Trying to get into school?
Asian American applicants applying for college appear to be admitted at a lower rate than White, Black, or Latino peers with comparable quantitative scores. This is according to Princeton researcher Thomas J. Espenshade who compiled GPA and SAT test scores for selective private institutions of higher education, and compared them to admission rates by race.
This seems to warrant serious complaint, and possibly a lawsuit (see page 4). More than 60 organizations have filed a complaint with the federal government claiming Harvard holds higher expectations for its Asian applicants than other minorities. There are also allegations that the admissions process lumps together different groups of Asian applicants into a single, high-performing stereotype.
It is interesting to to note that Harvard acknowledged this in their magazine, The Crimson, in 2014:
“1. Asian American applicants and admittances, on average, score higher on the SAT than students from any other race.
2. While the percentage of students belonging to most other racial minorities in highly selective colleges have gone up over the years, the percentage of Asian American students has not.”
This recent debate over Harvard’s questionable evaluation practice brings up our own questions.
Are we, as Asian Americans, required to work harder to be accepted by a particularly prestigious institution?
Are we really the majority minority?
(If the answer is “yes,” is this something we are allowed, or supposed to be proud of?)
Is this a luxury complaint, or is it a legitimate one?
[The sub-context is: Why should it even be gauged on variants?]The broader issue is that universal touchy subject that race is even a factor when judging an application.
Hence …
Plenty of affirmative action discussion can ensue.
Please engage in the conversation. (end)