For years, many Asian-Americans have been convinced that it’s harder for them to gain admission to the nation’s top colleges.
Studies show that Asian-Americans meet these colleges’ admissions standards far out of proportion to their 6 percent representation in the U.S. population, and that they often need test scores hundreds of points higher than applicants from other ethnic groups to have an equal chance of admission. Critics say these numbers, along with the fact that some top colleges with race-blind admissions have double the Asian percentage of Ivy League schools, prove the existence of discrimination.
The way it works, the critics believe, is that Asian-Americans are evaluated not as individuals, but against the thousands of other ultra-achieving Asians who are stereotyped as boring academic robots.
Now, an unknown number of students are responding to this concern by declining to identify themselves as Asian on their applications.
For those with only one Asian parent, whose names don’t give away their heritage, that decision can be relatively easy. Harder are the questions that it raises: What’s behind the admissions difficulties? What, exactly, is an Asian-American — and is being one a choice?
Read the rest of the article and interviews by Yale students here: http://news.yahoo.com/asians-college-strategy-dont-check-asian-174442977.html
Are you interested in Asian American social and political issues? What about organizing pan-Asian events? If so, consider running for a board position on the Asian American Students Alliance for the 2012 calendar year!
Featured on the award-winning TV show So You Think You Can Dance, Alex Wong is an internationally acclaimed dancer and one of the fastest rising stars in dance today.
Are you interested in meeting a Yalie in the Asian American community? Do you want to have an exhilarating chat over a cup of coffee? Do you love froyo, mochi, and everything in between? The AACC wants to give you the opportunity to meet new people over a delightful snack!
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Join the MSA and the Chaplain’s Office to commemorate the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. The keynote speaker for the event is Mona Eltahawy, an award-winning columnist and international public speaker on Arab and Muslim issues, most recently on the “Arab Spring” dignity revolutions in the Middle East.