I doubt that the repeal of affirmative action will increase admissions for Asian Americans. In fact, it might have an adverse effect. There is and has always been a cap on how many Asians are allowed. The same is true for all other groups. Destroying race based admission was never the solution to increasing the odds of your admission.

Listening to you explain your childhood was SO relatable. My parents would make me study ahead, so I could always be top of my class. I was treated as gifted, and all my peers said it was because I was Asian. The model minority myth was so damaging, I felt that if I wasn’t the best, I was a failure. Thank you for making this video, it was amazing!

I got into my college by hard work. Sacrificing hanging out with friends in the summer. My parents and I are Jamaican immigrants and I wanted to retire them. All I was told constantly at my university was how "well you got in because you are black." I had to prove myself constantly and even when I was getting better grades than them they still didn't believe I was smart. I honestly hated AA because it put me and every black kid on campus in this box that we didn't deserve to be there. We had a whiteboard where we kept track of how many times we were told over a semester. I had around 120 in year 2

So I'm a vietnamese-american and my parents are refugees. Literally when I say my parents came to America with$10 I mean it. My dad gave the last of his worthless South Vietnamese money to an American soldier as a souvenir and he gave my Dad $10. Very much like your parents they're not very familiar with the nuances of American culture and society, but to make matters worse I was also born with an intellectual learning disability. And this is where we really see the model minority in combination with incredible ableism. Throughout my life I was reading well below the standard for my grade, and I was put in special educational courses all through elementary school. But yet I was always being unfairly compared to my neurotypical Asian classmates who were in honors everything. Everyone knew I had this disability but because it was "hidden" and not as plainly visible as my race I was always referred to as the "slow one" I spent years of my life trying to overcome my disability and improve my reading and writing. It was really hard and traumatic because I had to do it by myself with very little help from my parents, who didn't know where to get the right resources for me.. By the time I was in high school I was reading at a college level and was able to read 50 to 100 books a year. But not without an incredible amount of academic trauma and pain. And my accomplishments were always brushed off by administration, teachers, and my peers. One year we had a read challenge at school and I read the most books in my class and won the class prize. I was so overcome with joy and one student said the quiet part out loud "of course they won...just another smart Asian" Model minority myth is real, the "Asian tax" is real... And it hurts Asians like me with disabilities.

I'm black. I was born and raised in the US, as were my parents and grandparents. Everything that she said about her youth was similar to my own. I have worked extremely hard to educate myself throughout my life and have had success from it. It is sad to me that some Asians and others think that black people a) do not ever work as hard as they did, b) didn't have parents who contributed as much, and c) don't face any race-related obstacles that need to be addressed by laws to protect us. I wish both sides knew more about each other.

Further marginalized already marginalized communities. Apparently a committee of black lawyers are now fighting to end legacy admissions, but that will never completely come to an and🤷🏾‍♀️.

As a Blk woman,I loathe putting my race down for anything, especially job applications.

I’m glad that I took the time to listen to you. I definitely don’t have the verbiage and eloquence for this particular topic, but I feel the recent controversy surrounding affirmative action has called for us all to return to American history in regards to not only affirmative action, but the extent of racial discrimination (because i feel that universally, we’ve never been taught in schools the fullest extent of these issues. As you noted, AA was meant to help not just Black and Brown people, but all American minorities and women. But the machinations of certain men have ensured further division among these groups, but finding ways to ensure that one groups suffers, while another benefits. I think that in terms of “the long game” (and I may sound like a conspiracy theorist due to no proof), that the goal was to get rid of affirmative action and make sure those with the most privilege never suffered. And the best way to accomplish this was to apply greater forms of discrimination against one group who may not have been as loud about their mistreatment in the past so when they found out, they’d turn their ire against the group that was more vocal. Knowing that there are many Asian Americans however who weren’t on board with the gutting of AA and that it was meant to be a positive benefit for all honestly brings me joy as a Black American. We as minorities in the US should allow our experiences and backgrounds to further unify us, not tear us apart.

Dame well said, my story is 99 percent like yours and i was just having this conversation with a friend and i told him just about the same you have share and now i will just use your video to spread the word...but thank you for sharing our generational gap voice with our like minded youth , teen , young adults and adults that think our parents are different from us... Lol they are that's why they are so special and unique to us that we may not see it...thank you again...

Your video was very thoughtful and moving. Thanks for sharing your experience and being empathetic to others. I'm African-American and I'm going to share your video with my friends and continue the discussion.

These 100 hours really paid off and man what an informative video! Really loved this Amy and definitely very relatable as to what I also go through- keep up the work and excited for the wedding venue tours hehe

It's a good thing that they got rid of it. Now, no one can blame that they did not get into any college because of my people (black). Thank God. We are blamed for everything negative.

Let's be objective. UC Berkeley and Caltech fairly admits their students without racial discrimination. Yes, Stanford does admit more Asians than Ivy League schools like Harvard, Princeton, and Yale by a small percentage. The racial discrimination against Asians at the Ivy League is severe enough where many Asians who were rejected at Harvard went to UC Berkeley. Now, UC Berkeley produced more start-ups than Harvard and MIT. Racism is only hurting Harvard University instead of helping them. When I was at USC, I was the only American who studies the electrical engineering subject at USC. USC and Stanford do admit a similar percentage of Asians who are NOT Americans. However, Asians are discriminated in the admission process at Stanford more so than UC Berkeley and Caltech even though they are more generous than the Ivy League. Asians at Harvard do score higher than white Americans by 140 points in the SAT. So, I am in agreement with this KZfaq post. Last, Caltech is a better school than UC Berkeley and Stanford. MIT is NOT as good as Caltech. I think you are being silly for being disappointed not to get into an Ivy League or to Stanford University. Actually, most of the professors at Stanford graduated from UC Berkeley while many professors at UC Berkeley graduated from Stanford.

Parents make all the difference in a child's development. A parent can hire all the tutors, programs, online coarses, and summer camps that money can buy but if the parents are not in the picture it's difficult for a child to learn. A child will often perform better knowing that the parents are caring. I am a grammar school teacher and tutor on the side. You would be amazed at the way parents are throwing money at me to make their kids smart. At every turn I tell the parents to take more interest in the children. That they'd be pleasantly surprised at how a child yearns for a parents approval.

