By Vincent Tan
You study hard, top your school, and apply for an Ivy League university. Then the admissions officer looks at your application and tosses it out with the words, “We have enough Asians.” At least that is what several US groups are claiming of Yale University, Brown University and Dartmouth College.
The Asian-American Coalition for Education (AACE) which submitted the complaint claimed a “just-for-Asians” standard was being enforced, and that Asian-American applicants were stereotyped as lacking in creativity, critical thinking, leadership skills, and risk-taking.
The coalition further alleges that an illegal cap on the percentage of Asian-Americans accepted into most Ivy League universities explains the constant percentage admitted over the years, despite the doubling of college age Asian-Americans over the last two decades.
A National Study of College Experience (2009) cited last year in a similar complaint against Harvard University, showed on average Asian-American kids needed to score 140 points higher than Caucasians, 270 points higher than Latinos, and 450 points more than African-Americans to have an equal chance of entering Harvard.
Non-Ivy League universities with the highest percentages of Asian-Americans see a proportion of 17% to 40% in the student body. By comparison, the percentage of Asian-Americans at Brown University is 14.5%.
In the meantime, more students from China are turning towards non-STEM courses to increase their chances of acceptance into Ivy League schools, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Even if you have the exemplary marks and drive to apply for these creme-de-la-creme of universities, you may wish to focus on presenting your creative and outgoing sides, to stand out in general, and possibly avoid bias.
