<p>I am half Indian (India Indian) and half caribbean. Am I given the advantage the AAs and Hispanics have in the college admissions process or am I put at a disadvantage like most other asians?? Am I URM or ORM?</p>
<p>You cancel your self out XD…</p>
<p>No, I imagine that whatever you identify yourself with is what a college would consider you. You can put either. Another plus is that its a pretty unusual heritage so you get a double bonus for diversity.</p>
<p>thanks for the insight 
bumpiddy bump</p>
<p>Caribbean refers to a group of countries, not all of which have Hispanic cultures. Cuba, PR & the DR are the most ethically Hispanic of the group. Remember, the CA asks two questions. First are you Hispanic (Y/N)? And second, regardless of what you answered for the first question, what is your race(s) (NA, Asian, AA, PI and white)?</p>
<p>If you self-identify as Hispanic and/or AA, you will be considered a URM despite the fact that you also self-identify as Asian. However, do understand that the degree of possible advantage your URM standing gives you is likely going to be affected by many other factors such as SES, overcoming adversity, association with your Hispanic or AA heritage, etc.</p>
<p>Okay cool 
My paternal ancestors were Hindus in the Trinidad/Tobago Islands, which I believe do not have Hispanic cultures. And as for the degree of advantage of my URM status, I have moved from America to India for my first two years of high school and back for my last. I feel as though my essays sufficiently illustrate the adversity I’ve had to overcome.</p>
<p>Thanks! :)</p>
<p>Haha cool! My parents are from Trinidad too :)</p>
<p>Well really Caribbean is not a race so it depends on if your Trinidadian parent is of black or Indian ancestry. If black then you might get the so called URM “hook”. However maybe mentioning how your unique heritage has influenced your life would help. Trinidad’s a pretty awesome and unique place :D</p>
<p>You’re not even black, FYI, so you can’t say that you’re black. Your Indian ancestors’ living in a predominately Indian country (look it up, Indians are the majority) does not make them black. My dad lived in Alaska but that doesn’t give me the advantage of being from a poorly-represented state. Also, Trinidad & Tobago is not a Hispanic nation, so you’re not Hispanic either. You’re Asian.</p>
<p>(I’m just assuming that your ancestors from Trinidad & Tobago were Indian to begin with, you’ve made it seem as if they were)</p>
<p>EDIT: <a href=“Hinduism in Trinidad and Tobago - Wikipedia”>Hinduism in Trinidad and Tobago - Wikipedia;
<p>You’re most likely a descendant of East Indians, especially considering nearly no blacks in Trinidad and Tobago converted to Hinduism. So you are not black. Or Hispanic. You are Asian, and you’d be lying about your heritage if you tried to twist things and say otherwise.</p>
<p>Don’t check Asian! They will assume by default you are Far East Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) and that really will put you at a disadvantage. </p>
<p>Check “other” and write in “Indian” and for religion check “Hindi”. This is what Middle Easterners, otherwise “Caucasians”, often do.</p>
<p>Admissions is always looking for diversity and Hindus are in fact underrepresented and an exciting cultural addition to a campus.</p>
<p>No, they’re not, Indians are just as overrepresented at top colleges as East Asians are. Have you noticed how many overachieving Indian students are here?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Basajaun, please read carefully what the OP stated earlier, one parent is Indian and the other is AA from T&T.</p>
<p>Well, I think OP needs to clarify. His first post says “afro,” but in a later post he says his paternal ancestors were Hindus in Trinidad–if so, they are still Asians. What are his maternal ancestors? If they are Indians, then he’s an Asian. If they are black Trinidadians, then he’s partly black. I don’t see any Hispanic in there.</p>
<p>Oh my gosh there are woefully uninformed statements and opinions on this thread.</p>
<p>Such as…African Asian heritage in the Caribbean islands “is a pretty unusual heritage.” Absolutely INCORRECT. Asians from the subcontinent (i.e. India) have resided on many Caribbean islands for at least 150 years. Same goes for the Chinese. Of course there were and continues to be social relations and intermarriage between these two immigrant groups and the descendants of Africans on these islands. The concept of race and ethnicity can be very different in the Caribbean region, as opposed to the lingering tribalism in the American experience.</p>
<p>And to the OP…in the United States you are essentially whatever you proclaim to be[within a reasonable standard, of course] ethnically speaking. Now doing so to acrue some extra benefit, well that can be another matter, oblivously.</p>
<p>You can pick one of them. Don’t list that you’re Asian, since you don’t have to.</p>
<p>Sorry Hunt, I missed that comment and agree that the OP needs to define their ancestory clearly.</p>
<p>-LakeWashington
Don’t take everything posted as a statement of fact. I say “pretty unusual” based on my own experience. I’ve never met someone with that combination of backgrounds. And although it may be common in the actual area, the Caribbean, it may not at some of the colleges the OP is applying to and thus he (or she) would be “unusual.” </p>
<p>And the OP did not say he or she LIVED in the Caribbean, only that he/she has ancestry from that area, so for him/her it could be unusual as well (depending on the actual ancestry, if its simply a Hindu living in Trinidad that was the ancestor, then obviously its less “diverse” than a black Trinidadian- not sure if that’s the correct term…- being the ancestor… But even if it’s a Hindu marrying a Hindu, if one side carries the culture from Trinidad it adds “diversity”). In fact, because the OP has said that he/she lived in both India and America, but never the Caribbean, then the definitions of “unusual” you mentioned as being less applicable in the Caribbean region because of a different understanding of race, are not applicable to the OP. </p>
<p>Definitions, especially concerning something very debatable and/or personal like race, are relative. As you’ve pointed out. So don’t assume I made an “incorrect” statement because in the Caribbean such heritages are not uncommon. To me, to possibly the OP and adcoms, it may very well be. </p>
<p>Hope that made as much sense typed out as it did in my head. Apologies for any typos.</p>
<p>Nope, that didn’t make much sense at all.</p>
<p>While there may be Afro-Asian people in the Caribbean, the OP hasn’t really indicated that he is such a person. Simply living in a Caribbean, or even African, country doesn’t give you an African heritage for college purposes if your parentage is Asian.</p>
<p>To be more concise, what I define as uncommon or what the OP or adcoms define as uncommon may be the same as what could be considered “not uncommon” in the Caribbean. So it doesn’t matter (as much) whether or not its “correct” to say that being part Indian and part Caribbean is “pretty unusual” because an adcom will define “unusual” based not on the region where the applicant in question is from, but rather on where the college is, what the college needs, and what the adcom has experienced.</p>
<p>Note that OP says his paternal ancestors–apparently not his father–were Indians in the Caribbean. He himself has lived only in the U.S. and India. There may be something in that background that makes him unusual, but he’s going to have to explain it.</p>
<p>HEYYYYY
sorry to awake a dead thread
but I’ve just been inundated with application stuff and school work, so yeah…
I’ve just went over what everyone has posted and thanks for replying!
It seems that the main issue is whether I actually AM part asian part black rather than having ancestors who were slaves there.
I just checked with my extended family and I am actually part asian part black. As in a number of my indian ancestors copulated and had offspring with carribean natives. Since then, my family has branched off into a multi-racial family, but my side of the family has remained either black or indian (mostly indian)
So yeah
If you could tell me if I’d get as much of a URM boost as hispanics and other blacks that would be great :)</p>