<p>My question has probably been answered before but the ethnicity/race question on college applications is still confusing my kids. My children are 1/2 Mexican (Great Grandparents born in Mexico) and 1/2 white (European descent). </p>
<p>The questions posed is:</p>
<p>Are you Hispanic or Latino? yes or no
Indicate your race? White, black, etc.</p>
<p>Will answering or not answering these questions help or hurt your chances for college admission? I did not see any benefit to my firstborn son who checked the Hispanic box. He is a Freshman in college. My daughter is now facing the same questions in the college application process.</p>
<p>Answering these questions is totally optional, not answering the questions will not affect your college admissions. However, answering that you are Hispanic can help in college admissions.</p>
<p>Being Hispanic is generally acknowledged as a hook in college admissions because many schools are looking for diversity. This advantage may be large or small, depending on other factors including, but not limited to: the individual school, the accomplishments of the student, demographics of the student, SES. I have never heard that marking Hispanic is in any way a disadvantage in college admissions.</p>
<p>Without further details, I can’t speculate about why your S didn’t seem to benefit from being Hispanic. Reflecting on the factors mentioned above: schools value diversity to differing degrees, and some public colleges cannot by law use race & ethnicity as an admissions factor; race & ethnicity generally cannot help a candidate gain acceptance to a school where they are not academically qualified (although some lee way can be given for SES and personal circumstances); schools often look for a students Hispanic background to show beyond checking the box, they look for signs of their cultural links in their academics, ECs, essay, etc.</p>
<p>My advice is always to answer honestly, if your D considers herself Hispanic, then she should mark her applications accordingly.</p>
<p>Please see the sticky threads at the top of this forum for a further discussion of ethnicity & race and many helpful resources for Hispanic students.</p>
<p>And finally, welcome to CC and the Hispanic Students forum!</p>