<p>Hi! New dad to CC. My S is a senior, good grades (4.0), good test scores (35 ACT, 2300 SAT, AP scholar with distinction, lots of ECs. We think he has a good chance at the schools he is looking at but we're wondering if including "hispanic" on the application will improve his odds. My father is from Uruguay, his parents from Spain, so I am (technically) half hispanic and, thus, my S is 25% hispanic. We've always put "white" on anything asking for race/ethnicity (mainly because they limit you to one choice and the other piece of the ethnic makeup is primarily German) but have heard that being one-quarter hispanic is a legitimate percentage to permit one to claim hispanic when asked to check race/ethnicity. Here's where we feel some hypocrisy - we don't observe an hispanic cultural lifestyle and don't speak spanish in the home. But S's good friend, who is in a similar situation (grandmother is Mexican, so he is 25% hispanic, but otherwise the family lives a very anglo existence), fully intends to declare hispanic as his ethnicity when he applies to schools. We're wondering what advantage (if any) this will give him over someone who doesn't claim hispanic ethnicity. Are we "right" to encourage S to put hispanic if it will improve his profile in some way and is, technically, legitimate? So unsure ...</p>
<p>It really is up to you. At some schools it would improve his profile, at others no. And are you sure you don’t observe any hispanic culture? And the Common App will also list a different area for race .
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<p>Thanks, @Erin’s Dad. Aside from the few items of art we have from trips to Uruguay, Argentina, and Spain, and my strong preference for Mexican beer, I can’t say we include my Spanish heritage in any purposeful way into our daily lives. My father, on the other hand, prefers to read books in Spanish, watches movies and TV in Spanish, goes to local Latino festivals (lives in S FL) - to me, that is identifying as hispanic. I guess what we’re trying to reconcile is the biology vs. identity issue: how the fact that S is one-quarter hispanic genetically (country of origin) stacks up against the fact that we, as a family, identity as white/non-hispanic. Does the change in the Common App essentially sort this out for us, by separating the issue into 2 questions as you show above? Am I making a bigger issue out of this than I should? I go back and forth about this, especially now that S’s college prospects might hinge on it. Or maybe they won’t.</p>
<p>I was under the impression that caucasion is a race, but hispanic is an ethnicity, so you’re not limited to one or the other. I’d mark yes for both. Just because you haven’t explored your heritage before now doesn’t mean you can’t ever explore it. I bet your dad would love it.</p>
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<p>1/4 is totally legit, I wouldn’t give it a second thought.</p>
<p>My D told me about a girl who is 1/16th Argentine and was accepted to an all expenses paid diversity fly-in program at Johns Hopkins. That I would say is an ethical stretch. </p>
<p>@austinmshauri - I was wondering about that. There seems to be a movement to go away from “race” as a descriptor are use only ethnicity, but for now I’m gathering that both might be accurate. S would love to study abroad, especially in Uruguay or Spain, as part of exploring his heritage and, of course, dad is a huge supporter (as are we).</p>
<p>@ormdad - 1/16? Really? That does seem like a stretch. But good for her. Wow.</p>
<p>As a Mexican American, with both parents heritage as Mexican and Native American (tex-mex), the URM designation didn’t make a difference because my kids happened to apply to and attend schools that did not use affirmative action. These were schools that “everyone” wanted to attend. The schools that wanted my National merit winner (DS), this year, were in locales that he wouldn’t have considered attending.<br>
My eldest dd applied in 2007-2008 to Johns Hopkins, she got in, but they didn’t offer a dime.<br>
Yes, my children are exposed to my lifestyle and Spanish-speaking relatives, on a daily basis, so they haven’t really had to “explore” far from home to study their culture. 1/16 Hispanic is cheating. Those of us that are honest about our heritage, understand that ¼ still has familial cultural attachments, but 1/16 borders on abusing the situation.</p>
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<p>Is the above new to the CA? I don’t recall it being there before.</p>
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My father, on the other hand, prefers to read books in Spanish, watches movies and TV in Spanish, goes to local Latino festivals (lives in S FL)
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<p>Sounds like if your DAD were applying to colleges, he would select Hispanic. Your son, not so much. </p>
