EPTToo Asian? - An Article on Universities - Page 9
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Iskarott
Canada37 Posts
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Deadlyfish
Denmark1980 Posts
Why not just complain that you are too stupid? I really don't get this article. What's up with people thinking university is about drinking and socializing? You could do that outside of university, makes no sense. | ||
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zeehar
Korea (South)3804 Posts
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dreamsmasher
816 Posts
It's also somewhat frustrating dealing with people who later think you're cool because you participate in 'x activity', while still excelling in academics. It does also really piss me off when my parents guilt trip me (comparing me to my cousins in China or their Cultural Revolution days), probably why I cannot identify very well with a lot of Asians who seem to be fairly oblivious socially. | ||
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dreamsmasher
816 Posts
1) smoke weed 2) hit on a hot white chick in public 3) talk loudly in public it's just unfortunate that people can't have more diverse interests. | ||
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Terranist
United States2496 Posts
On November 11 2010 16:51 Deadlyfish wrote: So people are complaining that Asians are too smart and so white kids cant compete? And that the Asians dont drink/party enough. That is one of the stupidest things i have ever read. Why not just complain that you are too stupid? I really don't get this article. What's up with people thinking university is about drinking and socializing? You could do that outside of university, makes no sense. not if none of your friends were smart enough to get into the same university and 99% of everyone you meet while in school will have zero interest in anything that isn't studying. some of these kids are under so much pressure that once they complete school, they don't have any clue how to integrate into the real world. developing more advanced social skills (i don't mean binge drinking) and especially networking with as many people as you can is easily the most underrated part of higher education. | ||
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Zzoram
Canada7115 Posts
On November 11 2010 16:59 Terranist wrote: not if none of your friends were smart enough to get into the same university and 99% of everyone you meet while in school will have zero interest in anything that isn't studying. some of these kids are under so much pressure that once they complete school, they don't have any clue how to integrate into the real world. developing more advanced social skills (i don't mean binge drinking) and especially networking with as many people as you can is easily the most underrated part of higher education. I'm pretty sure that's the extreme minority. I know tons of asians with good grades but none of them are anti-social or under that much pressure. | ||
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piroko139
United States261 Posts
Much of the article concerns itself with Asian work ethic when it comes to schooling, while admirably hey perform better than their peers, they sacrifice social skills and interaction to do so. Is this really worth it, is probably the question. It isn't pointing out that we HAVE to go to clubs and drink at universities, it's that while it's normal to do this occasionally in a university setting, Asian students are completely abolishing the experience of university social life for the sake of studying. At the same time, they are indirectly affecting the mindset of those who are also shooting for higher level education with their university choice, by skewing demographics. It also references that much of it has to do with parents. I'm Taiwanese, and I can tell you, that as an Asian student, your parents have a RIDICULOUS impact on what you do, both socially and educationally. It's not uncommon to say a school is a good school on the grounds of the demographic being predominantly Asian. | ||
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fOrQQ
Hong Kong321 Posts
I'm Chinese (HK) myself, but I consider myself lucky to not have joined those Chinese clubs and have a diverse core of friends instead. Stuck around other HKers and fobs in first semester first year, HATED it, ditched, found better friends  I was raised in a strict family setting too, stereotypical study all day practice piano all night upbringing; it's just a general cultural work ethic I suppose. Many immigrant students know how much it takes to move and survive in a new setting (not just in terms of financial risk) and are taught to work hard and maximize their educational opportunities. I'm glad that university admissions in Canada are based solely(?) on merit  | ||
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Zzoram
Canada7115 Posts
On November 11 2010 17:06 piroko139 wrote: I think the point of the article is to highlight the idea of how much is too much. Much of the article concerns itself with Asian work ethic when it comes to schooling, while admirably hey perform better than their peers, they sacrifice social skills and interaction to do so. Is this really worth it, is probably the question. It isn't pointing out that we HAVE to go to clubs and drink at universities, it's that while it's normal to do this occasionally in a university setting, Asian students are completely abolishing the experience of university social life for the sake of studying. At the same time, they are indirectly affecting the mindset of those who are also shooting for higher level education with their university choice, by skewing demographics. It also references that much of it has to do with parents. I'm Taiwanese, and I can tell you, that as an Asian student, your parents have a RIDICULOUS impact on what you do, both socially and educationally. It's not uncommon to say a school is a good school on the grounds of the demographic being predominantly Asian. Extreme pressure on asian kids isn't the norm, it's an extreme example like the white parents who put pressure on their kids to be tennis stars training them from childhood. Sure the average asian parents care more about school, but that doesn't mean they're mostly crazy oppressive. | ||
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potatomash3r
Australia417 Posts
But it isn't about the bloody grade, its about the work ethic that you develop when you tried to achieve good grades. University is about character building - some people come out of their shells and become more sociable, others discover their passions, or find the love of their life, etc. It isn't about partying, drinking, or any of that bullshit. And really, is that the definition of 'white' culture? To party and drink? They do that everywhere, especially from where I'm from. For those of you that are contempt of simply passing university to get a degree, more power to you. Personally, I see it as a challenge and if I miss out on all the drinking or partying, fuck I have my entire left to get wasted later on. As a foreign student mysef, if I wanted to fucking party and drink I'd stay at home. Shit is cheaper. People talking shit about how asians are 'brain washed' to work hard are really ignorant, stop trying to justify your reasons for not working hard. | ||
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stink123
United States241 Posts
