who keeps calling me a "typical asian"?

[pattayapus]

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wow i didn't mind at first, but i'm starting to get a little pissed at some comments people are making on my mdapplicants profile (see my signature...and scroll waaay dooown)...

basically i'm wondering whether there really is a lot of hatred out there for the "typical asian" pre-med...hard-working, maybe (but not always) to the expense of some things other people consider more important...and usually more reserved, closer to family, maybe passing off as nerdy...

i myself am proud of who my mom raised me to be...and i have lived through so much **** that no one can say i haven't experienced life...i don't consider myself or my "typical asian" friends boooooring or uninteresting in any way, as my commenters have said...

anyways, i do wish i could have an actual conversation with some people who feel (or don't feel) this way! so i'm throwing this out into the SDN cosmos and waiting for a response...

thanks guys! 😉

 

[AStudent]

Typical asians

Sounds like the next great suburban rock band!

 

[Rafa]

I thought one had the option of approving or rejecting comments before allowing them on one's profile. Perhaps you could enable this option...

 

[pattayapus]

yea i 'spose. now i'm jus wondering whether i'll meet these people next fall...🙁

but whatever..if i do, i'll either have to clear up some misunderstandings, or find some people who are willing to accept me as i am 🙂

 

[ahumdinger]

hahah! I think by saying on your MDapplicant profile (in the last response to comment) that you "suck at piano" says something! All asians think they suck at piano...but you admit you DO play it, like the previous comment said.

 

[medhacker]

yea i 'spose. now i'm jus wondering whether i'll meet these people next fall...🙁

but whatever..if i do, i'll either have to clear up some misunderstandings, or find some people who are willing to accept me as i am 🙂

Asian friend, juts imagine for a bit the loads of hate messages URMs get from all sides. Sorry you got a share yourself. Keep your chin up, look forward, study hard, don't pay attention and be the best human being you can be 👍

 

[Vizsla]

Asian friend, juts imagine for a bit the loads of hate messages URMs get from all sides. Sorry you got a share yourself. Keep your chin up, look forward, study hard, don't pay attention and be the best human being you can be 👍

Exactly. as long as being a "typical asian" gets u into a great school...they can suck it

 

[pattayapus]

hahah! I think by saying on your MDapplicant profile (in the last response to comment) that you "suck at piano" says something! All asians think they suck at piano...but you admit you DO play it, like the previous comment said.

heh i like the dog, ahumdinger...yes yes...

as for the piano, here's my story: i agreed accidentally in second grade to start lessons, and every night for eight years plugged my headphones into my digital keyboard, to pretend i was practicing, when actually i was propping up nancy drew or anne of green gables plunk in front of beethoven...i finally got the guts, in eighth grade, to tell my mom i quit...the final result being thousands and thousands of dollars down the drain...

so yes, people, maybe you all have me pegged..ah well. 🙂

 

[pattayapus]

Exactly. as long as being a "typical asian" gets u into a great school...they can suck it

thanks. 🙂 guess i was jus looking for some support. 😍

 

[threemusketeers]

i'm surprised that no one is actually defending her. if you feel you have the balls talk down to an entire race, then stand up and say so. If not, then have a spine and defend her. enough with the sly comments, which are not even witty.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

wow i didn't mind at first, but i'm starting to get a little pissed at some comments people are making on my mdapplicants profile (see my signature...and scroll waaay dooown)...

basically i'm wondering whether there really is a lot of hatred out there for the "typical asian" pre-med...hard-working, maybe (but not always) to the expense of some things other people consider more important...and usually more reserved, closer to family, maybe passing off as nerdy...

i myself am proud of who my mom raised me to be...and i have lived through so much **** that no one can say i haven't experienced life...i don't consider myself or my "typical asian" friends boooooring or uninteresting in any way, as my commenters have said...

anyways, i do wish i could have an actual conversation with some people who feel (or don't feel) this way! so i'm throwing this out into the SDN cosmos and waiting for a response...

thanks guys! 😉

I think part of the problem is how overrepresented asians are in the pre-med community. I can see how someone coming from a background that lacked diversity would be especially challenged/threatened amongst this type of group. It doesn't help that (from my expereince) a lot of asian pre-meds tend to be just about as studious and competitive as you can get. I know this is a stereotype, but I think there is some truth to it. I have to admit that at my school it does feel like I am competing with machine-like people, and most of these people tend to be asian. There is a confirmation bias going on too...once people associate asians with super-competitive they begin to really ntice and remember the ones who fit the stereotype, and not the ones who don't or the whites/blacks, etc that are equally nerdy. Do I have a problem with it? Absolutely not. I admire the extreme-studiousness of some of the people in my classes and wish I had the ability to be that way too...I'm just not wired for it I guess

 

[Rafa]

I find it funny (in an ironic way) that I can't remember the last time I saw an MDapp profile from a Stanford undergraduate who actually got into Stanford. This is off-topic, but it made me smile. 🙂

Nonetheless, keep your head up, as mdhacker said. You're young and bold and bright, and you have nothing to fear.

