Image Credit: Joshua Poh, via Flickr
Everyone agrees that the college application process is more competitive than ever, but lately I’ve been hearing about a kind of coaching service that I just can’t get behind: businesses that promise to help Asian American teens improve their chances of getting into the Ivy League by making them… less Asian.
There’s already a cottage industry of tutoring centers, SAT prep courses, and pricey essay editors. But these newest businesses are different, because they prey upon the fears of some Asian immigrant parents that their children are being discriminated against by elite universities.
The solution they offer? According to these counselors: avoid typically Asian activities, such as martial arts and science clubs.
I have many more thoughts about these coaching services and why parents might be tempted to steer their kids towards certain “safe” paths. Read my full post at Mom.me to find out how why based on my own experiences as a child of immigrants — and now as a mom — I’d never subject my kids to this kind of “coaching”, much less pay ridiculous sums of money for it.