To Americans (especially American college admissions offices), the stereotypical Chinese student is highly intelligent when it comes to math and engineering, and is a great test taker, but lacks creativity. He has spent his entire life going to school and studying at the behest of over-bearing “tiger parents” and as a result, doesn’t have a social life or personality. He plays the piano and badminton, but only to develop his extra-curricular activities, not because he actually likes it. He is not physically strong, but never fat either. If he has any hobbies at all (and most Chinese students don’t), it’s watching anime or playing League of Legends, and even then, the Chinese student isn’t actually passionate about either of them, he just uses them to relax from his consummate studies.
Of course this is an exaggeration compared to reality, but there are elements of truth to it. I have certainly seen a few students who fit this mold as a college application consultant in China, and during my time studying at the University of Chicago.
So for Chinese students applying to American colleges, one of the most important pieces of advice I can give is to try to avoid this stereotype. Grades are extremely important of course, but American colleges are sick of the boring Asian student without a personality. So don’t just obsess over school, also try to develop your passions and personal ambitions both for the sake of getting into college and for your own happiness.
EDIT - Some additional comments I want to make based on feedback I have received:
As I stated in the original answer, this is the "stereotypical" view of Chinese students from an academic perspective. There are elements of truth to it, but it is not an accurate representation of what Chinese students are actually like. I have personally worked with dozens of Chinese students on their college applications and the vast majority of them have been as varied and interesting as any other group of students in America or the rest of the world.
That being said, from the perspective of admissions offices (especially undergrads), it can be difficult to distinguish between students based purely on the application process. "On paper" Chinese students tend to look rather similar: high math scores, plays the piano, plays badminton or tennis, wants to major in business or math, similar volunteer activities (a lot of major Chinese cities mandate that Chinese students do volunteer work so students do them together), etc.
Very different and interesting individual Chinese students often end up looking the same "on paper" in the application process because they share these common background elements. So I always stress with the Chinese students I work with that they should try to differentiate themselves. Yes, getting good grades will always be important, but especially for top 30 American schools, often getting good grades is not enough to get entry. I have seen many excellent students with high SAT scores fail to get into schools where the average score is lower than theirs. On the other hand, I've also seen students with relatively low scores get into schools with higher averages but creating an application which demonstrates their unique characteristics.
So the take away from this answer is not "all Chinese students are the same" or "grades don't matter," rather, the take away should be that Chinese students need to try extra hard to show off their individual personalities so they can break the stereotypes and get into top American schools.
EDIT 2 - A lot of people seem to have a problem with my answer because of a misunderstanding over the word, "stereotype." Here is the textbook definition of "stereotype" to clear up the misunderstanding:
"a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing."
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