I remember reading an article about this a while back. A college admissions officer was interviewed, and she admitted to thinking something like, "Oh great, ano

I remember reading an article about this a while back. A college admissions officer was interviewed, and she admitted to thinking something like, "Oh great, another one of these kids" whenever she saw another Asian applicant who plays a musical instrument, (insert other stereotypical activities), etc. Your first reaction might be to accuse her of racism, but you can see why she would have the reaction she does. In certain areas, especially with large, high-achieving Asian communities, a lot of Asian children are encouraged by their parents to do essentially the same things to increase their chances of being admitted to the "top" schools. Is it any surprise that college admissions officers are getting bored of seeing very similar applications? Not that this necessarily justifies the decisions, or that this is the only reason for this phenomenon; obviously, it is not.