American applicants aired nationally? Send me your name & phone
number to 80-20. A reporter at one of the largest newspapers of the
nation (one of the top five in circulations) wants to interview such Asian
American individuals. 80-20 is assisting that reporter.
Two Contrasting Views
One is from Ben - an Asian Am. possibly in his late 30s. The other is a
recent article from The Boston Globe.
"While I empathize with the parent as well as your reasoning for
using this story, what's missing is this parent's fundamental lack of
understanding that academic admissions isn't solely about black
and white numbers. Most top institutions want students that are
participative, inclusive and contributing to the diversity and overall
well being of an university's culture. . . .
For the record, I was admitted to a top 5 MBA school with less than
a 3.0 GPA. I tested well with a 96th percentile on the GMAT's, but
this is not 98th or 99th percentile. What helped me most was the
extracurriculars, strong recommendations, and essays that "popped",
and created a personality that admissions felt was vibrant and would
add value to the community. . . .
Culturally, we Asian/Chinese Americans need to learn to develop the
extracurricular and soft skills that make us more rounded candidates,
not just automations as society fairly or unfairly views us.
Life beyond school demands high emotional and social IQ, not just
raw brainpower. . . . Regards, Ben"
On the other hand, a Boston Globe article* of 4/17 titled "Competitive
disadvantage" reported evidence of discrimination against AsAm applicants:
"In 2009 . . . Princeton sociologist Thomas Espenshade . . . examined data
on students applying to college in 1997 and found what looks like different
standards for different racial groups. They calculated that Asian-Ams
needed nearly perfect SAT scores of 1550 to have the same
chance of being accepted at a top private university as whites who
scored 1410 and African-Americans who got 1100. . . .
By contrast, at California's competitive - and race-blind - state
schools, Asian-Americans are much better represented: 52
percent of the student population at the University of bed California at
Irvine, 40 percent at Berkeley, and 37 percent at UCLA.
The difference suggests that, where considering race is allowed, elite
universities may be handicapping Asian-American applicants. "They just
all sort of magically end up with under 20 percent Asian students, " Hsu
says. One Princeton lecturer has asked if that number represents the "Asian
ceiling." . . .
Brookline organizer Chi Chi Wu, who is a lawyer . . . says it may be
time to fight back, using a legal theory called disparate impact. "In other
areas of civil rights law, when you have statistical disparities, you can
often make a case. You don't have to prove the university is saying, 'We
don't want all these Asians,' but just having those statistics and being
able to point to disparities is enough."
She adds, "If we Asian-Americans don't organize, there's no amount of
piano practicing that will help us." "
Show the courage of your conviction! If you are convinced
that there is discrimination, SPEAK UP.
80-20 has no official position on this issue yet, owing to its
extreme complexity. But we invite the community to
together dig a bit deeper on this issue and see
where the truth is. Note that the Supreme Court
permits using race as a factor in college admission.
Want 80-20 PAC to live or die on 3/22/2013? To help it live, join
or donate, go to http://www.80-20initiative.net or send your check to
80-20 PAC P.O. Box 603 Osprey, FL 34229.
Respectfully yours,
A volunteer,
http://www.80-20initiative.net .
"80-20's Top 10 Accomplishments" shall continue soon. 80-20 thanks
ALL OF YOU for joining 80-20 at the rate of 10 per day since knowing
that 80-20 may die in TWO years. At this rate, 80-20 will double its
membership in ONE year & live! What a splendid statement on the
HEART of the AsAm community? We also thank Sam Wong,
S. Pasadena, CA: $1,000