There's plenty of Asians in Jacksonville, Florida that are on drugs, in and out of jail, and these are old friends I grew up with in the immigrant community. No one is perfect.

Encouraging and thoughtful discussion! Thanks so much!

thank you so so much for this video! this is definitely the most honest video I've heard, and you're so so right that colleges should be evaluating people individually... not by skin color or race. I'm so glad you spoke out about what a lot of Asian kids in the US are thinking...your channel is amazing!

thank you for this - as an international east-Asian student that’ll be applying in a few years, I am terrified that my hard work won’t go anywhere. But thank you for this video - it makes me feel better to know that I’m not the only one feeling all of this, preparing myself for applications later.

Amy, you are so brave to share your honest perspective despite this toxic political culture. I admire and respect you so much for that!!!

Thanks for the video. Agree that racial stereotypes such as the model minority and lazy ethnic groups are damaging. Watching from New Zealand. Asians in New Zealand and Australia are similar to those in North America. Appreciate your thoughts on affirmative action and taking income into consideration for university admissions.

Very good take on this. I only attended Comm College and some technical schools over the fact that I’m Biracial (white/Thai) and feared I wasn’t good enough for a university. However I still worked hard and doing good for myself. Im 42 now and I tell others to tune out the noise and work for what you want in education

That ruling just got more legacy students in that’s all 😂😂😂congrats

You always put your honest heart & soul videos here but I have to say, this is the best & my favorite one of all. Caltech’s win & everyone else’s loss.

Excellent video...perhaps the best one I've seen about Affirmative Action from the Asian-American POV. Thanks for putting it out there...

How striking down affirmative action working out for everyone now?

I grew up in the "immigrant-friendly" version of the US across the northern border around the same time as you. I was lucky with my college applications and faced nowhere near the challenges that you did. Having worked in both countries, I can tell that this problem seems to be more prevalent in America than Canada. In American office-socials, I noticed my east-Asian colleagues, who all lived in the US for decades, were more reserved and placed themselves at a lower social standing than non-Asian colleagues. In contrast, Canadian office culture seems to be more balanced for Asians and everyone else. This was confusing to me. I thought it was due to the individual lacking self-confidence. There were no discriminatory policies in the office, there are no language barriers, there shouldn't be any cultural barriers either as far as I can tell. I'm still puzzled but your video has helped me see how the academic pressures and the need to hide your "Asianess" that you experienced might be contributors to this problem. I know affirmative action is a political issue, but I feel as individuals, the best each of us could do is to move away a "victim-mentality" and focus on protecting our self-confidence. There's a lot of good college options beyond ivy league and once you get into the workplace, people are generally college-blind. What I do notice is that people who are self-confident tend to do better than those who are not regardless of their race.

I’m black and my twins are half black and half Filipino. We live in California where a bill was passed years ago to end Affirmative Action. I’ve heard several reports that as of recently, the number of African American students has dropped considerably. While some losses were to be expected, this is still alarming. Your video is very well presented and thoughtful and I agree, this should even across the board. That being said, I am a father and a black man living in the world of today. We have a long history of racism and injustice brought onto us since the founding of this nation. No other race, outside of Native Americans, has as long a history as we do with before the United States was founded, so you have to take that into consideration as to how we view this. We have fought all our generations to be accepted. That’s a lot of history that will take many generations to rectify. While we are no longer slaves/sharecroppers, etc., the generational repercussions still exist today. I know for young folks the Civil Rights movement seems so long ago, but trust me: in the long arm of history, it was merely a blink of an eye. We are still battling the results of hard won rights to this day. Case and point: today’s Supreme Court which seems bent on undoing everything we bled, sacrificed and died over. As much as I would love it for my children’s sakes, Americans are not as color blind as we need to be. We should be farther along than we are, but wishing it so won’t make it happen. Maybe your generation will be the ones to do it. I truly hope so. As for now, those in power do not always share your aspirations. There are those who will pit us against each other. I am not fully aware of Asian student history of college admissions before Affirmative Action. What were the admissions rates back then? The world is painfully aware of ours and the violent, painful price we paid just get a decent education…let alone a higher one. I just wanted to put a little perspective from the Old Guards point of view as to how we felt with this decision. As stated before, I hope this works out for everyone in the end. But as I also stated before, history has a very nasty way of repeating itself as we just don’t learn lessons from the past…or have to fight those intent on dragging us back to their so called “glory days of a better America” which clearly didn’t include us. There were no real better days in the past for African Americans as my grandmother was want to tell me…just a series of hard fought struggles to be accepted. The struggle continues…as it always has and we are really tired of having to endure.

This was a very inspirational video Amy. I wish you the best and Gl

So I am first generation as well and much of this resonated with me with regards to your history. My parents could not help me with my university application process nor did they understand the process. Honestly, I do feel a little annoyed with people who have parents who able to help with the application process, I know they can’t help having that privilege. I personally feel the support that I received from my family out weighs the benefits that “white” kids get from being second/third generation college graduates.

Hey Amy! I really appreciate this video and your take on the unintended effects of the Asian model minority myth in skewing the mass perception of Asian-American students. I am also one such student who applied to college (for CS, I know that hurt me) this year. I wasn't the most stellar applicant, but I think my stats were decent: - 4.0/5.2 GPA - 1580 SAT/1500 PSAT - 5's on 8 APs (rigor was limited by my high school) - Took Calc 3/Diff Eq/Physics with Calc at local college - Founded and led a peer-tutoring program for the PSAT at my school for 30+ juniors - Won Miami Herald Silver Knight honorable mention (prestigious community service award) for above project - Wrote college readiness, financial aid, and test prep information columns for a statewide newspaper - Featured in CBS News - Founded a successful online business in the summer - Independent math, English, and STEM tutor - US Presidential Scholars semifinalist (628 nationwide) - National Merit Scholar (2500 nationwide) - Won award in the Harvard Pre-Collegiate Economics Challenge - Tennis mentor for underprivileged youth in Miami (Asian cliche, I know) - 1st violin of a local symphony orchestra and chamber trio, led youth leadership council - Member of Children's Trust Youth Advisory Council, led community service initiatives with organizational budget - Math Honor Society VP - Model UN Treasurer, fundraising and financial assistance coordinator Now, some of these activities were "common" for Asian applicants, but I did them because I actually enjoyed them, not for college apps. The things I did weren't because I was Asian, but because I missed out on countless parties and events and replaced them with hard work and sleepless nights. TLDR: I was deferred and rejected by Penn, waitlisted by Harvard, and rejected by MIT and the other Ivies I applied to. I'm going to UF full-ride (a good alternative to save up for postgrad) and got over the depression, but my grief during the process resonated with your video-sometimes I felt as if I worked my butt off for nothing.

