Couple days ago a coalition of more than 60 Asian American groups filed a federal complaint against Harvard over its admission policies. The groups claim that Harvard uses quotas to keep Asian Americans students population lower than expected based on SAT scores and grades. I think this is an old story but it is interesting that white students have bought up more suits in the past comparing to Asian Americans even though in most schools it takes a higher SAT and grades for Asian Americans to get in than whites.
I think there is no doubt that qualified Asians are getting the short end of the stick with admissions at prestigious schools like Harvard. The people who run these schools want to show that they are committed to diversity and thus will try to do anything to make their ethnic stats look palatable. I don't have any problem with affirmative action based on socio-economic status. But I bet a black kid from a rich family with the same score will have a better chance to get into Harvard than an Asian kid from a poor family.
If there is discrimination against Asians, what is the effect of this discrimination? Well, other than loss of pride of not getting into Harvard, not much. The truth is getting into a prestigious school or not have little effect on a person's life. Chances are if you were qualified for Harvard but didn't get in, you will end up at a good school. And if you do well there, your futures is bright. This is particularly true if you are in chemistry, physics, math or engineering. There is no affirmative action at the graduate level. You are either good at these fields or not. So say if you end up at your "safety" school of Michigan or UCLA and graduate with a degree in engineering, you will command a good salary or can get into a big time grad school. Maybe that is why individual Asians don't bring suits on their own. Might as well concentrate in studying at the college you ended up with and become successful four years later!
Sunday, May 17, 2015
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I didn't hear much about the federal complaint. I'll have to read up on it a little more to get a better understanding of it.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I agree with you on some of what you say. Especially regarding basing affirmative action with socio-economics.
But discrimination is discrimination.
So, politically, my first reaction is that Asian Americans need to fight for things like this. As I always say, everyone fights for their piece of the pie.
So, if an Asian American was qualified to attend a school like Harvard, their race should not be a factor of them not being admitted.
Isn't this a similar situation they've had at some of the UC schools?
If Asian Americans don't make a fuss over this at Harvard, then this type of "quota" can happen at any school. So Asian Americans have to fight against this.
-LBOAYM
I agree that everyone fights for their piece of the pie. When there is perceived unfairness, people will fight. Thus there are angry white men and of course angry yellow men! I am just pointing out even if the game is not played on an even field and you temporary lose (not getting into Harvard), you can still win at the end.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that the same thing Asians are upset over at Harvard is happening at UC schools. UCLA and Berkeley are the two most competitive public universities in the country. Asians are around 40% of these two schools but could be higher if grades and scores are the sole criteria. But if you don't get into these two, the other UC schools are not bad fall back options. Interestingly I had a friend whose son could not get into Caltech and ended up at Berkely. He majored in computer science. He decided to try to transfer to Caltech after his first year and was accepted. He said that after three years that he thought the computer guys at Berkeley were actually more capable and more well rounded than those at Caltech.. In any case, the Berkeley students went to grad school at places like Stanford, MIT and Caltech or got high starting salaries. So the cream does rise to the top, especially if you are in the science fields.
Now I must back track a little bit. If reverse discrimination is not that important in undergrad, it is more problematic for Asians in professional schools, especially medical school. There are many options left if you don't into Harvard or UC. But if you don't get into a medical school, then you can't become a doctor. California has 4 times the population of Michigan but less than two time the medical school spots. Also Stanford is a national private school so no advantage for California residents to get in. Loma Linda is religious school so if you are not Seventh Day Adventist, your chances are very low. Eleven percent of Asian medical students in the country went to undergrad at UCLA or Berkeley. So if you think that since 40% of undergrads at those two schools are Asian, then at least 40% of medical students in California should be Asians. But that is not the case, it is around 25%. This despite the fact that Asians have better grades and MCAT scores than others. So I think this is a situation that Asians should fight for more fair competition because going to a Caribbean school is not a good alternative.