Anonymous wrote:I am the parent of a South Asian male senior. This is how it is playing out - excellent EC, top grades, rigorous curriculum, top SATs, prestigious internships. job, community service, national and state level honors, good recommendations, great essays etc... but riding the rejection train currently. We are full pay family.

My kid is brilliant and in STEM field, so he will be ok even in a not-top college. Eventually, he will be employed because of his skills and because barrier to entry is high for his career choice. He refused to lie on his application and clearly said that he wanted to do CS or Engineering...which is death knell for South Asian males. Maybe he will go via the community college route? Who knows.

Basically, savvy SA people are going for CS/Engineering - adjacent majors along with another humanities major like gender studies/ women studies/LGBTQ studies etc. Most are also pretending that they are bisexual or binary (using They/Them) and writing in their essays that their South Asian parents have been beating the sh1t out of them because of their sexuality. All of this is allowing them to get into Ivy Leagues. My son did not have the appetite for that so that is that...

Also, by being denied admissions because of his race has made him more savvy about racial-politics in USA. His blinders are off, and hopefully this will teach him to be less idealistic and more capable of looking out for his own interests in the future. USA is all about screwing every one else, and this lesson was very important for him to learn.

I don’t disagree that being South Asian (or any kind of Asian) puts a kid at a disadvantage for college admissions.

However, I take issue with your last comment. Sounds like you want to find a reason to hate the USA. I hope you have family in India or Pakistan (or whichever country you are from). The culture there is very much about looking our for yourself and screw what happens to ‘others’.

The reason Asians are discriminated against here in the US is because Blacks and Latinos have a harder time and the US colleges are trying to adjust for that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the parent of a South Asian male senior. This is how it is playing out - excellent EC, top grades, rigorous curriculum, top SATs, prestigious internships. job, community service, national and state level honors, good recommendations, great essays etc... but riding the rejection train currently. We are full pay family.

My kid is brilliant and in STEM field, so he will be ok even in a not-top college. Eventually, he will be employed because of his skills and because barrier to entry is high for his career choice. He refused to lie on his application and clearly said that he wanted to do CS or Engineering...which is death knell for South Asian males. Maybe he will go via the community college route? Who knows.

Basically, savvy SA people are going for CS/Engineering - adjacent majors along with another humanities major like gender studies/ women studies/LGBTQ studies etc. Most are also pretending that they are bisexual or binary (using They/Them) and writing in their essays that their South Asian parents have been beating the sh1t out of them because of their sexuality. All of this is allowing them to get into Ivy Leagues. My son did not have the appetite for that so that is that...

Also, by being denied admissions because of his race has made him more savvy about racial-politics in USA. His blinders are off, and hopefully this will teach him to be less idealistic and more capable of looking out for his own interests in the future. USA is all about screwing every one else, and this lesson was very important for him to learn.

Troll.

Why do you write "Troll" to this PP? Other than the provocative "lying on the application" aspect, I see nothing unusual about this PPs post. I have worked with many South Asian students. I have not seen the unethical lying, but otherwise the rest of the PPs post makes sense to me based on my experience.

The two kids from my DC’s class who were accepted by HPY are studying gender, women’s study, and diversity. Both are Asian with Stem ambition and great stats. I dont know what they wrote on their assay but I am sure they are not about math team, robotics, or lab sxperience.

BS. None of HPY care about what you say you're going to study on your application and 'diversity' isn't a major. And none of them are going to believe that this is what those kids wanted to study if all the other things on their application are math team, robotics and lab work.

nice try, troll.

Anonymous wrote:Be a unicorn - be unique. No one is impressed by test scores due to massive cheating. Be someone special - don't do something common.

You think these kids ONLY have test scores? Not sure what you are referring to with "massive cheating".. bribing athletic coaches, maybe?

Most of them have excellent extra-curriculars and leadership roles. They don't get off the boat yesterday.

Anonymous wrote: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

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the parent of a South Asian male senior. This is how it is playing out - excellent EC, top grades, rigorous curriculum, top SATs, prestigious internships. job, community service, national and state level honors, good recommendations, great essays etc... but riding the rejection train currently. We are full pay family.

My kid is brilliant and in STEM field, so he will be ok even in a not-top college. Eventually, he will be employed because of his skills and because barrier to entry is high for his career choice. He refused to lie on his application and clearly said that he wanted to do CS or Engineering...which is death knell for South Asian males. Maybe he will go via the community college route? Who knows.