Your story is so important to be shared. So glad you made this video!

I don’t understand why they can’t just do blind admissions. Like they should still get our race for statistics after, but only for after they accept or deny people. Also, I love this video because it warped my perspective on this bill coming from a Latino 👍

Glad you mentioned socio-economic status, I almost never hear other people mention it in discussions pertaining to affirmative action. I'm glad you brought up the issue of money, as i've never seen that used in an arguement againist the theory. Thanks for the insight!

As a recent graduate from a low-tier Ivy, I think I have a unique perspective on this issue. I wasn’t a legacy student, come from a no-name school, was not an athlete, and was a straight white male. While attending, I was on 90% financial aid (my family wasn’t poor, but we were well below what the average family of a student here made). I studied hard to get in. Once I arrived on campus, I was utterly surprised at how little the school cared about intelligence. My peers weren’t that smart. Some of them were openly anti-intellectual. Sure, my peers were all above average, but the main unifying factor between them was the fact that they were sociable. I think current rhetoric surrounding college admissions tends to overstate the role of top universities as centers of learning and understate the role of top universities as alumni networks. Top schools don’t just want raw brainpower. They want people good at networking. They want people that engage in the community. They want people well connected. To this end, I think holing yourself in your room and studying all day will harm your chance of admissions. You should spend half of your time studying, and then the other half of your time learning social skills, making friends, participating in the community, and figuring out your values. Top schools also high value diversity. Part of this is because diversity actively makes an alumni network stronger. Because my school has a good mix of black, white, Asian, Latino, and Native American people, our alumni network reaches into black, white, Asian, Latino, and Native American communities. If you really want to get into a top school, studying all day long is not a good idea. You should get decent grades (34+ ACT and a few AP classes), but you should also try to have a diversity of experiences (go on adventures, volunteer, travel, interact with people of different backgrounds, etc) and make a lot of friends. And figure out your values-what do you stand for? Do you care about LGBT rights? Or do you care about ending violence against Asian Americans? Or do you care about your religious faith? It doesn’t matter what you stand for, but colleges want to see that you stand for something.

My perspective is based on equity. Are highly selective universities serving high-performing students from ALL backgrounds? The breadth and diversity of students should be priority. The flood of high-performing Asian students pounding at the door has overwhelmed what's equitable for all students. Now, greedy and entitled Asians who didn't get into Harvard but got into other ivy league schools, but sued Harvard for discrimination not because they wanted an elite education but the elite name recognition, have helped conservatives shut the door in the face of all students from racially underserved and under-represented communities. Shame on them.

Thank you so much! I am probably a few years younger than your parents and lived through a very similar life to theirs. My daughter is 11 and I will share your video with her. You are amazing🎉🎉

- Discrimination against Asians is "okay": kzfaq.info/get/bejne/orCBab2D0djRink.html - Affirmative action is NOT targeting descendants of slaves: www.jbhe.com/news_views/52_harvard-blackstudents.html More sources I used that some of you all asked for (not comprehensive to all the ones I read/watched): Asians ranked lower in personality but interviewers don’t say so (graph with the points added to SAT score): kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rtOBjZiWz5jcmaM.html Asians and model minority myth used as a wedge, lawsuit is to benefit white students? (mentions 140 point score difference): www.mlsaaf.org/post/2017/08/09/the-asian-tax-and-a-twist-on-the-affirmative-action-debate Nearly 80% of Asians feel like they don’t belong, living with fear: www.pbs.org/newshour/show/survey-of-asian-americans-paints-sobering-picture-of-fears-about-violence Anti-Asian bias and affirmative action are separate, college systems don’t work for Asians: www.cnn.com/2022/11/03/us/affirmative-action-asian-americans-qa-cec/index.html Civil Rights Act and affirmative action: www.cnn.com/2017/08/07/opinions/affirmative-action-yang/index.html Asians aren’t tools, white discrimination: www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/8/4/qiu-asian-americans/ A university professors POV: www.quora.com/Is-Harvard-University-really-discriminating-against-Asians-If-so-is-there-any-hope-for-Asians-who-want-to-apply-to-the-university?top_ans=309045599 Asians have to work harder to get the same chances: www.collegetransitions.com/blog/asian-bias-college-admission/#:~:text=Researchers%20at%20Princeton%20University%20found,Asian%20tax%E2%80%9D%20in%20college%20admissions. Devil’s advocate on both sides: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/o5ukhZyJuN7eo5c.html The Model Minority Myth: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hth0ldmEuMjcm2w.html , kzfaq.info/get/bejne/i8qEnrChvNPWop8.html , kzfaq.info/get/bejne/h9JhiJOcnL7Hen0.html Fear of self-identification as Asian can affect development and mental health (American Psychological Association): www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/ethnicity-health/asian-american/article-admission#:~:text=To%20top%20the%20fear%2C%20a,points%20higher%20than%20African%20Americans. Asian Americans and the Racial Wealth Divide: ncrc.org/racial-wealth-snapshot-asian-americans-and-the-racial-wealth-divide/ Anti-Asian bias is real, how to overcome discrimination: www.forbes.com/sites/christopherrim/2023/02/27/what-elon-musk-gets-right-about-anti-asian-bias-in-college-admissions/?sh=56dd7bf71acc Strong supporter of affirmative action emphasizes that it does reinforce biases like Anti-Asian bias, says admissions is biased toward extroverts, “Would she relax and have fun?”, don’t seem “too Asian”: www.insidehighered.com/views/2022/12/12/addressing-alleged-anti-asian-biases-admissions-opinion Anti-Asian racism: time.com/6051948/educating-white-people-anti-asian-racism/ Applying to College, and Trying to Appear Less ‘Asian’: www.nytimes.com/2022/12/02/us/asian-american-college-applications.html To a couple people who asked, yes I’m considering Indians Asians: www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65792148?fbclid=IwAR2v7Aoa0xgPduuEKmKVDEH0Vo3tf0gXZEFA4cmmqeZtgw40sUks_Q3_4To_aem_AaqnWIIidyW-1Sjy4E21lnZ8m6FXsGSA3VnRRkdhaQ8GIbk-RkHuNzUmc5EpFItzGEI

Good video. Seemed really well planned out and had many hours of research put in. Enjoyed the personal story as well as it's pretty relatable.

