Teen Genius Rejected By 16 US Colleges Despite Google Job Offer At 13, Sues For Racial Bias

Last Updated:March 06, 2025, 10:53 IST

Stanley Zhong, 19, is a tech genius who is among only 2,000 students in the US with an SAT score of over 1590 and even has his own startup. He received a full-time job offer from Google at 13.

Stanley Zhong, 19, received a full-time job offer at Google at the age of 13. (Photo: X)

A teenage genius, who received outstanding grades and was offered a “PhD-level" job at Google before graduating from high school, was rejected by at least 16 universities, prompting him to take legal action against alleged discrimination as an Asian-American.

Stanley Zhong, now 19, has an enviable academic record. He is among only 2,000 students in high school who scored 1590 or higher on the SAT of more than 2 million students who take the test every year. His high school GPA was 4.42 on a 4.0 scale and a had a job offer at the mere age of 13.

The teenager had also managed his own startup – an e-document signature platform called Rabbit-Sign – in high school. The teenager was expected to study in prestigious universities like Harvard or MIT.

However, shock and disappointment struck the Zhong family in 2023 when Stanley was rejected by a slew of colleges – such as the Cornell University, MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, UCSD, UCSB, the University of Illinois, the University of Michigan, the University of Washington and the University of Wisconsin – according to the New York Post.

Stanley was only accepted by the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Maryland, which have 31% and 44% admission rates, leaving Stanley’s father, Nan Zhong, in astonishment.

Why Has Stanley Taken Legal Action?

Stanley and his father, an immigrant from China and a software engineer, have filed a lawsuit against the University of California system and the University of Washington, alleging that the schools engaged in “racially discriminatory admissions practices that disadvantage highly qualified Asian-American applicants".

“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," Nan told The Post. “ut then when the rejections rolled in one after another, I was dumbfounded. What started with surprise turned into frustration and then finally it turned into anger."

The shocking rejections convinced the Zhongs that the whiz kid was being discriminated against, and they decided to take the schools to court, calling it “un-American". The lawsuit mentions Stanley’s full-time job offer at Google and says his experience is “emblematic of a broader pattern of racial discrimination against highly qualified Asian-American applicants at UC."

They are seeking compensatory and punitive damages and “such other and further relief as (the) court deems just and proper." The family also recently filed another suit against the University of Michigan, which the court clerk is processing.

The Zhongs decided to sue colleges located in states that had pre-existing laws prohibiting racial discrimination in admissions. The US Supreme Court outlawed affirmative action in college admissions in June 2023, finding that Asian students were systemically overlooked in the admissions process.

Colleges Respond To Stanley’s Lawsuit

Meanwhile, the University of Washington responded to the lawsuit, defending its admissions process. “The UW stands behind its admissions process, and we have long recognized that our capacity is limited and we are not able to admit some very talented and capable applicants. We are reviewing the lawsuit," Victor Balta of the university told The Post.

A representative for the University of Michigan said it had not yet received the lawsuit. Nan also said that he was “very much concerned" over the career prospects of his other 16-year-old son. “We’re doing this for other Asian kids, including my younger kid and my future grandkids," he added.

Notably, Stanley has been working as a full-time software engineer for Google since October. He was first offered the job at the 13 due to his advanced coding, which made Google think he must be an adult.

Several colleges in the US have been accused of exploiting loopholes to manipulate racial demographics of incoming classes in spite of the Supreme Court’s ruling, often artificially suppressing Asian American numbers.

Affirmative action in college admissions has been banned at public universities in California since 1996.

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

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