Asian or white: which one gives me more of an edge?

[Johnny Stuffs His Mouth]

I'm half-Asian with a 3.23 GPA and a 177 LSAT. I'm wondering: if I put Asian down, will this hurt my chances? As in, do Asians have to be 4.0 180 to have a chance at t14s lke in college? Would I be beter off putting down white? I generally don't like to take advantage of something out of my control, but college apps screwed me, and I'd rather not gamble with my future again.

Clearly, I'm bitter about college. I got rejected outright from Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Duke, and Colmbia, waitlisted at UVA, accepted into the UNC honors program, and accepted into the William and Mary program with a full ride. 1540 SAT, 4.424 GPA. It's not any individual rejection that surprised me, but rather the cumulative sum.

[nowitzski]

I've seen many law schools just talk about their overall minority numbers, like USC listing about "37% self identified minority students" on their diversity stuff.  Don't worry, I highly doubt it will hurt you either way.  Your score is excellent, schools like excellent scores, you're golden. 

Your undergrad experience may just be a crazy anomaly, or maybe work on soft factors - PS, LOR, ECs - this time around.  I am not sure on the LSD consensus on LSAT v. SAT but from my experience and LSN, supply & demand factors seem to advantage high scoring applicants pretty consistently.


 

[Johnny Stuffs His Mouth]

yeah, that's what i was wondering, but there seems to be growing discontent in the asian american comunity regarding college admissions. and if youve got a good idea where il end up, id love to know. im worried my 3.23 gpa is realy going to drag down my chances of t14.

[queencruella]

I don't think you can really generalize based on undergrad, because there are a lot of factors that go into that other than SAT/GPA. Kids that get into the schools that you mentioned not only have the grades and the SAT score, but usually have other impressive extracurricular activities and are at or very near the top of their class.

I think your GPA may hurt you, especially if you are not in a hard science major and coming straight from undergrad. That doesn't have anything to do with your race, but more that a school doesn't want to accept someone who is a good test-taker but otherwise lazy.

[«ě»]

If you're not African-American, decline to share. Simple as that. You will receive no benefit from it, and potential disadvantage.

[apollok]

i'm guessing your last name is a european one?

[Cantillon]

Choose white if your last name is European.  Identifying yourself as Asian can only hurt in my opinion.  Asians are hurt more at the undergraduate level because the admissions process is less numbers based.   From reading the recent articles about the lawsuit against Princeton, one belief is that if you identify yourself as Asian, they'll assume you're quiet, unassertive, and a "math-grind" unless you prove yourself otherwise. 

[Johnny Stuffs His Mouth]

thanks for all the opinions/advice. yeah, last name is polish (gniadek). i was a philosophy/linguistics major, and i would think being a science major would be easier since there are actually objectively correct answers. kills self, which school is your scool? thanks!

[warholmuse]

Choose white if your last name is European.  Identifying yourself as Asian can only hurt in my opinion.  Asians are hurt more at the undergraduate level because the admissions process is less numbers based.   From reading the recent articles about the lawsuit against Princeton, one belief is that if you identify yourself as Asian, they'll assume you're quiet, unassertive, and a "math-grind" unless you prove yourself otherwise. 

Ahhhhh, i hate that stereotype. I'm the complete opposite of all those characteristics, yet i'm pegged as that upon first impressions. Sucks to be me.

[«ě»]

thanks for all the opinions/advice. yeah, last name is polish (gniadek). i was a philosophy/linguistics major, and i would think being a science major would be easier since there are actually objectively correct answers. kills self, which school is your scool? thanks!

The "problem" with science majors is that there's also objectively incorrect answers, and anything except a perfect answer is generally wrong when you're past high school Having studied both science-related subjects and humanities I have to say it's a lot easier to land good grades in humanities, at least if you're fairly skilled at elaborate writing.