Basically, savvy SA people are going for CS/Engineering - adjacent majors along with another humanities major like gender studies/ women studies/LGBTQ studies etc. Most are also pretending that they are bisexual or binary (using They/Them) and writing in their essays that their South Asian parents have been beating the sh1t out of them because of their sexuality. All of this is allowing them to get into Ivy Leagues. My son did not have the appetite for that so that is that...

Also, by being denied admissions because of his race has made him more savvy about racial-politics in USA. His blinders are off, and hopefully this will teach him to be less idealistic and more capable of looking out for his own interests in the future. USA is all about screwing every one else, and this lesson was very important for him to learn.

Troll.

Why do you write "Troll" to this PP? Other than the provocative "lying on the application" aspect, I see nothing unusual about this PPs post. I have worked with many South Asian students. I have not seen the unethical lying, but otherwise the rest of the PPs post makes sense to me based on my experience.

The two kids from my DC’s class who were accepted by HPY are studying gender, women’s study, and diversity. Both are Asian with Stem ambition and great stats. I dont know what they wrote on their assay but I am sure they are not about math team, robotics, or lab sxperience.

Be a unicorn - be unique. No one is impressed by test scores due to massive cheating. Be someone special - don't do something common.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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

This is what any UMC white unhooked kid with excellent stats does too. Except if female does not indicate interest in social sciences or humanities and does indicate interest in STEM.

There are tons of unhooked Indian-American kids at Wharton UG and Penn seas. Penn definitely will take unhooked Indian kids ED.

Good advice about 1 tho. Very smart.

Op the above poster knows her stuff.

+1 A lot of basic, unhooked Soujth Asian kids at Penn for some reason. i would apply there.

Pp here, tbf on a percentage basis it is still pretty low as pretty much every unhooked south Asian kid that scores at Atleast the median for penn throws in an application there

Indian males love penn

Anonymous wrote: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

Thank you! OP here. This is useful. We are not looking at HYPSM et al. But it will be nice to at least have the schools you listed as a goal. He works hard and is a good kid. He always appreciates when other peers work hard-be it in athletics or academics or other ECs and it will be nice if he gets his fair round to at least play.

Anonymous wrote:There are just too many of them with identical stats. you have to stand out. Your son's number one competition is other south Asian boys. Figure out how to make him different than the pack.

^^^

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the parent of a South Asian male senior. This is how it is playing out - excellent EC, top grades, rigorous curriculum, top SATs, prestigious internships. job, community service, national and state level honors, good recommendations, great essays etc... but riding the rejection train currently. We are full pay family.

My kid is brilliant and in STEM field, so he will be ok even in a not-top college. Eventually, he will be employed because of his skills and because barrier to entry is high for his career choice. He refused to lie on his application and clearly said that he wanted to do CS or Engineering...which is death knell for South Asian males. Maybe he will go via the community college route? Who knows.

Basically, savvy SA people are going for CS/Engineering - adjacent majors along with another humanities major like gender studies/ women studies/LGBTQ studies etc. Most are also pretending that they are bisexual or binary (using They/Them) and writing in their essays that their South Asian parents have been beating the sh1t out of them because of their sexuality. All of this is allowing them to get into Ivy Leagues. My son did not have the appetite for that so that is that...

Also, by being denied admissions because of his race has made him more savvy about racial-politics in USA. His blinders are off, and hopefully this will teach him to be less idealistic and more capable of looking out for his own interests in the future. USA is all about screwing every one else, and this lesson was very important for him to learn.

Troll.

I totally believe this poster, actually. This is what our broken admissions system has become.

NP and I believe this is the lens the poster is seeing this situation through, but do you know how many qualified kids of all races are “riding the rejection train” right now? The rest is cynicisim.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This website has much data to show why you need not worry...

https://lesshighschoolstress.com/

Less selective universities are very capable of providing an excellent education.

Give me a break. OP wants to know how it is possible to get in the very selective universities. This "don't stress" narrative is absurd to feed to someone, when their kid has virtually no chance to get into a school, but their next door neighbor does, even with less accomplishment. "Don't stress" is some BS gaslighting in the face of discrimination.

OP's son will do well because that's who he is, regardless of where he goes to school. She's not worried that he's going to be digging ditches. That is not the point. And she doesn't have to have the same criteria as you. If this worries her, it worries her. That's valid.

