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All possible sarcasm aside, you apparently missed the fact the graduate lists include more than 2 surnames of likely Korean origin, more than 1 surname of likely Japanese origin, and more than 1 surname likely to be associated with Taiwanese background. Just sayin'!
I'm glad someone else picked up on this. Long post, but if you're interested in geeking out on the subtleties of Chinese names, read on.
Yes, Americans should be afraid when they see this list. Not because of how many Asians there are, but because of how many people on the list are not Asian-American or children of immigrants, who would presumably be putting their advanced degrees to great use at American corporations and in government, but because the vast majority are specifically from the People's Republic of China and are probably non-immigrants.
Laowai and Theunbrainwashed have already figured it out, but if you're not familiar with Chinese, you probably won't see it. There are two main ways to romanize Chinese (actually there are dozens, but two main ones). One (the Wade-Giles system) is used mostly on Taiwan and by Overseas Chinese, and the other (the Hanyu Pinyin system) was devised by the PRC and imposed on its citizens. If Chinese names like Chang Hsiao-Lan, Hsu Yen-ting, and Ch'iu Juo-hsi look familiar to you, you're a Wade-Giles supported, and if you prefer Zhang Xiaolan, Xu Yanding, and Qiu Ruoxi, you're on the Hanyu Pinyin side. Each has its advantages, and believe me when I tell you that people argue about which is better with plenty of passion.
So you can basically pick out PRC-citizens in a list like this -- PRC romanization with two-syllable names run together without a dash or space. It's not 100% guaranteed -- there are names that happen to be the same in both systems (Lu Han is one), and there are overseas Chinese who have switched to the PRC system, and there are children of PRC immigrants who plan to stay in the US but have PRC-style names.
But we see zero Cantonese names ("Yong Fook Leung"), and zero Chinese-American-style names ("Michael Hsieh", "Natalia Ng"), and only four (by my count) Taiwanese names.
When it's tilted this far, the conclusion is obvious: most of these kids are Mainland Chinese non-immigrants who will be going back to the old country and taking their brains and knowledge with them.
I was a physics major back in the day and we too had many, many East Asian and Indian students, but they were either Americans of Asian descent or Asians who were at least contemplating living in America permanently. And among the Chinese, we had a healthy mix of mainland Chinese, Chinese-American, Taiwanese, and Hong Kong students. Most were aiming to stay in the US, get jobs, and start families. If we can convince all those mainlanders graduating from the program to stay in America, great! But can we?
Lol. Or you just aren't very intelligent. Stereotypes are for the lazy-minded.
I lettered in two sports (3-year varsity football, tennis), played the piano, had a 4 point GPA (not too hard, 5 APs senior year) AND had a part time job. And still found time to party with friends in high-school and college.
My folks are well off, but I still had a part-time job through college in addition to juggling classes. Am a physician now.
But keep blaming others for your own failings.
I have a huge corner office, several homes and a few million in the bank. Your definition of work and my definition of work are two different things.
In college I actually had a job where I worked 4-9 monday through Thursday and Saturday 9-3. I took 18 credits in school. So right there up to 44 hours a week. Had a girlfriend who I saw a few times a week. I was really big for awhile into night clubing. Huge 80s thing. Monday and Wednesday I had two clubs in city I would go and get home around 4ish. I also used to work on cars and do projects and I was President of my Fraternity and did intramural football. I was very busy and had a lot of balls in the air.
I literally could go weeks without studying during college. And I took a few classes I took tests cold without studying. I also did grad school same thing and if anything I amped up going out. I was working 50 hours a week on wall street, doing an MBA and you would see me hanging out in China Club on Monday nights till 4am quite a lot.
One thing I did learn is although my GPA was not the best I am ten to twenty times quicker on my feet than Indians, Asians or pretty much any nationality that is a book worm.
I also l learned at my wall street investment bank where I got a job in the management training program with a few Valedictorians that the test given to the 8000 applicants was actually an IQ test and I scored the highest of all 8,000 applicants. I also learned in the IB training program that I can read at an extremely fast pace with comprehension 6,000 words a minute. I also learned I am a C student basically cause I am hyperactive and dont like to sit still. But on Wall Street or Banking or Consulting the ability to make decisions in a split second is something folks like you have been trained for years not to do.
Speed reading OMG< great for cheating on a test. Great for looking smart in a meeting. I also can read upside down, great when a smarty pants brings notes to a meeting. I once in consulting was loaned out to a company that made wood pulp, airplane seats and did wild salmon fishing. The sales guy did not show up and I did an hour presentation off the top of my head that wowed them. Considering in HS< college and grad school I did hundreds of presentions with no preparations it was easy.