 

[happydays]

If you don't want someone calling you a typical Asian, then stop being a typical Asian. Plus, what's wrong with being a hardworking, high achieving, piano playing, glasses wearing Asian? Face it, you're Asian, so you're going to inherently possess some of the same characteristics as other Asians. You should be pround of being called a typical Asian, because the typical Asian is a successful one.

 

[PariPari]

call me crazy, but it could be due to over-representation of Asians in the Bay Area........b/c for damn sure where i live there maybe a decent amt of asians, they're all engineering/business majors & it's the white students who are all about doing something (like AED) b/c it'll look good on their AMCAS

stero-types exist for a reason, some we contribute to:
for example, as a persian, my family has a predilection for german enigneered cars, my older female relatives wear more bling than most rappers, & i love to mock the ones we fit w/ other persians & i even have a few things in common w/ my sub-continent/"asian" friends...however, i have long since gotten over the ppl who make snarky comments at me b/c of my ethnic identity, life is seriously too short........

if you weren't asian, they'd have called you a gunner...& probably b/c you're only 20...

 

[pattayapus]

yea i was actually trying to say that i am proud of being a typical asian, and that's what i find so strange about the comments...they implied there was something wrong with it... 🙂

 

[riceman04]

i'm surprised that no one is actually defending her. if you feel you have the balls talk down to an entire race, then stand up and say so. If not, then have a spine and defend her. enough with the sly comments, which are not even witty.

I chose an option that you did not mention: to sit on the sidelines. She is a big girl...at least that is what is assumed. She can defend herself.

but then again i can make comments like you and play like I really support her cause

 

[MissMD'10]

yea i was actually trying to say that i am proud of being a typical asian, and that's what i find so strange about the comments...they implied there was something wrong with it... 🙂

Girl, you've gotta learn to ignore the haters in life!! They will always be there and they are probably doing it because they are jealous of you. Just ignore them.

 

[Mr. Tee]

yea i was actually trying to say that i am proud of being a typical asian, and that's what i find so strange about the comments...they implied there was something wrong with it... 🙂

Me too... 😍

 

[thatslife]

wow i didn't mind at first, but i'm starting to get a little pissed at some comments people are making on my mdapplicants profile (see my signature...and scroll waaay dooown)...

basically i'm wondering whether there really is a lot of hatred out there for the "typical asian" pre-med...hard-working, maybe (but not always) to the expense of some things other people consider more important...and usually more reserved, closer to family, maybe passing off as nerdy...

i myself am proud of who my mom raised me to be...and i have lived through so much **** that no one can say i haven't experienced life...i don't consider myself or my "typical asian" friends boooooring or uninteresting in any way, as my commenters have said...

anyways, i do wish i could have an actual conversation with some people who feel (or don't feel) this way! so i'm throwing this out into the SDN cosmos and waiting for a response...

thanks guys! 😉

As some of the above posters noted, there is truth in stereotypes. I think this next point is well understood but oft forgotten: While generalizations and stereotypes hold water with regards to a population, they are rarely completely true for an individual.

When the poster on platta's mdapplicants profile wrote about the OP's housing, musical talent and parenting, a line was crossed. It breaks into the realm of bigotry and ignorance.

In any case, it is sad to see that these future doctors still can't seem to understand. Our best and brightest have a ways to go.

OP, keep your head up and keep calling these winners out.

 

[neurotik]

theyre probably a little bit jealous of u, dont worry about it, just ignore these bastards.

 

[happydays]

In any case, it is sad to see that these future doctors still can't seem to understand. Our best and brightest have a ways to go.

Well, those who made the vulgar comments may not be pre-med or may not become doctors. This is the web; info can travel to BigFoot just as fast as to you and me. Plus, even if this person DOES become a doctor, this just goes to show that not all doctors are the "best and brightest," which is simply the unavoidable reality.

