Okay so my mom’s side of the family is Italian. But her mom (my maternal grandmother) has family in Argentina and grew up there (although was born in Italy), and lived there for about 18 years before moving to Canada and marrying my grandfather. I know that if you’re 1/4 Hispanic, you can apply, but does this count? The only reason I want to is because I was partially raised by my grandmother for the first few years of my life and her Hispanic culture definitely impacted my life. She spoke both spanish and italian to me, and (even though this is slightly graphic) would often buy live animals from a farm where she would slaughter in our garage to be eaten later that day, (she was raised on a farm in Argentina). I have visited my family there several times.
I’m not trying to sound super technical, but I want to make sure that im being honest on my application. I truly feel like Hispnic culture has impacted my life, although I’m worried that if they “look into it” they will think I’m lying.
Do you speak Spanish? Does anyone in your immediate family speak Spanish?
They don’t have to speak Spanish.
Hispanic is an ethnicity, not a race, so it doesn’t matter if your grandma was born in Italy. If you identify as Hispanic, and it sounds like your family does, then apply as Hispanic.
That does not make you hispanic. Nor does not speaking Spanish make one non-hispanic.
Neither does this. LOL.
While some scholarships have a blood quantum definition, few, if any, colleges do. If you identify as hispanic, check the box.
Whether the college will use that information for anything other than demographic info is totally up to the individual college (unless precluded by state law).
Just to clarify my earlier comment, the word Hispanic literally means “of or relating to Spanish-speaking countries”. So, Brazilians aren’t Hispanic, but Spanish people are. I asked because if the answer was yes, then I’d say you should definitely apply as Hispanic. If the answer was no, then I don’t know what you should do. I agree with @skieurope that you should do whatever you most identify with.
Getting off-track, but the Brazilian question is a tricky one (and has been covered in other threads), and the phrasing of the Common App asks “Are you Hispanic or Latino?” I, personally, would have no issue with a Brazilian checking “yes”
Semantics aside, a student of Japanese descent born and raised in Hawaii, but speaking Spanish, is not Hispanic, IMO. I would be really careful when advising students on this sensitive topic.