My moms parents both immigrated here from Argentina. However, I am white (and Jewish), and her parents, although born in Argentina, descend from Polish immigrants. I am conflicted as to if I should apply as Hispanic. What do you think?
No
Incorrect. The answer is yes. There are plenty of white, Hispanic Jews who ended up in South America.
@arc918 But the OP has no “Hispanic” genes.
It’s an ethnicity, not a race. So the question isn’t genes but culture/tradition.
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.
Not sure exactly what “Hispanic” genes are.
Per the NHRP definition, one is Hispanic based on the country of birth, regardless of how/when they arrived in that country.
Ditto @arc918
OP can absolutely check the box for Hispanic by definition. Grandparents from Argentina, regardless of where their family originally immigrated from, still “counts” for NHRP, for the US census, and for the Common App and/or for the self-identifying ethnicity questions on college applications.
On the Common App, AFTER you check yes for Hispanic, there are additional drop down menus that ask you to identify regarding race, origin, etc, so OP will actually be able to note Caucasian and European origin.
Whatever those are.
Yup, the OP is Hispanic. Argentina is filled with blond(e)-haired, blue-eyed people whose ancestors emigrated from Europe (including my grandma, but I digress); they’re all latin@.
There are so many hispanic applicants to the schools now that it doesn’t really matter what the OP marks and it isn’t much of a hook in states that already have huge hispanic populations.
My neighbor is descended from German grandparents who arrived in South America shortly after WWII. Yep, blond hair and blue-eyed Paraguayan.
As noted you can mark Hispanic but if you don’t have any Hispanic culture that you can write about then it probably will not do you much good. Are you bi-lingual? Have you traveled and spent time with the Grandparents in Argentina?
If you self-identify as Hispanic, then you are Hispanic.
Lots of Germans and Poles in Argentina and elsewhere. Just about everyone in Argentina is from European roots. Definitely apply as Hispanic.