 

[UCDavisdude]

wow i didn't mind at first, but i'm starting to get a little pissed at some comments people are making on my mdapplicants profile (see my signature...and scroll waaay dooown)...

basically i'm wondering whether there really is a lot of hatred out there for the "typical asian" pre-med...hard-working, maybe (but not always) to the expense of some things other people consider more important...and usually more reserved, closer to family, maybe passing off as nerdy...

i myself am proud of who my mom raised me to be...and i have lived through so much **** that no one can say i haven't experienced life...i don't consider myself or my "typical asian" friends boooooring or uninteresting in any way, as my commenters have said...

anyways, i do wish i could have an actual conversation with some people who feel (or don't feel) this way! so i'm throwing this out into the SDN cosmos and waiting for a response...

thanks guys! 😉

lol. were so opposite. i try calling myself a typical asian all the time, but others are always like "hell no your not", and im like "fuc12 off dude!"

 

[UCDavisdude]

trust me, who cares if they are calling you typical asian. its like them saying "typical pretty girl".. its a compliment. whether they believe it or not. (did i spell whether correctly?)

 

[drmota]

someone wrote this on my profile:
"good choice on tulane. have fun in what's left of new orleans, *****"

it didn't get approved. and i no longer have a link to my mdapps (not necessarily because of it, just cuz i had it up for long enough). people are a) jealous and b) have nothing better to do but to try and bash others, hoping that somewhere down the line it will make up for their own inadequacies. eventhough deep down they know it won't. i usually don't get serious on SDN but that comment pissed me off, as did the comments on your mdapps. just shrug it off and keep on truckin.
-mota

 

[kirexhana]

just ignore it. they're nameless people on an internet forum. they're probably less interesting than you and are just insecure about themselves and thus have to go around mdapplicants making ridiculously useless judgments on others. the fact that they group all students of asian descent under "typical", really doesn't help the way they come off either.

 

[happydays]

lol. were so opposite. i try calling myself a typical asian all the time, but others are always like "hell no your not", and im like "fuc12 off dude!"

and then do you get into a fist fight in the parking lot? Next time, may I come to watch?

 

[kirexhana]

someone wrote this on my profile:
"good choice on tulane. have fun in what's left of new orleans, *****"

it didn't get approved. and i no longer have a link to my mdapps (not necessarily because of it, just cuz i had it up for long enough). people are a) jealous and b) have nothing better to do but to try and bash others, hoping that somewhere down the line it will make up for their own inadequacies. eventhough deep down they know it won't. i usually don't get serious on SDN but that comment pissed me off, as did the comments on your mdapps. just shrug it off and keep on truckin.
-mota

really? i approve all the stupid comments that i get, just to bash them later. there's something strangely fulfilling about making stupid people look bad. not the best quality in the world to have, but damn it sure beats repressing negative feelings.

 

[UCDavisdude]

and then do you get into a fist fight in the parking lot? Next time, may I come to watch?

no, when i say fuc15 off dude, its like a joke you know. i dont say it in a serious tone. just imajine your friend saying it to you. thats how i say it. plus..i dont like fighting, it messes up my pretty face!..lol j/k

 

[thatslife]

just ignore it. they're nameless people on an internet forum. they're probably less interesting than you and are just insecure about themselves and thus have to go around mdapplicants making ridiculously useless judgments on others. the fact that they group all students of asian descent under "typical", really doesn't help the way they come off either.

Just ignoring it is a bad idea. This is an important conversation that needs to occur as many times as possible. While many of us agree that the comments are out of line, there are others who haven't paid much mind to this or similar issues. As long as this debate continues, people can be continually educated.

 

[drmota]

really? i approve all the stupid comments that i get, just to bash them later. there's something strangely fulfilling about making stupid people look bad. not the best quality in the world to have, but damn it sure beats repressing negative feelings.

i don't repress any negative feelings. i had totally forgot that it had even happened until this thread popped up. i can't resent a person online that i don't even know, ya dig?
-mota

 

[drmota]

Just ignoring it is a bad idea. This is an important conversation that needs to occur as many times as possible. While many of us agree that the comments are out of line, there are others who haven't paid much mind to this or similar issues. As long as this debate continues, people can be continually educated.

educated about what?
-mota

 

[kirexhana]

i don't repress any negative feelings. i had totally forgot that it had even happened until this thread popped up. i can't resent a person online that i don't even know, ya dig?
-mota

that's true, plus, you wouldn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing it affect you right?