I will never take for granted going to a public college. I know am lucky to have the great public colleges in my state on top of the fact i live in a very diverse city. But I grew up in a place where the public schools were horrible. And I cannot believe I am saying this but am glad, at least for me, that my school didn't have sat preps or much resources to begin with to give us any leg up because seeing what that hyper focus on sat and college prep has done to so many people is sickening. I also didn't have any pressure from my mom to excel in school. My mom has a bachelor's and how she raised us was by fostering respect for school so I developed a love for school over time myself (took me a while but i eventuality nailed it 😆). When I took the sat I remember thinking "from what class is this material". But since my school was too poor to have done anything but give the pre sat, I didn't even know the importance of the test. My grades were good and I knew I was starting out in a community college because I was afraid of getting my mom in debt so I was set for two years. Affirmative action is something I didn't even know until much later but when I learned about it I was surprised that was a thing. Like in this country, everything, stated or otherwise, race always plays a role. Your race can be used to predict so many things in your life. With or without stated race considerations, people have biases that will walk into the room regardless because this country's DNA has racial divisions ingrained which has resulted in different people of different races not having a single friend outside of their race group their entire life. So how are those people supposed to expand their views? Usually college is where it happens so what will happen if colleges become less diverse? The niche will continue for all of us. I personally didn't know a single white or Asian person that wasn't a teacher until college. I will say this, and I think this is obvious by now, that I personally don't care about affirmative action and I very much dislike the emphasis on ivy league schools when it's known public and state schools are the ones that educate most of the students in this country and the fact that so many of the people that have become ultra successful in this country went to those types of schools should tell people all that they need to know about the myth of meritocracy and "everyone has equal chances" in this country.

Great job. I never leave comments. But you nailed this one. We need more people like you speaking out. Keep going.

Thanks for sharing, it’s very important to hear your family story. There are so many immigrant and survival stories of how family members sacrificed for their children. There are several points that I feel are in correct but many things can be true at one time. Affirmative action helped so many groups and in your research it brought many people to the table. However your statement about the goal of Asians and getting rid of it is missed by me. I wish you well and good fortune in the future.

Appreciate your video!

Black students make about 7% of the total population in these Ivy League schools. Most of them major in non stem courses. The probability of these Asians getting denied is still high. There won't be a significant change in the acceptance rate. In fact, it'll be a big win for the smart black kids who'll take pride in their accomplishments without being labeled as beneficiaries of the system.

Considering what Asians have to offer our economy it would be worth it to accommodate and support them.

Caltech is still a top school - one of the few institutions that doesn’t play the business game in college. They take top tier students based on merit, and maybe they are not as well known for that fact. Keep your head up, hard work never hurts!

This is tough to watch. I’m at one of the “top schools” you dreamt of, and was admitted to most, and it’s hard to hear about how much you sacrificed. I had similar stats to you but my parents ALWAYS made sure I was out with friends and cousins, socializing, integrating well with my peers (student gov, lots of sports, etc) because they feared I’d become some monotonous robot who just did math. I guess what I’m trying to say to any aspiring high schooler who wants to go to a “top school” is to develop yourself socially as much as you do academically. Academics cannot be your entire personality. Math isn’t a good character trait. In my research lab, the ‘breakthroughs’ usually come from well rounded people and not the folks who only live and breathe math/stats/CS. It’s something these schools realized that the general public hasn’t: being socially adept is far more important than being specialized in any one field for scientific progress. All the best

Also for what it’s worth, I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what top universities are looking for - it’s not for the kids who only studied math and physics and are socially inept, but rather the students who can lead their fields of study to new discoveries. It’s a paradigm that you can see in (for example) Nobel prize winners - they’re often not the people who (quite ironically) grew up with math as a personality, they’re well rounded. That’s who these universities are looking for. You’re creating a false dichotomy between “top scores” and “not top scores” and are suggesting you’re entitled to a spot because of that. That’s not reality - the “top scores” aren’t enough, it really does and should come down to your interview and essay. Only then can you truly gauge whether someone solely studied for admission or for passion. Those who did it for passion more likely end up positively impacting their fields of study. This who did it for admission just become good cogs in machine. Top universities are looking for the former, not the latter.

really interesting video to watch. but my problem with this debate is what do we actually want as a society and what do these colleges want exactly ? do we really want a full meritocracy? and if so, how do we even define meritocracy? is it solely just good grades and test scores? because if we say race can't play a factor now in admissions decisions (a way to distinguish applicants from each other), then why should other factors like legacy admissions, athlete, or personal background mean anything either? and to circle back to my first question, colleges are getting harder and more difficult to get into each year. it's hard enough to get into schools with perfect stats. eliminating affirmative action doesn't make the college admissions process any easier. even if we have a college admissions system where it's based on socio-economic status rather than race, I don't see how that would change the opinion of the people who support the whole idea of "meritocracy" based admissions, which in their view is usually defined as "grades and stats". and if we go a step further by eliminating affirmative action altogether, schools will still reject well-qualified students based on how competitive college admissions are at top universities

Community College's and State Universities allow and accept pretty much anyone. Who cares about an IVY league school?

Thanks for making this video! It was very well thought out. I appreciate every parents that made sacrifices so that their children will be better and achieve greater things. And children who do appreciate that I believe will even be greater parents. It's sad to see how higher education universities and so called 'smart people' that run them lack common sense and maybe common sense should be a class. Anyways, I think you will do great things as well and things like your video and helping others give plenty of evidence of that. Good job. :)

Hey Amy, I love your content and it helps put college into perspective for me. Ever since my dad graduated from Yale it have been a dream I am hyper fixated on, now that it has been some 11 years the pressure to perform is starting to build up (Not from my parents, but myself). Thus far as a Freshman I have gotten a 5 on the AP Human Geo test (The only one available to Freshman at my school), am an Eagle Scout, and am working on the Gold Congressional Medal Award. Additionally I am planning on taking 6 APs over my Sophmore year. However, all of this still feels inadequate to go to my dream school, so I would greatly appreciate if you have advice on possible extracurriculars and techniques you have to try and make that dream a reality. Keep up the great content!!!

