keep playing sports, that is fine. I know so many parents who themselves were athletes and push their kids even if the kids are not interested. However, no one says anything about those kids. I live close to Darien, CT and there are dads always practicing sports like lacrosse (which we all know is played mainly in rich white suburbs for college admissions) with kids but those dads are seen as being involved. If this kids dad is at Google and is nurturing his son's love for technology, what is wrong? So many double standards. But these double standards will only make Asian kids stronger, they know they have to be much better to be considered equals.

Um, if you're on DCUM, whites get no sympathy. "lol try harder loser, you'll do fine if you don't get into Harvard" is the attitude.

Incidentally, most kids play lacrosse because they actually like it, not for college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Next time, he needs to be less Asian.

Only whites get sympathy. If you are Asian you are being pushed by parents. In this country if you join travel sports and keep playing sports, that is fine. I know so many parents who themselves were athletes and push their kids even if the kids are not interested. However, no one says anything about those kids. I live close to Darien, CT and there are dads always practicing sports like lacrosse (which we all know is played mainly in rich white suburbs for college admissions) with kids but those dads are seen as being involved. If this kids dad is at Google and is nurturing his son's love for technology, what is wrong? So many double standards. But these double standards will only make Asian kids stronger, they know they have to be much better to be considered equals.

Um, if you're on DCUM, whites get no sympathy. "lol try harder loser, you'll do fine if you don't get into Harvard" is the attitude.

Incidentally, most kids play lacrosse because they actually like it, not for college admissions.

Lacrosse IS fun

[Anonymous]

Not sure about his start-up but he and his team came in second for the google competition, which is a world wide event. Obviously, google thinks he is good, which makes me think that he actually contributed to the start-up or at least his CS skills are great.

Bottom line, this kid gets hired by google but not admitted to top programs or one UC school that he applied to. That should raise some red flags because it doesn't make sense. And when things don't make sense, it is reasonable to start asking what went wrong or why.

Lots of people quick to assume this kids father created the website, his parents pushed him, he wrote lousy essays, his teacher recommendations were bad. I doubt any of that is true because this kid got hired by google. He has to have been interviewed and vetted by one of the top US companies. I am surprised that people are so quick to criticize a high schooler instead of criticizing the college admission system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Next time, he needs to be less Asian.

Only whites get sympathy. If you are Asian you are being pushed by parents. In this country if you join travel sports and keep playing sports, that is fine. I know so many parents who themselves were athletes and push their kids even if the kids are not interested. However, no one says anything about those kids. I live close to Darien, CT and there are dads always practicing sports like lacrosse (which we all know is played mainly in rich white suburbs for college admissions) with kids but those dads are seen as being involved. If this kids dad is at Google and is nurturing his son's love for technology, what is wrong? So many double standards. But these double standards will only make Asian kids stronger, they know they have to be much better to be considered equals.

Um, if you're on DCUM, whites get no sympathy. "lol try harder loser, you'll do fine if you don't get into Harvard" is the attitude.

Incidentally, most kids play lacrosse because they actually like it, not for college admissions.

Lacrosse IS fun

If schools stop recruiting for lacrosse, the game will hardly be played. Believe me in CT, most kids are playing lacrosse for admissions, their parents played it and are making their kids play it since the age of 4. My own kid plays it, so I come across many of these parents.