 

[drmota]

that's true, plus, you wouldn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing it affect you right?

i guess. i mean i have an easy time of just ignoring ignorant idiots rather than letting them enter my well-groomed psyche.

besides, we should be talking about more important stuff, like this:

-mota

 

[kirexhana]

i guess. i mean i have an easy time of just ignoring ignorant idiots rather than letting them enter my well-groomed psyche.

besides, we should be talking about more important stuff, like this:

-mota

haha, cute, real cute. well groomed psyche eh? i need to get me one of those. i get way too sucked into arguing with idiots who think they're the ****. good thing i'm not going to law school ( j/k 😛 )

 

[LabMonster]

Typical asians

Sounds like the next great suburban rock band!

 

[theblastopore]

It's funny because some one just call me that a few days ago. I usually take it as a good comment when people calling a "typical asian" (but in reality, I'm probably not good enough to be a "typical asian" and not even gona try to be )

To the OP, ignore the jealous hater 😎

 

[Chinorean]

You know what really bothered me (besides the typical asian part) was the "everything looks like it was done for med school" comment. Um, helloooo practically everyone who applies does community service, shadowing, research etc etc and nobody writes essays on mdapplicants, so who's to say what the intent was behind your extracurrics? I don't care if she turned out to be right or whatever. It's so annoying when people second guess your intentions and baselessly accuse you of insincerity.

It's like when you tell people you want to be a doctor, and they automatically assume you're doing it for the money--I think we can all relate to that one. It's hard to just "suck it up" and it's insulting.

Something to ponder--the university system in Europe doesn't reward volunteer work, so nobody really does it. So maybe we're all hypocrites who do things that look good on our CVs. Why should it be a racial characteristic?

 

[Doctor&Geek]

Hey -

You single?

 

[tulane06]

i guess. i mean i have an easy time of just ignoring ignorant idiots rather than letting them enter my well-groomed psyche.

besides, we should be talking about more important stuff, like this:

-mota

 

[baylormed]

Me is 19....(I'll be 20 when I interview), how is this a factor??
🙁

 

[swifty100850]

nevermind those comments. they're just mad because you're accepted and they're not! what kind of idiot leaves such ignorant messages on mdapps? i wonder what *unique experience* makes hillary so valuable.

 

[jebus]

It's pretty obvious that if you weren't asian this wouldn't be a problem.
Can't you do something about that?

 

[TypeA]

yea i 'spose. now i'm jus wondering whether i'll meet these people next fall...🙁

but whatever..if i do, i'll either have to clear up some misunderstandings, or find some people who are willing to accept me as i am 🙂

Don't waste your time on these *****s...their loss. Besides, they'll be re-applying while you bask in MS1

 

[NonTradMed]

Hm, so much to say on this topic.

I'm asian and I can't play the piano----but I do play the violin LOL.

I think there is some truth to the 'asian sterotype' as it pertains to premed. Even at the school where I'm taking classes, I've noticed people sometimes....gravitate towards me for things like getting notes and study groups. Of course, my old school I didn't have an issue since there were so many frickin' asians there. But at my current school, I can't help but think I must look the part of the nerd because I am an asian with glasses.

The comment left at the OP's mdapplicants were a bit harsh for a complete stranger to leave behind but it's not anything I haven't asked myself or been told---usually by other asians.

I went to a school where asians were overrepresented, especially in a city where asians barely make a blip. And it was a big premed school as well, so alot of the asian stereotypes cropped up for real. Only one of my asian friends did not play a musical instrument and I did not know any that weren't premed/engineering/business or (more usually) some combination of the three.

It's the nature of the demographic which asians, and especially east and southeast asians have. A disproportionate of us had parents who came as grad students, who were top students in their homeland, and/or who are smart and ambitious and want to see their kids succeed in a big way. There's also that over the top reverence for education which many asian cultures share (because of the nature of the testing system in asian countries).

Suffice it to say, the end result are people like the OP or me (I'm like the inferior version of the OP). We are academically focused, and some would say, detrimentally so. But I say we are just nerdy and I think that's not a bad way to be. Other people are sports oriented, arts oriented, I am science oriented and science by its very nature requires intense amounts of reading and anaylzing.

But whhile I may study hard and spend spring breaks writing papers instead of going to FL, that doesn't mean I don't have fun or have other interests. And that goes for a lot of asians.

I'm not insulted when people call me a 'stereotypical asian', I know I fit the stereotype for it. But if a complete stranger called me that to my face, I'd challenge them to learn something nonstereotypical about me. Perhaps it's my love of Russian history, or my perchant to watching obscure science fiction TV shows, or the weird kick I get out of reading alot of bizarre fanfics. Or my hobby of trying out new crusine at different resturants. I have alot of stuff that makes my life interesting and I think all of these features makes me unique and defies the 'asian stereotype'.

