Prodigy with 1590 SAT score sues schools after non-admission

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Summary: A Palo Alto, California, father and son sued the UC, as well as Washington, Michigan, and Cornell after Stanley Zhong, hired by Google, was rejected by 16 of 18 colleges in 2023. On Aug. 7, 2026, a Seattle federal judge kept his Title VI claim against the University of Washington alive, opening discovery while dismissing other counts and Nan Zhong’s personal claims. The school cites competition and in-state priority. Liability is unproven.

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SEATTLE — In 2023, Stanley Zhong left Gunn High School in Palo Alto, California, with a 4.42 weighted GPA and a 1590 SAT score. Sixteen of the 18 colleges that reviewed his computer science applications said no. Google hired him anyway for software work that often lists a doctorate or equal experience as the bar.

The choice, in my opinion, is Marxism vs merit.

His father, Nan Zhong, a first-generation immigrant from China, treats that split as more than bad luck. Beginning in February 2025, father and son filed federal civil rights cases against the University of California system, the University of Washington, the University of Michigan, and Cornell University. They say race raised the hurdle for strong Asian American applicants, including Stanley.

Marxism seems to believe that intelligence and aptitude are social constructs.

From campus mail to four courthouses

The first complaint landed Feb. 11, 2025, in the Eastern District of California. The University of Washington suit followed Feb. 21 in Seattle. Michigan and Cornell cases were filed later that winter. The papers lean on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related claims. Nan Zhong also sued as next friend for a younger son.

Racial-balancing rules look to me like discrimination against Whites, sold as equity. The usual pitch is that Whites earn more, so they must be an oppressor bourgeois class. East Asian household income, which on average exceeds White household income, makes that story untenable.

Stanley had acceptances from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Maryland. He started at Texas, then took the Google role. Early filings were prepared without a firm after many lawyers passed; counsel later appeared on some dockets.

What the Seattle judge allowed

On Aug. 7, 2026, U.S. District Judge James L. Robart granted in part and denied in part the University of Washington’s motion to dismiss. Stanley’s Title VI claim against the university survives. Some damages claims against officials in their individual capacities, and a request for forward-looking injunctive relief, also remain. The judge dismissed Nan Zhong’s personal claims for lack of standing and dropped other counts under sovereign immunity.

The order is not a finding that the school broke the law. It holds only that the Title VI theory is plausible enough to go past the pleading stage.

Discovery, and the school’s reply

A university spokesperson said officials were pleased the court cut many claims and two of three plaintiffs. Admission to the computer science program is fiercely competitive, the school said, and Washington’s flagship campus gives preference to state residents over most out-of-state applicants.

Nan Zhong said the live claim lets the family seek internal admissions records. The university answered on Aug. 21, 2026. The California, Michigan, and New York cases continue on separate calendars.

The argument could be made that universities should be free to enroll whomever they want. Those that use a merit-based model will outpace those who prefer the far-left's notion of equity. The free market will solve the issue through something akin to natural selection.

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Suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Sources/related links:

Fox News, Aug. 29, 2026
CourtListener: Zhong v. University of Washington
Aug. 7, 2026 order (PDF)
Volokh Conspiracy / Reason
Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2025

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