s/o part-Asians applying to college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For some reason, playing a musical instrument and playing sports like Tennis is actually a net negative for Asian students. As is doing well in Math.

Yep, we are Asian and when my DD expressed interest in playing the violin, I had a brief thought that maybe I should steer her to something else else she end up a walking cliche! Then I thought why should she have to change her interests because of stereotypes and for a hypothetical college application in the future? And of course I let her do what she wanted.

[Anonymous]

OP here again.

It's interesting to hear all perspectives.

My son is not musical and not STEM-oriented! He likes Latin, history and literature

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This stereotype of Asians as the rote academic machines who only excel at math and science is so bizarre considering that art and music schools across the country are filled to the brim with Asian Americans. Asians excel at creative disciplines, but you sure don't hear that stereotype too often, do you?

Yes, you do. My kid wouldn't even participate in a string instrument because they said to be accepted you had to be east asian (not east asian, not south asian)

[Anonymous]

OP I also have half Asian kids. I think you’re operating from an outdated understanding of the box check. When I was applying it was white OR Asian and not both. Now there’s a multi racial box, which our kids will check.

[Anonymous]

Doesn't multi-race not help anyone? I am not sure how this is calculated.

Don't people here know that Asian is -400 on SAT scores and White gets only subtracting 200 at top schools? I thought this was quite common knowledge but it's not. But I do not know what score "other" gets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This stereotype of Asians as the rote academic machines who only excel at math and science is so bizarre considering that art and music schools across the country are filled to the brim with Asian Americans. Asians excel at creative disciplines, but you sure don't hear that stereotype too often, do you?

Yes, you do. My kid wouldn't even participate in a string instrument because they said to be accepted you had to be east asian (not east asian, not south asian)

This smacks of absolutely nothing. Your comment is neither here nor there. What are you even trying to prove, that Asian American stereotypes are accurate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Doesn't multi-race not help anyone? I am not sure how this is calculated.

Don't people here know that Asian is -400 on SAT scores and White gets only subtracting 200 at top schools? I thought this was quite common knowledge but it's not. But I do not know what score "other" gets.

I don't think multi-racial gets a score, but it's considered a plus, generally. Multi-racial has become its own separate category and will get "diversity points". Ironic because many of the kinds of multi-racial Asian/White children who attend top schools tend to come from incredibly privileged backgrounds. But what can you do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, my kids are white/Vietnamese, just normal UMC good-but-not-extraordinary students with normal ECs. When applying to college (2016, 2018, this year) they checked both Asian and white, and it didn't seem to hurt them, even at UCLA.

Helpful to point out that UC schools are *not* allowed to directly use race, sex, or ethnicity for admission decisions. Not since 1996 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_California_Proposition_209).

They do use some proxies, and the reality is quite nuanced.

[Anonymous]

I would check whatever box your kids feel most comfortable identifying as. There is no ethnic police out there to monitor and police the selection. I know my blond-haired, blue-eyed cousins from Hawaii with a quarter-Asian heritage and an Asian last name don't check the Asian box, but could if they wanted to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Question: My children are part Asian, part white European. They have a passport from my European country as well as their American passport, since they were born in the US. They have very little cultural connection to their Asian heritage, have never been exposed to the language, but they DO have an Asian last name, because their father is Asian. First names are from their European country, we speak the language at home, have friends from that country, visit the home country often - the cultural connection is there. They will also take the AP in that European language, which will be really easy for them.

Do they check the Asian box?
Do they expand, in one of their essays, on their European identity?
What else can they do to ward off discrimination against Asians?

Thank you.

You guys are nuts. My kids are part asian and we always checked the box. It is what it is. They are both at Ivys. And if they they didn’t get into top schools, that would be fine too

[Anonymous]

No, you're not nuts.

Check out college confidential website for actual in-depth information - DCUM is not really informative let alone nuanced on this topic.

[Anonymous]

PP. I absolutely will stop commenting. You do not know me or how I feel. I am absolutely not “disgruntled.”

The original point was that people of all races play instruments and tennis. It’s not “quirky” for white kids. I was pushing back on that assumption.

I think that made me consider how many racist posts (or posts putting down other races or complaining about URMs) I see on DCUM by self described Asian posters and some comments I’ve personally heard. I don’t mean to offend, just trying to make people think about their biases. I really do try to consider mine often.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP. I absolutely will stop commenting. You do not know me or how I feel. I am absolutely not “disgruntled.”

The original point was that people of all races play instruments and tennis. It’s not “quirky” for white kids. I was pushing back on that assumption.

I think that made me consider how many racist posts (or posts putting down other races or complaining about URMs) I see on DCUM by self described Asian posters and some comments I’ve personally heard. I don’t mean to offend, just trying to make people think about their biases. I really do try to consider mine often.

The point is that if you are an excellent violinist, and you're white, that is very clearly counted as a "plus" in college admissions. For Asians, it's the opposite, and adcoms are very open about this. By denying this, and then also throwing in some vague stereotypes because you happen to have Asian "friends", it comes off as pretty casually racist. And this is assuming you haven't written some of the other vaguely problematic things in this thread, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Question: My children are part Asian, part white European. They have a passport from my European country as well as their American passport, since they were born in the US. They have very little cultural connection to their Asian heritage, have never been exposed to the language, but they DO have an Asian last name, because their father is Asian. First names are from their European country, we speak the language at home, have friends from that country, visit the home country often - the cultural connection is there. They will also take the AP in that European language, which will be really easy for them.

Do they check the Asian box?
Do they expand, in one of their essays, on their European identity?
What else can they do to ward off discrimination against Asians?

Thank you.

Yes, they need to check the Asian box. With the last name, they can't hide their Asian heritage (I am Asian and have experienced this).

Given that, they should own their situation - they should write in their essays about the full scope of their life experience, which includes the European identity, e.g., time spent in Europe, language, etc. If they can present themselves as "citizens of the world", they will present better. In fact, having the dual passports will allow the school to claim them as international students and help with diversity. The goal should be to shift the comparison to international and "third culture" applicants rather than typical Asian-Americans (I also lived in Asia for many years and sent my kids to American schools with many such students).

All of this will help ward off discrimination against Asians in the admissions process. Unfortunately, can't help with the other anti-Asian BS that is going on these days.

Isn't that a different admissions process, with more expensive tuition?

Yeah, the "third" culture, or "citizens of the world/world experience" is more common than PP thinks. I don't think it sets too many people apart. There is no secret formula, unfortunately. I think people want some special magic answer, and it is increasingly non existent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Question: My children are part Asian, part white European. They have a passport from my European country as well as their American passport, since they were born in the US. They have very little cultural connection to their Asian heritage, have never been exposed to the language, but they DO have an Asian last name, because their father is Asian. First names are from their European country, we speak the language at home, have friends from that country, visit the home country often - the cultural connection is there. They will also take the AP in that European language, which will be really easy for them.

Do they check the Asian box?
Do they expand, in one of their essays, on their European identity?
What else can they do to ward off discrimination against Asians?

Thank you.

You guys are nuts. My kids are part asian and we always checked the box. It is what it is. They are both at Ivys. And if they they didn’t get into top schools, that would be fine too

Except it wouldn't.