Hey guys,
my Grandmother was Mexican, and she is my only hispanic grandparent. I don’t even know if she was fully Mexican, and I have not been influenced by her culture.
Despite this and also being half asian, I’ve always identified as white. I have a caucasian last name, I go to a dominantly white school, and I live in a white part of town. Because of this, I will identify as white and not hispanic on the common app’s “identity” question.
However, should I check "yes"when the common app asks whether I’m hispanic or not in the race question before? I am possibly less than 25% hispanic, so is checking it deceitful or manipulative? And if not, would it help me?
Any help would be great, thanks.
Hispanic can be ANY race
Kawlej: Looking at the way you have seemingly stepped away from ownership of any identity and comfort with being identified as anything other than white, the question of principle and personal ethics may help you make your decision. Your parents, assuming they would be responsible for meeting a financial obligation to any college you attend, may be a different mindset altogether, however.
I thought it interesting that you wrote [small ‘m’]’ “my Grandmother,” “her culture,” “despite this,” “half asian” and “less than 25% hispanic,” and still questioned of others which would be the correct thing to do.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it…
Talk it out with your parents.
That’s a pretty broad statement. I don’t think that’s how it works, exactly. Hispanic in the context that AOs are asking (like this case) refer to a certain race, not the ethnicity. So yes, any race can be Hispanic, provided they are from the culture, but I think they’re asking more for the race which is usually associated with Hispanic (i.e. brown skin).
just check everything - white, asian, and hispanic. No need to pick only one when you are clearly multiracial.
Hispanic people can be of any color. The US Census, The Common Application and many schools’ own applications ask if the person is Hispanic or Latino separately from what race(s) s/he is.
Just answer truthfully, which is you are multiracial. Hispanic = yes, then check all the boxes that apply. This isn’t a moral dilemma. They want you to answer the question accurately. Each school will decide what value they will place on your answer.
You are being naive. Colleges have to report numbers to the US Dept of Education. Anything u do to enable them to count u as a URM better enables them to meet their diversity targets. It’s all about numbers.
I don’t think it will give you an edge, if that is what you were going for.
Consider the rules for NHRP Follow the link if you did not check ‘Hispanic’ on the PSAT
NHRP’s Definition of Hispanic/Latino
To be eligible, you must be at least one-quarter Hispanic/Latino. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnic category, not a racial category, so you can be of any race.
You must have ancestors from at least one of these countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay, or Venezuela.
I wonder why Portugal is excluded if Spain and Brazil are included.
As a white Latina, whatever you’re race is doesn’t matter when you identify as Hispanic/Latino. In fact, there are a good number of Colombians and Venezuelans that were born in those countries and are also Asian.
@TooOld4School The reasons for that are:
- Hispanic means Spanish speaking so it’d be weird not to include Spain.
- Latin American is a region of the Americas where Romance Languages are spoken so Brazilians are also Latin Americans.
My question is why isn’t Haiti included even the the neighboring Dominican Republic is included as well as the non-Spanish speaking Brazil is.