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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Ok. Here is some advice you can actually use. Forget HYPSM and most of the ivies, except maybe Cornell maybe. Don't count on these schools or waste your ED/SCEA card on them. You will most probably come up empty and frustrated

If you are able to
1) flag that you don't need aid. It makes a difference even if everybody tells you it doesn't. Once you get in, you can apply for aid for years 2-4. and reveal your real need.  You are going to have to eat the first year cost to boost your chances. Don't submit any aid forms or Fafsa or anything else.
2) Target one of the following schools during the ED round: WashU, Emory, Vanderbilt, Uchicago, Duke, CMU, NYU but don't count on it
3) Avoid showing that your child wants to do CS, Econ, Engineering, business, pre-med. If possible tailor your app to highlight another major with his EC's
4) Have a backup plan for the state flagship. That's probably where he will most probably land.

Sorry. But that's the reality for the South Asian male today. It sucks, but it's what it is[/quote]

This sounds like good advice.  We went through this last year.  South Asian kid, didn't get into any of the top privates, but a lot of girls did.  Ended up at a top public. He's happy but it is painful to watch relatively unaccomplished kids go to a top private school that my son could have easily done well in (I'm not talking about URMs here).

Getting into top private schools is a game that some unhooked families/groups have perfected.  They work on their kids starting in 9th grade, kid will do a side project (e.g. develop an education app), related it to something from his family (e.g. how grandpa had to walk 10 miles to school or how his visit to his village in China "opened his eyes" to lack of education for poor kids, etc.), and how that made the kid develop the app.  The app and website itself would have been developed by the kid but highly "polished" by the parents or hired help.  Of course, the kid has to have the smarts, scores and compliant enough to play along.

I think (3) is very important.  During one of our college visits at a top private college, the student tour guide (a middle eastern kid), when asked about how he got into that college talked about how he loved English and showed his passion for English in the application, etc. He also talked about how he worked two jobs his senior year of HS and worked on a political campaign. The impression created was that he came from a family of limited means and was studying English in college.  We hung back after the tour to talk to him to get more specific inputs.  Come to find out, both his parents were physicians, his older sister was in Harvard med school and advised him a lot on the application process, the two jobs and campaign work was based on "advice" he got (don't recall if that was his sister or a consultant.  This was at a time when we were not aware of college admission consultants).  The kid was really majoring in CS (from day 1) and had a job lined up with a FAANG company after he completes his junior year!

Now extrapolate this to all the White people that have been doing this for decades and you get the picture.  Some use SAT/ACT consultants that charge $500+/HOUR, and college consultants that charge tens of thousands.  Some even bribe coaches (as we all know) and who knows what other methods are being used by these folks that are yet to come to light.  If you are not doing all that, your chances are bleak.  Sad thing is, we are all subsidizing these colleges (and therefore these rich families) by not making those schools pay taxes.  But that's another story..

Safest thing for South Asian boys, pick any school that's decent in CS (there are lots), use your connections to get an internship during college (that seems to be key with getting a job) and get them a job in a top company.  Help as may South Asian boys as you can to go through this process. They can worry about Harvard for their children.

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