Giving universities a pass on allowing legacy preferential treatment even though it’s been proven the majority of them score well below other types of admits disqualifies this entire argument. Either your want college admissions to be merit based or you don’t. It shows your motives when the first people to catch blame for taking someone’s spot are the poor kids that busted their asses to get in, while the 40%+ rich legacy kids didn’t have to do half the work.

This honestly so refreshing to watch and extremely relatable. As a first-generation Pakistani American that is starting the college application process, being able to highlight how my Asian background has influenced all my experiences and unique perspective I have on life today in my essays is definitely a struggle. This video beautifully articulated similar experiences of my parents and my own childhood in a way that I would never have thought of. Thank you for posting this much needed video!

The college admissions process is broken even more now SAT scores are omitted. My overachiever kid got into zero CSU/UCs he applied for and will be forced to go to a CC. If all his hard work only landed him in the CC route, did he really need to do 200+ volunteer hours, all those ECs and all those APs? Crushing reality for him and many of his Asian friends in the same boat.

YES -- 100%! THANK YOU AMY!

Black elders get attacked all the time because of where they live for the most part. It is not just Asian American elders.

Hi Amy, I just wanted to say that you are my #1 role model and I love your videos so so much. You always inspire me to keep working hard and have determination despite my rough times through high school. Thank you so much for this video, I feel like this kind of topic isn't very brought up from society, but we all needed a video like this to understand how race can play a role in admissions. I truly admire you, not only because you are extremely talented at every subject and smart, but because you are so passionate, wonderful, amazing, hardworking, inspiring, kind, helpful, and hero to many students like me who are about to apply for college this year. Thank you again for all your hard work and effort you put in your content. We love you Amy

You asked a rhetorical question: What other ethnic group has had their elder attacked like the this: referencing the video of an elderly Asian man being attacked. My response is, elderly Black/African Americans, for decades after slavery, and even now!

It’s unfortunate, but I still feel like the anger is misplaced. Asian tax is 100% discriminatory and wrong, however I think the focus shouldn’t have been on getting rid of affirmative action. The energy should have went towards finding laws to include more Asians in affirmative action (because some did benefit from it). Should have forced crooked college boards to address their bias towards Asian Americans. There was one slice of pie cut out for minorities and marginalized groups and now that slice is gone. Why were there only so many spots for minorities to begin with and why should we have to fight one another for a small fraction of the slice? As an black person that had the merit, was lead on my high school sports team, extracurricular activities, and community service I do find it assaulting to assume I was admitted into college solely based on my race. However, as someone is is always the only black person in 97% of the spaces I ahold to, affirmative action is needed. If I’m qualified and Affirmative action is the only thing making it a requirement to includes space for black and brown so be it. Cause without AA now, I hope people realize that these universities and work places don’t have to make room for qualified black and brown people. Most people aren’t realizing this. They’re saying they don’t want people to think they got in solely because of their skin color, but now you can have the merit and are still going to be discriminated against. They don’t want an equal plane field from k-12. There’s no promise of creating equality in primary school. Let’s hope I’m wrong, but for now, I think people played themselves by voting against affirmative action.

Thank you for the video! I find it interesting that we, as asians, have "no personality." There are studies that show that 2nd generation asians often feel as they have no individuality in their lives because when growing up, their 1st generational parents often pressure them to become the "perfect asian." Society has a lot to do with this, as we are pressured to live up to the expectations and standards of being "smart" and good at STEM (and more). We often face erasure in society and we are often neglected because -- we're supposed to be "well off" right? We are the "model minority", and we don't need "extra" help because we are supposed to be fine. (It's kind of ironic that Harvard thinks that we have no personality because they're not even looking for personality when choosing their applicants, they're most likely looking for money.) Obviously, this is different for every asian person, but it's interesting that there might be a correlation there. Also-- it's funny that we "asians" are all grouped together. There is so much diversity in our ethnic group. I have a feeling that when people say that "oh you're asian so you have it better off than us" are most likely only talking about a few groups in asia. As someone who will be applying to college in a few years, there is a sense of doubt that resides in even trying. If America is all about equality, then why do we have to do MORE (and face a penalty) to get just 1 spot?

I got a 1190/27 on my SAT/ACT (albeit without studying) and went to a big state university. Now I'm getting my PhD in CS at a top 5 uni. I had no fucking clue what I was doing in high school, grew up without parents, always moved around the country, and came to the US as a first gen immigrant. I always felt like there was something inherently wrong with me for being Asian and not excelling in school, but the reality was I just had a rough upbringing which caused me to be behind my peers mentally, socially, and emotionally. I am thankful now that I finally get to feel a sense of pride in what and where I am studying. Hopefully, my story helps some of you understand that even if you messed up in high school and didn't get into the university of your dreams, it is very possible to recover for grad school. I have found grad school to be somewhat easier to apply to than undergrad because it is so focused, so it is easier to show a clear dedication to that one goal. Whereas with applying for undergrad, it is justifiably hard to have a story crafted when you are only 17-18. A lot of the kids that get in into the top schools for undergrad have had a plan laid out by their parents from a young age and that makes it hard for the kids whose parents are not well-versed in the system. Don't blame yourself too much for your losses, and focus on grad school or getting a good job lined up.

Thank you for this informative video! I have seen so many different "facts" of this and it's great to see the perspective of a student who's truly involved/affected in this.

Why do you think success in life is dependent on attending an "ivy league" school? Can someone explain this to me like I'm five years old? Also, just curious why so many activities. Why not also socialize as well? why maths, piano, tennis, volley ball and basket ball? what am I missing here?

