<p>If there's AA for Muslims, I am sure many kids will change their religion to get into a college. Far fetched it may seem, It happens in many part of the worlds</p>
<p>But I edit my post, that's not the worst case. The worst case would be when college would start admitting Muhajadins(sp?) for diversity.</p>
<p>arabs are considered white when applying to college. same in the US census.</p>
<p>I think several ideas are mixed up in this thread. AA (Affirmative Action) is the American government's response to repair the discrimination against African-American people in this country, given the handicap of slavery followed by segregation in education, housing and jobs within this country.
If two applicants present equal merit, then choose the African American because s/he gained that equal merit DESPITE the hardships, so in that sense is actually the stronger of the two equals.</p>
<p>Diversity is a value held by colleges to have their campuses reflect the many different cultures, races, religions, gender orientations of this nation.
Anything or anybody that brings that quality onto a campus makes it a better place for everybody, because they'll have a chance to get to know somebody with that quality and story to share. Diversity can mean poor rural white background kids, or the wealthy sons of princes from another country. Anything so that the campus isn't looking like Kevin Jones from the suburbs who knows all about the mall. When K.J. gets out into the world of work, he'll be interacting with people of every race and religion, so if he can know somebody upclose during his college years, it'll bust up a lot of negative stereotypes held by K.J. </p>
<p>But just "being" something different, like arabic or cherokee or transgendered...doesn't offer anything by itself. If that background developed in the person some quality of human character (such as courage, compassion, humor, alertness to nature...) that the candidate can describe in an essay, then they would add this human character quality to the campus community.
If you are K.J. and can describe courage or compassion, that's just as wonderful as ahmed's courage or compassion. But who will decide to articulate it? Both should try, and if they both can do it, both will probably be viewed equally favorably. If ahmed lacks qualities, it doesn't matter that he's arabic, it's useless. Same with K.J.</p>
<p>As jags861 put it, being arabic(sic) is not a hook unless you're a diversity student. By diversity student, I mean somebody who has significant ECs regarding a certain group of people and/or bridging gaps.</p>
<p>"because s/he gained that equal merit DESPITE the hardships"</p>
<p>Those specific hardships where the hardships of the ancestors of the applicant, and should have absolutly no effect; do I get points for things my grandparents did? "Repairing" discrimination by more discrimination? Really good idea >.> So all African Americans automatically have suffered hardships but not other races?</p>
<p>"If you are K.J. and can describe courage or compassion, that's just as wonderful as ahmed's courage or compassion. But who will decide to articulate it? Both should try, and if they both can do it, both will probably be viewed equally favorably."</p>
<p>That directly contradicts your view that colleges want "diversity" if in the end "diversity" has no effect.</p>
<p>Can one be "arabic?" I thought one would be an "arab" and speak "arabic."</p>
<p>^^gadad, a person can be Arab and technically Arabic is the language spoken by Arabs. People sometimes get muddled up because Spanish/French refer both to the language and the nationality. </p>
<p>So by viewing the last view points I get the notion that the general agreement is that you must explain why being Arab makes you diverse in order to be considered "special" by Adcoms. Benefit in college apps due to "diversity" only occurs without expressed writing in your essay if you are African American. Is that correct?</p>
<p>i am also Lebanese, and i am just wondering if their might be an advantage between people from various parts of the middle east. for example, someone from Iraq vs. Lebanon. Im not sure if being Lebanese even gives you any advantage at all unless you somehow use it as a hook, like the way atomicbomb stated.</p>
<p>All I can think about is Sheed30's comment changing one's name to Mohammed to try get an edge in college admissions. You'd really have to change your last name too, though. Fatema Sweeney? Jamal Peterson? A good suggestion for the parents who buy Ivy League onesies for their babies.</p>
<p>Haha i think this thread is weird but pretty interesting. I'm Iraqi, and i definitely have conflicting thoughts about whether this would make a difference in admissions at all - and if so, whether it would help or hurt. I have tons of family in Iraq right now, and honestly I do think I would bring a valuable perspective to a campus as far as insight into current events, culture, etc. I'm applying early to yale - do you guys my ethnicity will have any effect?</p>
<p>Once again, I think if you incorporate your ethnicity effectively into your essays or something to emphasize your uniqueness, yes. If you simply say, "I'm Iraqi" they might just say "Who cares?"</p>
<p>Also, let's not get being Muslim mixed up with being Arab. There have been a a couple of white American Muslim students at my school, who are most definitely not Arab. (And, by the way, there are a good deal of Arabs who are not Muslim.) So the whole changing your name to Muhammad makes no sense. The idea of the ETHNICITY, not the religion, is what is being discussed. Anyway..</p>
<p>While this diverges slightly from the original question, Phedre brings in a good point too. Given that Islam is quite the minority in American colleges, I think that fact (regardless of ethnicy or national origin) can be a "hook" for diversity. People from different (i.e. non majority) backgrounds such as religious upbringings CAN and DO bring perspecitives valued by colleges.</p>
<p>BTW, I don't see this as a college "promoting" a religion. I would have loved to have had a muslim roommate.</p>
<p>Islam is not a minority really. Compared to average Americans, they are over-represented. This doesn't really even matter anyway, since they don't ask you this.</p>
<p>"Also, let's not get being Muslim mixed up with being Arab. There have been a a couple of white American Muslim students at my school, who are most definitely not Arab. (And, by the way, there are a good deal of Arabs who are not Muslim.) So the whole changing your name to Muhammad makes no sense. The idea of the ETHNICITY, not the religion, is what is being discussed. Anyway.."</p>
<p>Majority (Arabia + South Asia + many other) of Muslims (if not all) have/keep Arabic names, even if they aren't even remotely Arabs(I never figured out Why?). </p>
<p>There's no proof that American Mulsims are as disadvantaged as the African American group. If just changing your religion could get you a hook in College admission process, then I don't know what to say.</p>
<p>I think that there are three main factors that would aid you if you were arab, in order of importance.</p>
<ol>
<li>You speak the Arabic language fluently </li>
</ol>
<p>big bonus points, especially since Arabic is a language that is in fairly high demand but not widely spoken due to high difficulty. Also, if you Arabic is your mother tongue you will realize that nobody (sorry for the sweeping generalization but its for the most part true) who learns Arabic as a second language speaks without a heavy accent. On the admissions page on most universities (such as MIT), they say that speaking another language is helps you in the admissions process.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You have visited an arab country for a prolonged period of time and understand the origins and culture of your ethnic group. Knowing the history of your arab country helps as well (you can show this in your essay).</p></li>
<li><p>Both your parents are Arabic, and they have endured extreme hardships. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Here you must show how your parents' hardships have indirectly affected YOU, and show a knowledgeable understanding of your parents' struggles in your essay.</p>
<p>Hi Abhi: I'm not claiming that American Muslims are disadvantaged as a group. I'm just saying that they MIGHT bring to the table a set of perspectives and backgrounds that MIGHT be attractive to adcoms of schools wanting more diversity.</p>
<p>One reason Muslims have Arabic names is because the Qu'Ran is written in Arabic and its recitation in Arabic is a cornerstone of the faith.</p>
<p>This reminds me of a sad story.</p>
<p>A girl in my school that was part Arab (mother was an Iraqi immigrant) but grew up in the US in a middle class family in a white neighborhood, basically the same as everyone else, changed her name from the blatantly Anglo Saxon "Shelia" to some ethic Arab name and got into Harvard.</p>