Do Asians face discrimination when applying to Ivy League schools? Do they need to appear less “Asian” when submitting their college applications in order to be admitted? These are questions I often receive when counseling students on competitive admissions — usually when students learn I worked as an admissions officer at MIT and Caltech. They’re questions I’ve come across in articles such as “’The Asian Penalty,’” most recently featured in The Boston Globe. And while the questions posed might sometimes lessen the sting one might feel at the possibility of not getting admitted to one’s dream school, the reality is much more complex.