In the video there was a reference to a Princeton study stating that Asian students had to have SAT scores around 140 points higher than White students. Thomas Espenshade, the Princeton professor, that wrote the book, this study came from stated that his data did not establish this bias.

this is going to be long but i thinks it’s important to read. also great video i loved hearing your perspective! i don’t think it as simple as asians are disadvantaged in college admissions because affirmative action has anti-asian bias. affirmative action exists to increase representation of underrepresented students in higher education. when it first was implemented it helped all minorities/women. but as time went on, it began to help i poc more than others because asians started performing better. while the model minority myth is harmful, it is unrealistic to say that asians don’t overall have greater academic achievements. this is not because they’re naturally smarter but because of cultural pressure and responsibility to be successful. many asians have immigrant families that make the demand to be great even higher and that immigrant mindset is not present in only asian groups but others as well. bipoc continue to have less respresantion in academic institutions because their stats are simply not as high as asians and whites. and this isnt because bipoc are naturally dumber but because their families come from less funded school systems, and lower income households that make taking ap classes, taking the act 8 times, and having 20 extracurriculars that is required to get into an ivy league incredibly harder. so, affirmative action “benefitting black people more” is not at its core anti-asian bias but a reflection of economic discrepancies in america that intersects closely with race. affirmative action made it so bipoc that had less oppurtunities than whites and asians could be fairly assessed relative to their circumstances. also it is unfair to say that bipoc “steal” asian spots when in EVERY ivy league and t-20 school they make up 10% or less of the student body. if a school has 5000 undergrads with a black population of 5% that’s 250 students. do you really think 250 kids is why you didn’t get in or is it because it’s just a hard school with hard criteria?

Can you do a video about applying to grad school tips and tricks! That would be awesome!

Pretty similar to my upbringing as 1.5 gen. Thanks for sharing. I graduated from MIT in the mid 90's and while applying to colleges, I heard rumors of this Asian tax even back then. Nowadays, I hear from high school, college and med students that come volunteer or do their research year with me how obscenely competitive it is to apply to colleges nowadays. The thought of the Asian tax did pop into the back of my mind on how much more difficult it is for Asian American applicants nowadays. In regards to the Supereme Court's rulling on affirmative action, I can't help to think that it came about because of an ulterior motive, i.e. the history of anti affirmative action with Edward Blum. I don't think the issue is with affirmative action but more so this racial diversity quota colleges use to represent the racial demographic percentage in the US. This effort to fulfill this diversity quota on campus and affirmative action is somehow blurred in my opinion. If one of the main arguments against affirmative action in regards to college admissions is a move to merit based admissions, why is legacy admissions not scrutinized to the same degree as affirmative action? I just feel that whether or not Asian Americans are considered a minority or not in the US is contingent upon the motives and agendas of other races. I am glad this generation's Asian Americans are more vocal about social issues.

I know Asians who got into top 40 colleges with a gpa around 3.0 and low sat scores too. Other Asians have gotten mad at these Asians due to the fact that they underperformed academically and still got into hard colleges. None of these people were music or sports scholarship while guy had many hours of community service to help supplement his subpar academics. I’ve done volunteer work with the guy and I commend him for his many hours of community service.

May god bless and heal this wonderful, intelligent, courageous and sincere American lady. I sincerely hope that all individuals will be treated as a single individual not a member of any groups which each individual couldn't choose initially.

Wow, amazing video. I literally have the same story. My parents came here in the late 80's from Shanghai. My mom had to work in a textile factory while my dad was a postdoc. I like you scored perfect on my math SAT. I did get into 3 lower tiered Ivy League schools, brown, Upenn and Columbia. Ended up going to Penn State under an accelerated program for medical school. I feel like I did not feel comfortable being asian / chinese until literally I was in my 30's. I feel like especially now with these tensions between US and China, there is again this social pressure to make you feel ashamed of your chinese heritage.

It's been known for years that the most effective driver of academic excellence is more time and effort spent studying. It's also been known that as groups, Asian Americans study the most, European and British Americans come in second, and African Americans come in last. Black students who study a lot do very well, Asian students who don't study do very poorly. There is no problem that needs to be (or can be) fixed by an imposed solution. Every student and every family already has the option of choosing habits that spawn success. Students should be chosen only by their accomplishments. Standardized test scores are an accurate indicator of ability to understand the concepts and handle the work load at any institution. Combine these with GPA and with use of an in-person paper and pencil writing test to check whether a student is really capable of having written their essay. The most qualified applicants should be accepted. If it's a lot of highly qualified students, that's great because we'll have a lot of highly qualified professionals and leaders, and it's extremely unimportant what race people think they are. If it's a lot of poorly qualified students, that's destructive because we'll have poorly qualified professionals and leaders, and it's extremely unimportant what race they are. Since race is extremely unimportant in either case, ignore "race."

I think from a supply/demand perspective, dropping AA policies will only really decrease BIPOC enrollment at the very top tier colleges. The students that AA tipped into colleges at tier x would instead just enroll at tier x+1 colleges, and it just represents a shift and not a drop in BIPOC enrollment across the board (ie: any college that is tier x+1 where x > 1 should theoretically still see similar BIPOC enrollment). Colleges that don't practice AA like the UCs would no longer bear the "burden" of receiving students affected by AA, and so I could see the Asian population decrease in schools like the UCs. And I think that the phenomenon of high achieving Asian students getting rejected across the board because of 1. AA and 2. colleges trying to increase their matriculation rate, would go away. I think Asian students in that category are the biggest casualties of AA and its side effects.

We appreciate your dedication and commitment. God bless you.

Wow best speech I've heard this year!

I’m an immigrant from former Soviet Union. My son was born in US. He had similar scores to yours: 1590 on SAT, 13 APs etc. and some science and language awards but no “wow” factor. He didn’t get accepted to any top 20 universities he applied to. From his good public school other students got into Ivy League schools including many “asian” kids, especially kids who were going to study engineering and technology. Being really smart and hardworking is not enough here and intelligence is not what these colleges are looking for. He is now a neuroscience major and I am glad that at least his race will not be a factor anymore if he chooses to apply to a medical school in a few years.

I think real fix is figuring out how to change public k-12 education for the better. If you come from an area with a low socioeconomic status, you won’t have the same opportunities as kids from higher income areas. So let’s try to fix things at the k-12 level and then things like affirmative action would be less necessary.

