So the OP can claim next to be Chamorro so he can combine the best of Pacific Islander and Hispanic?
Sounds facetious I know, but don’t game the system for a college acceptance.
And in another post you say that you are the kid of a faculty member. So what’s up with finding so called hooks?
I view that as the “Let’s throw crap against the wall and see what sticks” approach to college admissions. Folly, IMO.
I posted that when i was in 8th grade. Im not using the hispanic or dad thing. Those, to be fair, were me as an obnoxious 8th grader (or maybe 9th grade I don’t remember, but it has been a while) wanting an edge after I read a bunch of articles about college admissions. Anyway we did actually check our heritage stuff and I’m 1/8 pacific islander. I can send you photos of me before I dyed my hair and of my grandmother. trust me, it’s very visible. But do you think I should bother putting down that I’m pacific islander at this point? I got a 1520 on my sat which is enough that I’m no longer that worried about college acceptances ( I don’t remember what younger me wanted to do, but currently I’m not aiming for anything like Ivy league) and I’m wondering if putting down mixed race would work against me (1. I feel like some people prefer white people/think they’re smarter so it might make my chances lower, or 2. they might think I’m trying to game the system. Which I’m really not at this point, and I don’t need any scholarships because the combination of my parents and my parents’ jobs - weird benefit- will cover my tuition for all four years, it’s just that I had an identity crisis earlier this year and listen, if I had blonde hair and blue eyes or even green eyes or hazel eyes I would just say I’m white but I have black freaking eyes which i HATE and I have had more than one spiral of self hate where I wanted to lighten them w/bleach or get eye surgery or something so I feel like I deserve to claim being maori at this point just based on how crappy my maori heritage has made me feel. this probably seems like a ridiculous first world problem but trust me it genuinely has really messed w/me and caused me a lot of misery). Anyway, it doesn’t really matter either way
A couple of months ago you were proud of your heritage. Why does it make you feel horrible now?
It could be both. Feelings are complicated things when you’re growing up.
Be honest about who you are and I think you’ll do well.
My DD’s grandmother is 100% hispanic. In the National Hispanic Recognition Program, you have to be 25% Hispanic to qualify. One of my DD identifies as hispanic in her background and applied for this program. THe other one doesn’t and did not.
Hair and eye color have no bearing on race or ethnicity. My blue-eyed and blond(e) (before it turned white) great-grandparents who have lived in South America for all of their 90+ years would take great exception to not being considered Hispanic/Latin@
In terms of what box to check, my advice remains the same - you are physically capable of checking whatever box you want. Whether that means anything to the colleges is a different question entirely.
The Common Apps’s standards for answering the question are a bit more on the touchy-feely side.
https://appsupport.commonapp.org/applicantsupport/s/article/Why-do-you-ask-about-ethnicity
“…The ethnicity question on the Common Application has been updated to meet the Department of Education reporting requirements. Answers to the ethnicity question are not required for submission. If you choose to answer this question, you may provide whatever answer you feel best applies to you or any groups of which you feel you are a part…”
@tdy123 Thanks for this. I agree about “touchy-feely”, but it still seems like an improvement. Since everyone agrees that genetics and appearance don’t define us, what’s left is more of an “ethnicity” self-classification. But then I wonder, does this open the door for a Rachel Dolezal to say she is black because she “identifies” as black? The way I read that link you posted, it seems like the answer is “yes”.
@damon30. Absolutely. Hence the growing cultural appropriation vs. personal identification wars.