<p>The purpose is to add ethnic diversity/flavor to a school and to add likely a disadvantaged student to the campus. Having a child on campus who happens to have 1/4 ethnicity that he has not been a part of his lifestyle/household adds nothing to the school. </p>
<p>My cousin’s son faced this when he was applying to top schools. His mom is half Hispanic (appears white), but was raised in an upper-middle class white culture (her mom is white and her hispanic dad’s family has been in this country for 4 generations and he speaks no spanish). So, cousin’s son is technically 1/4 hispanic, raised in the white culture, and not economically disadvantaged at all (dad major airline pilot, mom attorney). </p>
<p>In cases like this, to claim some kind of ethnic advantage really stinks. Save it for the kids who truly live/breathe their URM status. </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids - you have hit the nail on the head of our dilemma. I agree that, on the surface, my S’s 1/4 hispanic-ness adds little, if anything, to the ethnic diversity of a campus. But it is a demographic he can legitimately claim, and the institutions allow it (the cutoff point from everything we’ve read is 1/4). Whether he should or not is what we’re grappling with, when we KNOW for a fact others in our position are doing it. Do we sit back and tell S to not claim what he is? </p>
<p>As an aside, Dad (a PhD) taught at the college level for decades and is supportive of S claiming that part of his heritage on an application. Just adding to our confusion. </p>
<p>@G8rDad , that decision will ultimately have to come from your family. My daughter grew up with two kids who she never knew had a Hispanic “connection” until college application time :)</p>
<p>IMO, it is not your doing that an Adcom might give consideration to marking Hispanic on the application. If the question is answered honestly, you have not done anything wrong. It is not your job to fix the possible mistakes in the application process. That said, I understand why it makes you feel uncomfortable, and I have to admit that I take a certain pleasure in knowing that DS was accepted at his first choice without any hooks. However, if I were in your situation, I would recommend that my child mark Hispanic. </p>
<p>I really doubt it matters much to the adcom. Unless your son declares that he is from an underprivileged immigrant background in his essays or if his school is in a heavily Hispanic area, declaring Hispanic won’t help him much. My D’s very close friend is Hispanic but doesn’t even speak Spanish and I know she declared Hispanic on her college and grad school application and she got into schools with her academic records and being Hispanic did not get her into any reach schools.
Don’t forget there may be an interview where ambivalence can be verified.</p>
<p>My family is Irish and my spouse’s is Italian. My kids would have to go back at least 4 generations to get to an ancestor who was born in the old country, yet my children identify as Irish and Italian. Your the child of an immigrant so your ties to your ancestor’s homeland are much stronger. I agree that these classifications were intended to help families who haven’t been in this country very long, and probably the less affluent ones at that, but you are what you are. You may not identify as hispanic, but it sounds like your son does. Unless he’s applying to schools that don’t take finances into account for admissions, they’ll know your income anyway, won’t they? I don’t believe that people who know nothing about their heritage and have no interest in it should check an URM status just because 100 years ago they had an ancestor who was part of that group. But your family’s situation doesn’t strike me as being one of those.</p>
<p>My kids are 25% Asian. Of course, that may not be an advantage, but they always put down Asian and Caucasian. Although we live very traditional ‘white’ culture, my kids grew up in a large close knit family of Chinese speaking cousins. They identify with the ‘cousins’ as we call them and laugh often as we are the only table at the weddings handed the forks, and their favorite part of growing up was being the ‘white kids’ who helped out in the family Chinese restaurant. My kids consider themselves to be multicultural and I don’t think there is anything wrong with putting it down on the applications. We asked at nearly every school that we visited what their opinion was, and we always get the same answer. Which family do you relate to? How do you see yourself? There is no right and wrong answer. Choose the option that best describes you. LOL. Will we bring diversity to the campuses? Unlikely. Definitely a different perspective but I would think that nearly every kid, independent of his culture would bring a different perspective.</p>
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<p>They still do that, rather than assuming that all people know how to use chopsticks?</p>