This article reports findings from a case study designed to explore, compare, and describe a selected group of Asian American students' entry perspectives, expectations, and preservice socialization experiences in teacher education, medical, and law schools in a large state university. The study shows that all Asian American students chose to enter the human service professions primarily for humanistic and altruistic reasons and that they were sensitive to diversity issues. However, they were not sufficiently self-conscious of their own obligations to serve as role models for minority children and youth, and nothing in their formal or informal socialization experiences deliberately cultivated such awareness. In addition, many of them felt alienated from the mainstream faculty and field advisers. Findings from this study have strong implications for improving the recruitment and preparation of minority students in professional schools.
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