 

[CaliPlease]

Patty,
I am mainly a lurker here but I have become quite fond of a number of posters on this forum and you are clearly among them. You have such a wonderful spunk and happiness quotient, you are always positive towards the other students, you don't have any of the arrogance of someone so young who is going to graduate from Stanford so early. (BTW, I think you should stay for your senior year, and defer, but that's just my advice). You should never let those posters get you down, you should continue being as effervescent as you appear on SDN. It is a wonderful, refreshing quality that you have. Many here seem jaded (and maybe they have been through hades and back with the application process) and worn out, and you are just the opposite. Continue to have your positive attitude, and, as the others have written, just write off those who have a mean spririt. And believe in karma.

 

[mchou]

You know what really bothered me (besides the typical asian part) was the "everything looks like it was done for med school" comment. Um, helloooo practically everyone who applies does community service, shadowing, research etc etc and nobody writes essays on mdapplicants, so who's to say what the intent was behind your extracurrics? I don't care if she turned out to be right or whatever. It's so annoying when people second guess your intentions and baselessly accuse you of insincerity.

It's like when you tell people you want to be a doctor, and they automatically assume you're doing it for the money--I think we can all relate to that one. It's hard to just "suck it up" and it's insulting.

Something to ponder--the university system in Europe doesn't reward volunteer work, so nobody really does it. So maybe we're all hypocrites who do things that look good on our CVs. Why should it be a racial characteristic?

I haven't posted on SDN in a really long time, but this whole thread just sorta mesmerized me. Hehe. I have to agree, just because you do something that adds to your application, doesn't mean you did it for that reason. More obnoxiously however, the fact of the matter is... she provided a service to someone, whether through volunteering or research and she helped someone out. Does it really make sense to punish someone for helping the community by labeling her? And why would it be a bad thing that her resume benefits from her good deeds?

To her and any others like her, regardless of race, piano skills, or closeness to family, good job! Wish we were all a little more like you.

 

[mchou]

Me is 19....(I'll be 20 when I interview), how is this a factor??
🙁

It usually isn't. I was 20 when I interviewed this last season, and most interviewers, if they even mentioned it said: wow, and you're only 20, that's an accomplishment. And besides, by the time you matriculate, you'll most likely be 21, that's within 1 standard deviation of the average matriculant, so that's fine.

However, some schools, and I won't name which one put me on the spot, use things that are out of the ordinairy on your application to stress you out. I have definitely had that experience where I walked into an interview and my interviewer said: "So, you're 20, and applying for med school, why didn't you want to wait?" or something along the lines of "don't you think you're a bit young?"

So, the bottom line is, show them you're a mature 20, not a young 20 and if you're truly concerned about it, you can ask your recommenders to address your age. Which my recommender told me he'd do, and I think it didn't hurt.

 

[91946]

wow i didn't mind at first, but i'm starting to get a little pissed at some comments people are making on my mdapplicants profile (see my signature...and scroll waaay dooown)...

basically i'm wondering whether there really is a lot of hatred out there for the "typical asian" pre-med...hard-working, maybe (but not always) to the expense of some things other people consider more important...and usually more reserved, closer to family, maybe passing off as nerdy...

i myself am proud of who my mom raised me to be...and i have lived through so much **** that no one can say i haven't experienced life...i don't consider myself or my "typical asian" friends boooooring or uninteresting in any way, as my commenters have said...

anyways, i do wish i could have an actual conversation with some people who feel (or don't feel) this way! so i'm throwing this out into the SDN cosmos and waiting for a response...

thanks guys! 😉

You're only a typical asian if you live in San Francisco and attended Lowell HIghschool and then stanford or berkeley for college. 😀 just kidding.

 

[beponychick]

Does "Hillary" have something to say???? 😡

 

[gujuDoc]

hahah! I think by saying on your MDapplicant profile (in the last response to comment) that you "suck at piano" says something! All asians think they suck at piano...but you admit you DO play it, like the previous comment said.

I play the piano but it isn't because it is the Asian thing to do. I actually wanted to learn the drums and started band in middle school but couldn't keep up with the beat and playing another instrument wasn't an option because I couldn't blow into the instruments which involved you using your mouth. So I learned the piano instead. I wouldn't say I did it to be like the other Indian kids who learned it. I did it because I genuinely wanted to learn how to play it.

I think its sick that people have to make stereotypical racist comments about people they don't even know well.

Yes there are overachievers but please remember that if these people didn't exist, then we wouldn't have people like Bill Gates today.

It is these people who often succeed the most.

Call them nerds if you will, but remember that the nerds may be your boss someday.