College admissions for Asian Americans is one of those watershed issues in

College admissions for Asian Americans is one of those watershed issues in modern racial politics where the noise in the debate often blocks out what is actually happening on the ground. Mainstream coverage often focuses too much on the reverse discrimination angle, and uses controversial sound bites to get away with ignoring the complexity of the issue. This story examines the full landscape of race and college admissions for Asian Americans.

To start, the University of California system has one of the highest Asian American student concentrations in the U.S. Recently, they have approved new application criteria that could reduce the number of Asian American students, according to some of their simulations. But are the statistics on current Asian American enrollment, as well as these simulations, really accurate? Also, by advocating against these changes, what are some members of the Asian American community really advocating for? This part aims to show the disagreement amongst Asian Americans on whether to support the new UC policy, and question whether it will actually make UC schools less accessible for Asian Americans, or open up the system to more low-income Asian American students.

For many Asian students and families, getting their children into Yale or Harvard would represent a triumph of years of hard work in America. But elite private institutions have never alluded to being completely meritocratic. These schools have always had complex and secret admissions criteria that aim to create what each school calls an “ideal class.” Do admissions policies from elite private institutions hold Asian Americans to a higher standard? Given that most Ivy League schools have kept Asian American student bodies between 15-20%, and compounded by the fact that these big brand names are most coveted by Asian American families, applicants will face an uphill battle to get in.

However, there are good schools and programs across America that want more Asian Americans, but seem to have trouble attracting them. Liberal arts colleges in small towns away from Asian American population centers, as well as programs outside the science, engineering, and business fields, can use a boost to their Asian American enrollment. What is life like for Asian American students who go to these places, and what strategies have admissions offices used to try to attract a more diverse student body?