Opting Out of the Asian Box?

Fkwang recently retweeted an article from USA Today entitled "Some Asians' College Strategy:  Don't Check 'Asian.'"

It seems that some biracial Asian Americans are choosing not to check the Asian box when filling out their applications for college.  The fear is that it would be harder for them to get into select colleges if they were lumped in with the large pool of highly competitive Asian applicants.

Apparently, studies have shown that Asian Americans "often need test scores hundreds of points higher than applicants from other ethnic groups to have an equal chance of admission."  In fact, Thomas Espenshade, a Princeton sociologist, "found that Asian-Americans needed a 1550 SAT to have an equal chance of getting into an elite college as white students with a 1410 or black students with an 1100."

Of course, other factors come into play when deciding who is going to be admitted.  Extracurriculars, community service, athletic ability, leadership, family wealth, and legacy status are considered, as well as the need to have a diverse student body.

Interestingly, at Yale University, 26,000 students applied for only 1300 spots this year.  20% of those admitted marked the Asian box, 15% marked more than one box, and 10% did not mark any boxes at all.