A) They are selecting the better students to be in college, where a large number happen to be asian. B) There is a flaw in the current system of meritocracy and they are not selecting the better students. So either school grades do not describe a student's potential, or non-asian students don't work as hard. Likely, its a combination of these two, but the articles tangents into social life etc. borderline on whining. And if college is supposed to be more than academics, they mentioned that only certain colleges (waterloo, etc) were having this problem whereas the other colleges were more balanced. And if that's what they want out of a college education, so be it. If others want a heavily academically focused education, let them do that too. The only people who seem pissed are the people who wanted to say "My kid/I go to X school, that means I'm smart and therefore a better person than you!" when they didn't really earn it. | ||
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aztrorisk
United States896 Posts
1. Asians do have a very active social life in college (maybe not to "white" standards). Most college Asian college students party alot and is very involved. 2. White people has the same, if not a better, chance of getting admitted into the same college. The only problem is that white people tend to devote less time towards their education and now they are complaining about Asians taking their spot. This is just an excuse. Do you want a Asian doctor that spent 2000 hours studying health or a white doctor that only spent 1000 hours studying? 3. I think it is the most unfair for Asians because they have to work harder to achieve the same social standards. I laugh at the fact that drinking has been accepted into society. Drinking is an very unhealthy habit and this article seems to portray it in a positive light. I can't help but feel that society is backtracking their progress that they made towards tolerance. I'm glad I live in a predominately minority society that I don't have to deal with this. I have never been more repulsed by this article than any other article in my life. Its kind of depressing to read that social still functions on ethic distinction. | ||
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aztrorisk
United States896 Posts
So either school grades do not describe a student's potential, or non-asian students don't work as hard. Likely, its a combination of these two, but the articles tangents into social life etc. borderline on whining. And if college is supposed to be more than academics, they mentioned that only certain colleges (waterloo, etc) were having this problem whereas the other colleges were more balanced. And if that's what they want out of a college education, so be it. If others want a heavily academically focused education, let them do that too. The only people who seem pissed are the people who wanted to say "My kid/I go to X school, that means I'm smart and therefore a better person than you!" when they didn't really earn it. I agree. This might mean that a less intelligent individual gets accepted over a more intelligent individual. But this factor doesn't really matter if the more intelligent individual lacks a work ethic. Consider this scenario: An less intelligent individual devotes all their time and learn all the information. An more intelligent individual devotes less time and only learns some information even though they could probably accomplish the same amount of studying as the less intelligent individual in 2/3th of the time. The more intelligent individual shows that they lack a work ethic and they are unreliable unlike the less intelligent individual. As a result, you would trust the more determined, less intelligent person over your life than the lazy, intelligent individual. | ||
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Premonition
1 Post
You can still get good grades & socialise, I myself score decent, not brilliant marks, but manage to go out every week + fit in 10 odd hours of games all the time. There may be some people who don't socialise a lot, but this percentage is overblown from like 5% to the state where it becomes a stereotype. The white people in this school have changed into more 'Asian' styles of socialising, playing Starcraft & whatnot, while many Asians here are rather decent at sports. State champions for both basketball + volleyball. Asians like to have good marks, they do care about their marks, many white people do as well. White people strive for a solid mark, while Asians like to overachieve, getting their straight A's etc. But thats not always the case, there's a Russian, who consistently scores very well and manages to find time to spend 15 hrs a week to play L4D/Halo/CoD and other games. | ||
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haduken
Australia8267 Posts
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FishForThought
Canada88 Posts
Personal Anecdote: I graduated from UBC Engineering and lets see.. 1st year, we had 7-8 courses per term, I get up at 6:30am just so I can get to my 8:00 class on time, I have class straight till 4:30pm, I get home around 5:30 ish, eat dinner, do my assignments (which counts for grades) then sleep. 2nd year, I was in this project-oriented program. For each project during crunch time, I had to stay overnight at school and be awake for over 30+ hours and we had 4 projects throughout the semester. Not to mention there was normal course work and exams too. 3rd -4th year. Co-op/Internship mixed with 3rd/4th year course work. Actually these two years wasn't that bad, probably because we already gotten used to heavy course work in the 1st/2nd year but had to use my summer to take courses so I don't spend a decade to graduate. You really think a low academic student can survive this course load when he could barely do well with High school load? | ||
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Flushot
United States218 Posts
The underlined part is also true for med school admissions. They'll ask about leadership, social activities, and other things besides the MCAT and gpa. I don't know what middle ground they're looking for, but it will stop eventually. One example would be residencies for physicians. The initial filter for interviewees is very strict, almost purely a 'meritocracy' as the article states over and over. Obviously, you want the best residents to be the most capable right? Well, after that, you're pretty much in the clear. It's all about personality from there. I wish this article had a solution or something, rather than state some anomalous generalizations about Asians (which, from personal experience of being Asian, is true in terms of tradition). | ||
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iPlaY.NettleS
Australia4349 Posts
Asian kids, meanwhile, say they are resented for taking the spots of white kids. “At graduation a Canadian—i.e. ‘white’—mother told me that I’m the reason her son didn’t get a space in university and that all the immigrants in the country are taking up university spots,” says Frankie Mao, a 22-year-old arts student at the University of British Columbia. “I knew it was wrong, being generalized in this category,” says Mao, “but f–k, I worked hard for it.” Probably a blessing in disguise. Canadian kid who missed out on arts school has more chance getting a non-arts related jobs than an arts one (if he achieved the arts degree) not to mention the debt load of getting the arts degree (did i mention theres hardly any jobs at the end of that degree?) | ||
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nihoh
Australia978 Posts
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