<p>Let's say I am 1/4 or 1/8 Native American, but I have no documents to prove it. The common app says to chose what you identify yourself as and lets you check more than one box. When I put Native American, it asks what tribe, then it asks whether you are enrolled..and you can simply put no.</p>
<p>So won't putting that I'm Native American (even though I'm not enrolled and part white) help with my admission chances?</p>
<p>It would, but it’s sort of a nasty thing to do. If you consider yourself white put white.
If you consider yourself Native American only for the purpose of college admissions shame on you.
You could get rescinded if you are accepted and it comes out you aren’t Native American, colleges do look into it. Read up on honor codes.</p>
<p>I would put down white</p>
<p>The CA’s question isn’t asking what ethnicity you are by blood; rather, what you identify yourself as. So, for example, you could (in theory**) be 100% white and identify yourself as Native American - if you had lived with and/or identified the tribe’s cultures as your own.</p>
<p>It would be wrong to say that you identify yourself as Native American just because you had a great grandparent (or similar) who was Native American.</p>
<p>**I’m really not sure whether that would be considered falsifying information, but just in case anybody is thinking about doing something similar to my example, this is a disclaimer.</p>
<p>God, the depths society has come to so they can get an extra edge into college? NO. If you have the last name smith, and your parents have steady jobs, it will only hurt you.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with putting down Native American if you are 1/4. That is more enough for tribal enrollment in most cases. The question is whether you affiliate with the tribe culturally. If the connection is important to you, put it down. That is the standard for the U.S. Census Bureau. Only the individual can decide.</p>
<p>Reality: it depends on the college. Those in areas with plenty of NA tend to want more proof, out of fairness to others. Others will want evidence you do more than claim. Blood relations are just the start. Each tribe defines requirements differently. And then there is the cultural association. And, more. Colleges are a bit more savvy about this than many hs kids.</p>
<p>Based on the way you have phrased the question, I suspect you’re fishing for a hook.</p>
<p>Question: What’s the largest Native American tribe in the US?</p>
<p>Answer: the Wannabes - white people wishing and hoping they can find some mythical “Indian princess” who was their great, great grandmother who can now come back from the dead and help them get into college.</p>
<p>Coureur wins the thread!</p>
<p>It’s a legitimate question. Glido is correct. They are asking how you identify yourself, even if you are 1/4 or 1/8 Native American. My MIL was 1/4 Native American, but she considered herself caucasian. I think insinuating that those who are 1/4 or 1/8 Native American are “wannabes” is a little harsh.</p>
<p>It can legitimately be 1/16. Depends on the tribe. But OP sounds suspiciously vague.</p>
<p>FYI Native American Michigan residents:
“The Michigan Indian Tuition Waiver program
provides free tuition for Native American
students who are residents of the state and who
are attending a Michigan public university. In
order to qualify for the program, students must
be certified by their own tribal organization or
home Bureau of Indian Affairs Agency as being
at least one-quarter North American Indian” taken from:
<a href=“U-M Web Hosting”>U-M Web Hosting;
<p>Read the “Hispanic” entry here:</p>
<p>[Ask</a> The Dean](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/]Ask”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/)</p>
<p>As far as percentage, I think there is a legal definition as to what percentage qualifies. You’ll have to do some research.</p>
<p>I agree with the Dean, that if you can legimately claim it, you should.</p>
<p>If you have to ask whether you are a Native American or not then the answer is you aren’t. If you had been raised as, and had been identifying yourself as, a member of a Native American tribe all this time you would know that and the answer would be clear. </p>
<p>If you suddenly and conveniently discover your Native American roots when it’s time to apply to college you’re a Wannabe.</p>
<p>What have you been putting as your race on all of the paperwork in HS for that past 4 years? Go with that.</p>
<p>^^Op was not asking if he/she was Native American. Who said it was suddenly or conveniently discovered? OP asks a fair question, although may not be answer hoping for. Documentation of some sort is most likely required, but OP has every right to investigate a school’s policy, as well as his or her own heritage.</p>
<p>OhioMom, on another thread, OP asks the same question, but about whether choosing a less popular major can have a positive effect on your admission. OP does not say this is an identity he has been aware of. New poster and awol. I have done the identity research for relatives who are not officially enrolled but have documentation- and I work for a U. Sorry, but it just sounds odd.</p>
<p>My son’s girlfriend’s father is Native American but was adopted by a Jewish couple. Apparently, the rules are such that he did not have to give up his Indian identity. He and his children all have BIA cards. My son informs me that this will have wonderful benefits for them and their children should they marry in the future. Oh, JOY! They are 18 and 21 years old.</p>
<p>As for putting it on your app without being able to document it, I would think really hard about that. Try ancestry.com to see if you can get legitimate documents; otherwise, don’t take a chance.</p>
<p>What I’m unclear on is how you could be 1/4 Native American but not have documents to prove it. I mean I can see how you might not be enrolled in a tribe, but surely you can document who your parents and grandparents are/were.</p>
<p>Anyway, the fact that you CAN’T document it sort of suggests being Native American is not, or hasn’t been, central to your identity. It’s a little unseemly to start claiming it for the first time on your college applications.</p>
<p>If 1/16 will qualify, then why not 1/32? That seems rather arbitrary and exclusionary. So one could qualify as a Native American, and his child couldn’t? Where’s the fairness in that?</p>
<p>bclintonk - I couldn’t prove a darn thing about at least 2 of my 4 grandparents, and probably not for 3 of 4. We all come from different backgrounds.</p>