This PP posts their website often. It is likely more about finding opportunities to share their (business?) with forum readers than relevancy to the topic.

Or maybe it's a bunch of different posters who genuinely care about other people (gasp!) and are sharing a link to a free website that has lots of data that might help people stop fretting about things that don't matter. The website was written about in an article in the Post last year, so thousands of DC area residents are familiar with it.

ok mr. website owner

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This website has much data to show why you need not worry...

https://lesshighschoolstress.com/

Less selective universities are very capable of providing an excellent education.

Give me a break. OP wants to know how it is possible to get in the very selective universities. This "don't stress" narrative is absurd to feed to someone, when their kid has virtually no chance to get into a school, but their next door neighbor does, even with less accomplishment. "Don't stress" is some BS gaslighting in the face of discrimination.

OP's son will do well because that's who he is, regardless of where he goes to school. She's not worried that he's going to be digging ditches. That is not the point. And she doesn't have to have the same criteria as you. If this worries her, it worries her. That's valid.

This PP posts their website often. It is likely more about finding opportunities to share their (business?) with forum readers than relevancy to the topic.

Or maybe it's a bunch of different posters who genuinely care about other people (gasp!) and are sharing a link to a free website that has lots of data that might help people stop fretting about things that don't matter. The website was written about in an article in the Post last year, so thousands of DC area residents are familiar with it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the parent of a South Asian male senior. This is how it is playing out - excellent EC, top grades, rigorous curriculum, top SATs, prestigious internships. job, community service, national and state level honors, good recommendations, great essays etc... but riding the rejection train currently. We are full pay family.

My kid is brilliant and in STEM field, so he will be ok even in a not-top college. Eventually, he will be employed because of his skills and because barrier to entry is high for his career choice. He refused to lie on his application and clearly said that he wanted to do CS or Engineering...which is death knell for South Asian males. Maybe he will go via the community college route? Who knows.

Basically, savvy SA people are going for CS/Engineering - adjacent majors along with another humanities major like gender studies/ women studies/LGBTQ studies etc. Most are also pretending that they are bisexual or binary (using They/Them) and writing in their essays that their South Asian parents have been beating the sh1t out of them because of their sexuality. All of this is allowing them to get into Ivy Leagues. My son did not have the appetite for that so that is that...

Also, by being denied admissions because of his race has made him more savvy about racial-politics in USA. His blinders are off, and hopefully this will teach him to be less idealistic and more capable of looking out for his own interests in the future. USA is all about screwing every one else, and this lesson was very important for him to learn.

Troll.

I totally believe this poster, actually. This is what our broken admissions system has become.

A senior now is complaining about admissions? It’s not even regular decision season. And the whole trolling about non binary? The only thing missing here is something about CRT to complete the trifecta.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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

This is what any UMC white unhooked kid with excellent stats does too. Except if female does not indicate interest in social sciences or humanities and does indicate interest in STEM.

There are tons of unhooked Indian-American kids at Wharton UG and Penn seas. Penn definitely will take unhooked Indian kids ED.

Good advice about 1 tho. Very smart.

Op the above poster knows her stuff.

+1 A lot of basic, unhooked Soujth Asian kids at Penn for some reason. i would apply there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the parent of a South Asian male senior. This is how it is playing out - excellent EC, top grades, rigorous curriculum, top SATs, prestigious internships. job, community service, national and state level honors, good recommendations, great essays etc... but riding the rejection train currently. We are full pay family.

My kid is brilliant and in STEM field, so he will be ok even in a not-top college. Eventually, he will be employed because of his skills and because barrier to entry is high for his career choice. He refused to lie on his application and clearly said that he wanted to do CS or Engineering...which is death knell for South Asian males. Maybe he will go via the community college route? Who knows.

Basically, savvy SA people are going for CS/Engineering - adjacent majors along with another humanities major like gender studies/ women studies/LGBTQ studies etc. Most are also pretending that they are bisexual or binary (using They/Them) and writing in their essays that their South Asian parents have been beating the sh1t out of them because of their sexuality. All of this is allowing them to get into Ivy Leagues. My son did not have the appetite for that so that is that...

Also, by being denied admissions because of his race has made him more savvy about racial-politics in USA. His blinders are off, and hopefully this will teach him to be less idealistic and more capable of looking out for his own interests in the future. USA is all about screwing every one else, and this lesson was very important for him to learn.

Troll.

I totally believe this poster, actually. This is what our broken admissions system has become.