Words cannot express the hurt. It's true and painful but what can we do? Afterall it's this pain that makes great people. I pray your voice is heard. Goodluck!

This is honest and true. Thank you for speaking out! Most Asians don’t want to make a fuss, or just try to follow along with the “politically correct” narratives. Thank you!!

My cousin is asian and also her older sister. Her older sister got into school, and all of us are korean. She went to Harvard, I don't know why they do this tho.

I got the top score in a math class back in undergrad through hard hard work, which was only dismissed with the “of course, she’s Asian” myth from my classmates.

I think you are right, there is anti Asian bias in college admissions. I'm an old white guy from nowhere in WI. A little over 30 years ago, I had solid numbers, and I applied to 2 schools, Northwestern and a WI state school. Didn't get in to NU and it hurt me. I still sort of know how that rejection letter or email or whatever feels like. I have watched some "college decision reaction" videos. Wow. Fascinating stuff. A lot of raw emotions go on the screen. Anyway I got a BS, had some nice jobs, but for the past decade or so I've been much happier doing blue collar work. I haven't seen a correlation between IQ or income to happiness level. Oddball observation I've made is it seems to me the happiest people I come across are Amish. Hate to keep going further from the topic of your video, but I'll conclude with there are many ways to live your best life, and they don't necessarily involve going to a top tier school or having a lot of money.

This is what I don't like about the American school system, where excellent students can be rejected for obscure reasons that have nothing to do with their intellectual abilities. I live in Canada and the admission process here is a lot simpler. Canadian universities look at one thing only (for most programs anyways) to determine who gets admitted: grades. The rest doesn't matter in the admission process: your ethnic background, how much your family makes, what your extracurricular activities were in high school, awards, etc. None of these matter. Canadian universities don't require scores from standardized tests either for admission. They just look at your grades in high school or cégep (a prep school that only exists in the province of Québec) and that's it. And because the university system in Canada is public, there isn't much disparity between schools when it comes to overall education quality. In other words, all universities in Canada are considered to offer high quality education, and a degree from this or that university won't necessarily give you an advantage in the workplace over people who got their degree elsewhere. So Canadians don't value "name branding" as much as Americans do. For example, I attended and graduated from a university which, according to international university rankings, ranks among the top 5 or 6 universities in Canada. And to be honest, I don't believe I necessarily got a better education than I would have had had I studied in another Canadian university. Because at the end of the day, all universities work the same and require the same things from students: everywhere there are classes to attend, books to read, papers to write and exams to pass. I feel sorry for Americans because your college system makes the admission process look really stressful and anguishing.

Wow! I never knew that! I definately agree that something must be done if this is going on! Would you be able to provide the links to the evidence you are using. I'm looking for the stats but I'm having trouble finding any concrete evidence online. I would really appreciate it. Thanks so much!

There is no such thing as the perfect application/applicant. There is NO application you can put together that guarantees admission at a specific College or University. I have met some really stupid people that graduated from top universities. A truly hard working, ambitious, talented person will be successful in life regardless of the number of degrees they hold or the name of the institution printed on them. Do not fall into the trap of worshiping or idolizing these institutions because you will be sorely disappointed.

The only reason why your parents where allowed to come to America, was because of the work of black people in the civil rights movement, who fought and and where beaten and murdered, to have restrictions lifted against imigration from african and Asian countries, but thank you very much for the pay back.

Sometimes I feel like they throw darts to pick kids. Idk why the school im at accepted me or why others rejected me, not a clue.

When I had applied for Ivy Leagues (2 decades ago), every non-academic accomplishment such as extracurriculars or competitions had checkboxes next to each asking if the accomplishment was on a national or at least state level. I had the impression that if an accomplishment was checkboxed as “local”, it wasn’t anything significant to them. Then it’s an additional disadvantage if you’re not a legacy kid. I’m not saying discrimination isn’t present though. My mom was told by a white mother that I got my scholarship due to affirmative action, when her daughter’s only extracurricular was being a sports team member…

As a rising high school senior with each passing day I’m coming to accept this a lot more. I used to overthink every CommonApp response thinking should I omit information and will it hurt my chances; but honestly I’m coming to realize that I’m just going to be who I am and if that’s the very reason why I’m rejected from my dream schools then so be it. I’m proud of the person I am and the culture that I’ve lived, and I’m not willing to hide myself for the purposes of preferential admission.

Amy, um Cal Tech is not settling for anything. I am an American of Chinese descent, went to an Ivy League University (not Harvard) 30 plus years ago, Medical School at Johns Hopkins and Residency at a top surgical field at Duke University. How did I do it despite racist admissions policies against Chinese and Asians? Brute force when it came to academics, leadership positions back then which lead to leadership positions in my career and sacrifice. As a Tenured full Professor of Surgery in one of the largest State College systems in the country (not California), I can tell you it is you who will make yourself successful. Don’t chase a name or prestige. I’m not being hypocritical, I bought into the rat race as a kid and now looking from the other side of Academia, I’ve grown and learned. It is you who is the common denominator that will make or break your ability to achieve your dreams. Both my kids are in college now, one an Ivy, my Alma mater and another the flagship University of public university system where I work. The younger one had pretty much almost exactly your stats in applying with a perfect 36 ACT score. And somehow he got rejected left and right. That’s ok, he will have a fantastic education second to none and will always be a success no matter what. I support the SCOTUS decision on affirmative action which hurt Asians. My ancestors had nothing to do with the systemic racism that exists in the US as I am an immigrant myself and grew up for quite a while in poverty. Meritocracy is truly the only fair way for all of us. And I dislike using the term Race, there is only one Race, the Human Race.

Super reasonable video in these unreasonable times.

