This 18 yo Asian American genius got rejected from 16 colleges because of racism
Garry Tan
Jun 2, 2025
Stanley Zong, a software prodigy hired by Google at an L4 level, faced rejection from 16 of 18 universities, including five UC campuses. His father, Nanzong, argues this pattern reveals systemic bias against Asian-American applicants, where institutions use opaque 'holistic' criteria to mask discriminatory admissions practices that ignore objective merit.
Key insight: Stanley Zong was qualified enough to be hired by Google as an L4 engineer—a role typically requiring a PhD—yet was deemed unqualified for undergraduate admission by 16 of the 18 colleges to which he applied.
