s/o part-Asians applying to college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I have not written any other parts of the thread other than these, so other people must have been “problematic.” Have you written any “problematic” posts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you check "other" or "mixed race"?

I don't think you have to check what your last name is. There are many 1/2 hispanics that I know without a Spanish surname who are Hispanic (through mother). They are Hispanic, and are white. Why would Asians be any different? I'm sure that you know plenty of 1/2 Asians who identify as both.

Check how they identify. You don't have to be beholden to your last name in the admissions process.

We are planning to check "other"/"mixed race/biracial - Jewish last name and South Asian Indian for our mixed race (half Asian/half white) children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC is half Asian and half white (southern Europe that we have close ties to as well). But DH was born in Asia and DC has very close connections there as well, has visited every year since birth. DC applied last year and checked both boxes.

Keep in mind, the Common App asks questions about parents - where they went to college for example. DH went to college in his native country, so there is really no way to hide your heritage on these apps.

A good strategy, as a PP mentioned, was that my DC embraced the third culture kid heritage: strong ties to two countries/cultures, speaks multiple languages, has spent considerable amount of time in DH's home country. It seemed to have worked - DC is at a T20 school.

Good luck to everyone - this is a stressful process for kids and parents alike!

+1 My child also wrote their common app essay about her somewhat unique heritage an how it has helped shaped her experiences and identity. She got into 8/10 schools she applied to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Isn't the special formula to not play into stereotypes? Kid is into something kind of far out and non-typical for Asian kids (think theater; comedy; acapella; etc)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Agree. This is not nuts. There is a lot of data out there. Agree, college confidential is the best source. If I find an old thread on there, I will come back here and post it.

[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.

I don't believe that getting A's in any subject hurts any applicant. You are really over the top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is half Asian and half white (southern Europe that we have close ties to as well). But DH was born in Asia and DC has very close connections there as well, has visited every year since birth. DC applied last year and checked both boxes.

Keep in mind, the Common App asks questions about parents - where they went to college for example. DH went to college in his native country, so there is really no way to hide your heritage on these apps.

A good strategy, as a PP mentioned, was that my DC embraced the third culture kid heritage: strong ties to two countries/cultures, speaks multiple languages, has spent considerable amount of time in DH's home country. It seemed to have worked - DC is at a T20 school.

Good luck to everyone - this is a stressful process for kids and parents alike!

+1 My child also wrote their common app essay about her somewhat unique heritage an how it has helped shaped her experiences and identity. She got into 8/10 schools she applied to.

For my mixed-race children, I am South Asian/Indian Subcontinent, though DH is Jewish/White. I was born in the US. Unless the app asks about the kid's grandparents, I don't think they will see my heritage through my colleges? Yes, my kids will likely tie into it in essays and the likes. But I just don't want both kids to be disadvantaged and put into the "Asian Pile" of applicants, just bc of my name. Hoping they can be in the"Other Pile" of applicants for multi-racial kids.

[Anonymous]

This article discussed scholarly research of this topic, from NYU.

https://counseling.steinhardt.nyu.edu/blog/asian-americans-burdened-with-worry/

How reductionist of them (according to PP) to try to understand the cultural differences in our world.

[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.

Which European country?

Germany.

Why not also consider schools in Germany? I believe it’s tuition free.

[Anonymous]

I could go on and on, but my point is, cultural differences are complex but they are real:

https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/aas/news/the-effects-of-academic-pressure-on-south-asian-children

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Really? I'm seeing an awful lot of Asian surnames among the members of the Harvard-Radcliffe orchestra...I bet it's the same at other colleges.
https://www.harvardradcliffeorchestra.org/about

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Really? I'm seeing an awful lot of Asian surnames among the members of the Harvard-Radcliffe orchestra...I bet it's the same at other colleges.
https://www.harvardradcliffeorchestra.org/about

Is this your first time learning about anti-Asian discrimination in the college admissions process? The fact that there are so many Asians who play classical instruments in the first place is precisely why it's not counted as a "spike" for Asian students, and can sometimes even play to their detriment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? I'm seeing an awful lot of Asian surnames among the members of the Harvard-Radcliffe orchestra...I bet it's the same at other colleges.
https://www.harvardradcliffeorchestra.org/about

Not sure what point you're trying to make here. Because if PP is right that being good at classical instruments is a net-minus for Asian American applicants (and I have no evidence to opine on this one way or ther other), then but for this type of "penalizing" treatment by admissions committees, there would be a even greater percentage of them in the Harvard-Radcliffe orchestra than there are already.

[Anonymous]

DD checked Asian and white on the Common App. She didn’t address either part of her heritage in essays. She was admitted early to her top choice. You can only spend so much time worrying about these things at the individual level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
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

Remember that at many SLACs being a boy (especially a non-STEM one) can be an advantage.