In Australia we have the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) system, which universities use to accept people into university with ATAR cutoffs for their degrees. And it’s based on your final Year 12 exam results and ranks you with others in the state, and most of the time it’s the only thing that matters (unless you’re doing art, in which you need a portfolio too) And most of the time University entry is rarely uncertain. If you meet the ATAR cutoff for a degree at any university (including the top ones) you are guaranteed entry A lot of Year 12 students complain about how “unfair” it is. But the ATAR system is MUCH better than the US’s system where your admission is judged based on stuff like race. As I grew up I really appreciated the ATAR system because it’s judged solely by merit and also builds a competition drive too which is also necessary in adult life I’m disgusted your race obviously affected your university admissions, I’m appalled at America for this

Um, I don’t know what to think. What I can say is that I don’t think my reaction to the Supreme Court ruling is simply just “Affirmative Action” but a combination of things happening in quick succession. Book banning, censoring history, denying Criticism Race Theory, I mean the list goes on and on and affirmative action is the latest blow to my community and I think that’s where the pain is pretty deep, over and over again you made this comment of “work harder” and I’m not sure exactly what you meant. I mean you should work harder than everyone else to get what you want but it “sounded” like we “we work hard” but they get the results. You also said your Dad was studying “Post Doc” who was a immigrant to this country and wife was working, on the other hand I’m sure you heard of being denied a job because of your name? In the country you were born in? For generations? All the way back to when your people were enslaved? It sounds weird to my ears to say all the “oppression” Asian are experiencing and how all this cumulates to how bad affirmative action is when your not really mentioning why it was enacted in the first place, your only talking about how it affects Asians getting into the top schools, you fail to mention how a community *cough cough* was actively prevented to going into any school. I mean this is where I feel the argument eventually leads, is there Asian discrimination, sure but do we really want to do the black vs Asian thing? Let me try and give a example, I would think we agree that enough resources are not made available in African American communities for generations, if I stood up and said “Well, why do Native Americans have reservations? They have their own tribes and government, why is our American resources being giving to them when our own people can use those resources” then I went on about all the historical facts about the ills that my people face, you no doubt would think “Yeah but the Native Americans went through…..” yet this isn’t done here. I can’t help but empathize with the plight of immigrants coming to this country, all the ills the Asian community faces due to the pandemic and the whole model citizen thing but Why should affirmative action be taken away because of these thing? The only thing I heard I can make sense of is that we “we worked really really hard” but as opposed to who? I mean, like I said before, for me this is a combination of things and not just one thing but I can’t agree that this somehow someway alleviates any pressure from Asian discrimination. I hate to say this but I feel personally that your part of the problem, your comparing something that’s not comparable, you said it yourself but the Civil Right fought for ALL races, yet you made it point to focus on Blacks, why not throw Native Americans and the Jewish for good measure? I think because people take them seriously but when it come to Blacks and maybe this was not your intention, it’s just a talking point at this time, what we went through is comparable to everyone else’s experience I feel what I heard was “This is why we no longer need affirmative action” and then Martin Luther Kings quote so I can somehow feel hypocritical if I still support affirmative action. I don’t know but what I can say is we are not different from Asians, maybe you believe me or not but we want the same things your Grandparents, Parents and you want. Sorry to be so morbid but I have too, some people gave their lives for their black descendants not of their own blood, to the benefit of all races, not just $2,000. Hope whoever read this, did it with a open mind but I doubt that……this is just me complaining I guess 😮‍💨

Asians tend to focus more on acedmics usually. Not always but, this might be the root for the “wort personality.” During the grind we just turn into working machines and forget ourselves. When it comes to the essays we focus more on the technical parts rather than the personality part. I’m about to go into high school, and after watching yours and many other videos I’ve learned lots of advice. 1. Do extra curriculars but not too many because you need to make sure they represent you well and aren’t just there to be there 2. Don’t compare yourself to others, this is common sense but it’s just human nature There is many more but I think these are the most important. So thank you Amy for these videos.

I got into an earnest discussion with a guy from Trinidad and Tobago one night, and one of his talking points was how chauvinistic white Americans are, especially the kids in the fraternities. I suppose that could be galling to foreign students. There is quite a bit of contention between whites in the fraternities and whites who aren't in these organizations. I think it is petty, but with any distinct groups of people there is going to be friction between them.

I'm one of those elderly Asian immigrant parents that gave it all to my kids here in US. My eyes became wet when I saw how you appreciate your parents because not all Asian kids appreciate their hardworking parents. I want to commend you for your hard work. Keep going, never give up. Note: you actually look a bit like my daughter.

While this is a nuanced stance and a brave and vulnerable truth, Black and African-American students who grew up with similar or worse socio-economic backgrounds who overcome these barriers to gain admission into universities, are not simply attending college as placeholders for applicants from other communities. While the current education system in the US has several improvements to make and it is not the complete solution to legacy and donor admission bias, Affirmative Action and the supports that come with it were enacted to ensure a more equal access approach to education against systemic racism and sexism in this country. There are 107 historically black colleges and universities established in the US due to doors being closed at these same schools for black students. Therefore, it isn't surprising that schools like Caltech in California, a state with race-blind admissions, at one point have had a population of less than 1% of black students and are still confronting their racist pasts. The Black and Brown, especially first-generation, students who make it into Ivy League, R1, and top PWI institutions are not to blame for students with the privilege of not being Black in America not feeling comfortable checking a box. At the same time of the Covid-19 violence mentioned, which was horrible and irreprehensible, in 2020, cities in this country were ignited on fire advocating for the lives of those in black communities at the hands of police. It wouldn't hurt to widen your perspective on this "All Lives Matter" approach to education. Perceived "equity" does not always mean equality.

You had a great dad who was patient and helped you. I got yelled at and put down for not understanding chemistry and physics and failing pre-calculus. It is even harder when your own Asian parents expect high performance but provide NO HELP. While college may fit some it is not the end all be all, our country is short of carpenters, steam fitters, machinists -these are the skills I admire - so what if someone can solve an equation..can they build a house or fix a heater to keep warm for the winter? In my opinion all professions have dignity regardless of college degree or not. May we all treat each other with respect and humility.

as an arab, does affirmative action ever affect me? Its legally under white but im literally born in iraq

For me your live is amazing... Congratulations 👍

So, for me, I think the judgement didn't offer Asian Americans any new opportunities. All it did was take opportunities away from African Americans. If he had sued to give Asians more opportunities rather than take them from AAs, it would have made sense. Now it's like, "if Asians can't get in, AAs shouldn't be able to get in". He just reinforced the stereotype that Asians are better qualified than AAs in all ramifications. This will have consequences down the line obviously. Minorities should be supporting each other not allowing the stereotypical White Christian Man use them against each other. This was a right that AAs shed blood, sweat and tears for and he just took it away from them.