I spoke a few months ago to a graduating class at an university. It was Finance, kinda suprising audience was like 90 percent Asian. Anyhow did a good 30 minute speech. Two actually very nice pretty chinese students on a VISA started taking to me and wanted to know how long it took to prepare that great speech as that is a lot to memorize, how do you memorize so much. I told them the truth I wing them. Always sounds better and I can talk about stuff even happened today or anything. They looked at me like I was insane.
Once in Japan the Partner at a big four firm I once worked at was to say the least a little furious at me. I gave an eight hour presentation in front of a huge audience and I only show up with like 40 minutes of material. And I did not rehearse anything. I spoke the whole eight hours. Honestly, I did not remember, everything I said but I did remember I answered quick with no pause and gave exact numbers. The Japanese loved me. I went back a few times. I drank like a fish and loved to bs for hours on any topic. I even gave advice on shipping of nuclear weapons and cleaning a nuclear reactor once. While drunk. I think I saw something on Nova once.
It is only advantage i have over Asians. They like to be prepared and very knowlegable on subjects they speak about.
It is only advantage i have over Asians. They like to be prepared and very knowlegable on subjects they speak about.
You are not the only one, you summarize the only current advantage America has over China. Our education system produces more creativity and ingenuity compared to more rigid system. I would give them a couple of generation before china start to beat us at that, they were set back due to the cultural revolution and poverty. China has four times the population as the US, if only a small % has the ability that will still be a whole lot of people.
I doubt the authenticity of the list so checked Columbia's PhD student's list. Not as skewed as OP's list but it still very heavily skewed to repesent Asian students.
PhD students at Columbia are fully funded, and thus very good candidates with less financial capability can still attend. Also, the admissions committee will pay more attention to them and try to balance a lot of things.
It is only advantage i have over Asians. They like to be prepared and very knowlegable on subjects they speak about.
The traditional Indian upbringing is to study hard ; be bookish and become a doctor/engineer. However, That mold is breaking. One of the perceived difference is that americans are better salesmen. ie. they can talk more eloquently and make a better pitch. There is an air of confidence about them that enables them to do so.
What is becoming increasingly common is that engineers do realize that they can go work for the big 4 consulting firms and/or investment banks if they have emphasis on math/analytics. The trend is held in check by the massive boom in EE/CS related jobs.
The indian mindset and perhaps the Chinese mindset, is steeped in ritual reverence. It takes a while before they can be as smooth a sales-person as a person who grew up in the west. I think the trends will shift dramatically over time as americans of asian origin branch out into a far broader set of dynamic industries. As a racial group , they already out earn the majority or any other racial group. I see a lot of young FOB immigrant with this visceral irreverence to create something of their own.
I think that Duke professor would have a fit finding out that the students on the list posted have first names that are hard to pronounce and difficult to spell.
I'm glad someone else picked up on this. Long post, but if you're interested in geeking out on the subtleties of Chinese names, read on.
Laowai and Theunbrainwashed have already figured it out, but if you're not familiar with Chinese, you probably won't see it. There are two main ways to romanize Chinese ... One (the Wade-Giles system) is used mostly on Taiwan and by Overseas Chinese, and the other (the Hanyu Pinyin system) was devised by the PRC and imposed on its citizens.
So you can basically pick out PRC-citizens in a list like this -- PRC romanization with two-syllable names run together without a dash or space. ... But we see zero Cantonese names ("Yong Fook Leung"), and zero Chinese-American-style names ("Michael Hsieh", "Natalia Ng"), and only four (by my count) Taiwanese names. ... When it's tilted this far, the conclusion is obvious: most of these kids are Mainland Chinese non-immigrants who will be going back to the old country and taking their brains and knowledge with them.
Unfair advantage after marrying into Shanghainese and mainland culture, yet before this "LaoWai" (foreigner) returns home this summer to the States I will have lived and worked the last 8 years in East Asia (mainland, Singapore, and Hong Kong) and matrix managed across Asia and globally. Ideally, the individual and professional experiences (positive, less so, and bizarre as well), cultural insights, and language skills will help create or open doors to new, currently non-specific revenue opportunities (self-employed, consulting, or employee).
Entirely direct hint: With open eyes and ears, I'm absolutely encouraging anyone with mutual professional interests to contact me now via "Direct Message". No shame, thank you for your kind consideration.
Asian students study hard, take education seriously, and that is not their problem.
We should be asking why a large percentage of Americans don't!
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