Google wanted him, but 16 elite US colleges didn’t—Teen prodigy’s family fights against racial bias

A California family is suing multiple universities, alleging racial bias after their son, Stanley Zhong, was rejected by 16 top schools despite a 1590 SAT, 4.42 GPA, and a PhD-level Google job offer.

Rejected despite exceptional qualifications

According to The New York Post, Stanley Zhong, a Palo Alto teenager with an impressive academic and professional background, was rejected by 16 of the 18 schools he applied to in 2023.

Zhong managed his own startup, Rabbit-Sign, while in high school and received a job offer from Google for a PhD-level position.

Despite his accomplishments, he was denied admission to top schools like MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon. His only acceptances came from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Maryland.

His father, Nan Zhong, was stunned. “I did hear that Asians seem to be facing a higher bar when it comes to college admissions, but I thought maybe it’s an urban legend,” he told The Post. “But then when the rejections rolled in one after another, I was dumbfounded.”

A legal battle against top universities

The Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions in June 2023, ruling that race-based policies unfairly disadvantaged Asian American applicants. However, since Stanley applied before the ruling, his family decided to take legal action against universities that had already banned race-based admissions.

The Zhongs have filed lawsuits against the University of California system, the University of Washington, and the University of Michigan, claiming these schools engaged in “racially discriminatory admissions practices that disadvantage highly qualified Asian-American applicants,” according to news oulet.

The lawsuit highlights the contrast between Stanley’s rejection from top universities and his hiring at Google for a role typically requiring a PhD. “[Stanley’s admissions] results stand in stark contrast to his receipt of a full-time job offer from Google for a position requiring a PhD degree or equivalent practical experience,” the lawsuit claims, as per the news report. “Stanley’s experience is emblematic of a broader pattern of racial discrimination against highly qualified Asian-American applicants at UC,” the lawsuit alleges.

The family is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and additional legal relief. “There’s nothing more un-American than this,” Nan said of the alleged discrimination. “I don’t really think [these schools] give a damn about the damage they’re doing to these kids.”

A fight for the next generation

Nan Zhong, an immigrant from China and a software engineer, says he is fighting not only for his son but for other Asian American students, including his younger son, who is 16.

“My other son is part of the reason we’re fighting this battle,” he told the news publication. “We’re doing this for other Asian kids, including my younger kid and my future grandkids.”

The family has struggled to find legal representation, with Nan claiming that lawyers leaning on the left refused to take the case, while right-leaning lawyers believed courts in states like California would be too biased. As a result, he is representing the family himself, using artificial intelligence to help outline legal complaints.

Stanley moves on with Google career

Following the college rejections, Stanley accepted Google’s job offer and has been working as a full-time software engineer since October. The New York Post reports that Google first attempted to recruit him when he was just 13, assuming his advanced online coding was the work of an adult.

While he has not ruled out attending college in the future, Stanley has stepped back from media attention due to online backlash over the lawsuits. His father, however, remains undeterred.

“We haven’t seen more cases like Stanley’s because the kind of open hostility towards Asian students standing up for their rights is unbelievable,” Nan said.

He continues to seek additional plaintiffs and university whistleblowers to strengthen his case. “This really damages their mental health, creating a sense of helplessness and hopelessness,” he said. “If you look at Stanley’s case as a reference point, even if you’re as good as somebody with a PhD degree, you still might not even get undergraduate admissions.”