Discrimination Against Asian American Students

College is illustrated by society as a place where young adults can go and have the freedom of discovering themselves in a new, open environment. These young adults come into their new environment with open minds due to the vast amount of possibilities that they could experience in this new chapter of their life. Considering the image that is depicted by society, why is it that Asian American students face a heavier discrimination in the college application process compared to the other races? They are viewed as being overrepresented and a nuisance on these campuses. Asian American students are powerless in the admission process due to the fact that colleges depreciate the amount of energy put in academically, physically, or mentally and only

At a young age, Asian American children are pushed to excel in subjects that their parents desire them to, but all that grueling effort is wasted when colleges begin to reject these students once they satisfy their need for diversity on campus. According to The Economist “Michael Wang, … came second in his class of 1,002 students;… was in the top 150 of a national maths competition… was rejected by six of the seven Ivy League colleges to which he applied.” When Harvard was taken to court due to the amount of complaints they were receiving, they defended their admission process by stating that it is“… holistic, meaning it takes into account considerations wider than mere test scores.” But that defense is countered when “… Asian parents…” encourage “… their children to diversify—into music, debating, charity work, sports, everything that is suppose to increase students’ chances of admission.” Yet, less qualified students still receive admission to the colleges when they have done less of the work academically and physically. It is due to colleges only accepting a certain amount until they are satisfied with the diversity on their campus that The Economist acknowledges that Asian parents are getting stricter “… because parents realize they’re going to have to work even harder…” in order to have

The young Asian American adults hard work is belittled by colleges rejecting them because they fulfilled their need for diversity, accepting people who did not work and strive tirelessly like they did, and for being seen as pest for working hard and thinking ahead about their future. Morally, someone who has worked hard is often rewarded and applauded, so why is it when it comes to Asian Americans, it is given disdain looks and rewards come up