National Merit Semifinalists 2018 (live, statistics, educational)

[BLDSoon]

Originally Posted by MKDFW

What exactly did these Asians do to you to cloud your judgement so much?

Replace 'Asians' with 'people' and my answer is entitlement annoys me greatly. Especially when it comes from people that already have plenty.

I get the same way about anyone who files a first-world-problem lawsuit so they can get even more pie because the piece they have isnt quite big enough. Many people fall into this category including Asian parents that throw a legal fit because their kid didn't get into Harvard.

Those are the threads you'll find i'm most active on if you care to read through all my posts. I'm usually quite impressed with asian students and their academic achievements. We could learn from them. But not in this instance. I'm very unimpressed with this... whining.

Eta: Nice cherry picking of my posts btw.... impressive.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by Bp25

Then fix the student debt problem. Make it so that whoever has the merit and willingness to study can attend an university without a student loan, like other countries do. If you don't allow qualified people to come in and compete for the jobs, the jobs will go to them.

Oh yeah, I'll get right on that.

Originally Posted by BLDSoon

I think we can say Anti-jew attitudes were rampant back then...period. Anti-black attitudes were and still are rampant. Anti-Irish attitudes were rampant at some point too as are the anti-mexican ones that seem to recycle every so many decades.

Those attitudes have nothing to do with keeping a balanced student body and have a everything to do with racism and anti-semitism. They were not about to have a usable percentage of those groups due to attitudes at that time. That's their history to grapple with and is not the issue in this discussion.

This discussion is about a hyper-competitive group that cannot handle losing.(That group does not encompass all Asians either. Most Asian students do not attend Ivy League schools and many that do think these claims are absurd.)

If they lose, then it must be the system. Forget the fact that large numbers of caucasian, Hispanic, International, and everything in between students suffer the same fate every year. No, its not fair, cause they are special so they 'should' be allowed in because their perfect scores trump whatever educational mission the PRIVATE schools set for themselves. They aced the tests, show them to their dorm room.

Sorry, it doesn't work that way. Everyone cant get in. And yes that means everyone including those that qualify.

ETA: I'm willing to bet Caucasian kids (of whatever religion) get rejected far more than any other group from the Ivies in the name of 'balance'. For the group that benefits the most from this to sue/complain about it is hilarity.

You make good points.


I did have quite a few classmates (Jewish, obviously, like me) who "qualified" for Ivy League schools but who were rejected in favor of "inferior" applicants with lower test scores.


I had different goals and aspirations so I didn't apply to places like Harvard or Yale. I didn't think I'd get in, so I didn't bother. I wasn't butthurt about it either. I know lots of brilliant people who didn't make the cut.


It does seem like some people feel entitled to an admission letter from the university of their choice because they have a high class rank, lots of extracurriculars, a high SAT/ACT score, etc. but that's simply not the case.


You're right that private universities can build their classes however they want and they don't owe applicants an explanation or apology for their rejection.

[UnfairPark]

@BLDSoon Every kid is applying for themselves, just because anoother Asian got in, doesn't mean he'll not challange discrimination against himself. There are too many legacy admits in these schools, apply this quota on them. What sort of twisted expectation is this that Asian Americans need to shut up and put up because they have enough. It's not like someone is handing it to them for free.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

@BLDSoon Every kid is applying for themselves, just because anoother Asian got in, doesn't mean he'll not challange discrimination against himself. There are too many legacy admits in these schools, apply this quota on them. What sort of twisted expectation is this that Asian Americans need to shut up and put up because they have enough. It's not like someone is handing it to them for free.

Too many legacies according to whom? The schools are the ones who select the criteria by which admission is decided. If you think they value the wrong things, don't apply.

[UnfairPark]

Originally Posted by numbersguy100

Too many legacies according to whom? The schools are the ones who select the criteria by which admission is decided. If you think they value the wrong things, don't apply.

If I go to a restaurant and they say we don't serve your race or gender or religion or sexual orientation or whatever, should I just quietly go to another restaurant or stay hungry?

[TheOverdog]

It's fine Ivies don't want to admit the most qualified students - the same as if Hooters doesn't want to hire the most qualified servers. But the time will come when what they are selling is surpassed by others who take advantage of their blindspots, and some could argue that time is already here. The bad thing is that there are plenty of jobs you can only get with an Ivy degree (government, political mostly) and that causes real problems down the stream.

[BLDSoon]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

@BLDSoon Every kid is applying for themselves, just because anoother Asian got in, doesn't mean he'll not challange discrimination against himself. There are too many legacy admits in these schools, apply this quota on them. What sort of twisted expectation is this that Asian Americans need to shut up and put up because they have enough. It's not like someone is handing it to them for free.

Asian-American students comprise about 20% of Ivy league students more or less. That far exceeds their general population in the United States.

Legacy admits include all sorts (Including Asians) and that number was at 30% for Harvard last year.

The above numbers do not include international students who are a large majority Asian and comprise of about 15% of the student body at the Ivies.

So yes, i think that's plenty of pie. These complaints would have merit if there weren't already so many Asian students attending these schools.

Not getting into Harvard is not getting into Harvard. 95% of those that try, dont. Cry me a river.

They may be applying for themselves, but anyone intelligent enough to apply to an Ivy should know that a school that admits 5/6% of its applicants is highly likely to reject them irrespective of credentials and should have a plan B. The educational world should be that kids oyster especially if highly qualified. Plan B should be another just as good maybe better school...not whining and a frivolous lawsuit.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

@BLDSoon Every kid is applying for themselves, just because anoother Asian got in, doesn't mean he'll not challange discrimination against himself. There are too many legacy admits in these schools, apply this quota on them. What sort of twisted expectation is this that Asian Americans need to shut up and put up because they have enough. It's not like someone is handing it to them for free.

Nobody's handing most people anything for free. You think rejected applicants of other ethnic backgrounds didn't work just as hard?

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

If I go to a restaurant and they say we don't serve your race or gender or religion or sexual orientation or whatever, should I just quietly go to another restaurant or stay hungry?

That's a ridiculous analogy. Restaurants serve the public. Private universities don't.

[BLDSoon]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

If I go to a restaurant and they say we don't serve your race or gender or religion or sexual orientation or whatever, should I just quietly go to another restaurant or stay hungry?

If you go to a highly desirable restaurant with a group of a 100 and they tell you we max groups out at 30...You find another desirable restaurant to eat at. Yes you have money. But they would like to keep their tables open for as many groups as possible. No hard feelings.

You can leave and go eat elsewhere...or you can file a frivolous lawsuit.

[Bp25]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

Yesterday's discrimination is today's history. Today's discrimination will make tomorrow's history. By the way, I'm not talking about "freshers" or "stale", talking about discrimination between legal American born children, every new born has equal rights, regardless of who their parents are.

Agreed. Why do they even need to know about race on the application. These are academic institution, they should admit people based on academic merit, and maybe some extracurricular but not based on who their parents are.