亞裔申請的時候會努力讓自己別太“亞裔”

早在“哈佛申請歧視亞(ya) 裔”這個(ge) 案子之前，亞(ya) 裔自己內(nei) 部就已經有了一個(ge) 不成文的規則：申請的時候別暴露自己太多的亞(ya) 裔特點。

the rumor that students can appear “too Asian” has hardened into a kind of received wisdom within many Asian American communities, along with the idea that Asian American students must meet a higher bar academically than other racial groups to get into the same schools.

比如在申請的時候，不想表明自己的族裔身份

When it came time to fill out his college application form, Max Li chose not to declare his race. Even though he knew his last name sounded Chinese, he selected “prefer not to say.”

選AP課程的時候，不要選AP Chinese，哪怕考好了，也不能顯示自己的能力

Clara Chen was advised to avoid the Advanced Placement exam for Chinese because college admissions officers might assume, based on her last name, that she already spoke the language, which could undermine the value of her score. She took the test for Advanced Placement French instead.

又或者別提自己有國際象棋的愛好。

When Marissa Li was growing up, she loved playing competitive chess, and spent hours studying the matches of some of her favorite players, like Bobby Fischer. But on her college application, she barely mentioned her interest in the game because she was afraid that it might come across as too stereotypically Asian.

甚至有一個(ge) 專(zhuan) 門的行業(ye) 存在（申請谘詢），其工作就是讓亞(ya) 裔申請者包裝的沒那麽(me) 亞(ya) 裔。

“an entire industry exists to help them appear ‘less Asian’ on their college applications.” The group pointed to a popular test-prep guide published in 2004 by the Princeton Review, which advised students of Asian descent to try to conceal their racial identity.

申請谘詢公司會(hui) 建議別寫(xie) 移民故事，不要勾選族裔信息。

Writing about your family’s immigrant hardship story is too basic. And don’t bother checking the race box on the common application unless you’re Latino or Black — doing so may not hurt your chances of getting in, but it won’t help you either.

對於(yu) 一些拉丁裔的學員會(hui) 建議可以凸顯自己的拉丁裔特點；但是對於(yu) 亞(ya) 裔的學生會(hui) 建議避免自己變得太亞(ya) 裔了。

... while his company’s Latino clients often emphasized their ethnicity and their engagement with Hispanic cultural organizations on their college applications, his company frequently gave Asian American students the opposite advice, urging them to shift away from “classically Asian activities” to improve their chances of getting into the country’s elite universities.

...

哪些特點是比較“亞(ya) 裔”的呢？

... so-called typically Asian activities such as Chinese language school, piano and Indian classical instruments like the venu flute.

但“亞(ya) 裔”的概念可能都不是那麽(me) 好定義(yi) 的，畢竟從(cong) 中西南北中亞(ya) ，都被歸類在“亞(ya) 裔”者統稱下麵了，而這些亞(ya) 洲的地區是那麽(me) 的不同。

Asian Americans are a hugely diverse, complicated group, and students don’t fit into cookie-cutter stereotypes. 

...

盡管在“哈佛亞(ya) 裔案”裏哈佛方強調了錄取的時候是綜合考慮的，關(guan) 於(yu) 族裔的因素影響因子很小。

Harvard and supporters of affirmative action have argued that there is no such thing as a penalty for Asians and that race is, in fact, one factor among many used to evaluate applicants.

數據上看，亞(ya) 裔在哈佛的錄取比重今年來也有上升。

 They made up about 28 percent of those admitted this year, up from nearly 20 percent in 2013. By comparison, Asians make up about 7 percent of the country’s population. (About 15 percent of admitted students this year were Black; 13 percent were Latino; and 3 percent were Native American.)

但亞(ya) 裔申請權對於(yu) 在錄取時被區別對待的擔心還是很強

But Harvard’s arguments have done little to dispel the suspicions of many Asian Americans. Consultants say that, if anything, concerns among students about appearing too Asian are only growing.

也有些亞(ya) 裔申請者會(hui) 申請時候加入族裔相關(guan) 的內(nei) 容，但也會(hui) 刻意避免一些刻板印象的內(nei) 容。

Some of the students said they had written about their Asian identity in their admissions applications, but they described carefully calibrated essays — intended to relay an applicant’s life while also avoiding stereotypes. 

也有申請者以自己的族裔為(wei) 傲，表示在申請的時候沒什麽(me) 好避諱的。

“In terms of college applications, I don’t think I’m going to try to stay away from that,” she said. “It is who I am.”