> the overwhelming majority of the applicants are run-of-the-mill (say, "white male")

See, people keep saying this, but when I was in school (in the U.S.) - especially when I was in grad school in the mid 00's - I was the lone white male in a sea of Indians. My teachers were Indian. The TA's were Indian. My classmates were Indian. There was one class where there were two Americans, including me - and the other one was born to Indian immigrants.

And today, all my co-workers are Indian.