<p>How do colleges verify a person's ethnicity? I mean, whats stopping a non URM from stating he/she is a URM...this could significantly affect their admission chances</p>
<p>If they were admitted, and then it turned out to be false, they would be expelled or rescinded admission</p>
<p>of course, but how would they verify this? I mean it seems to me that it is taboo/ morally wrong to thoroughly check someone's race...</p>
<p>Because you're expected to be truthful to the best of your knowledge on the application.</p>
<p>Be truthful. Why lie? I'm Asian, and I'm putting that down.</p>
<p>im not asking whether its deemed ethical to lie about ure race...im asking what measures colleges take to verify. Ive heard some instances where adcoms check the SSN, anybody know of anything else?</p>
<p>"How do colleges verify a person's ethnicity? I mean, whats stopping a non URM from stating he/she is a URM...this could significantly affect their admission chances"</p>
<p>The main thing that stops people from falsely stating that they're a URM is that most people want to get into college on their own credentials, not on lies that they make up. </p>
<p>Heck, most people could make up heart rending stories of donating kidneys to relatives or having survived abuse or other major family problems. Most people know that such things are hard to verify and could tip them in. Most people, though, are honest, so it would not even cross their minds to lie about things on their application. </p>
<p>Other reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li>If they get caught in a lie, they'd be expelled. How would they get caught? In an interview or once they get on campus. For instance, colleges routinely give to the URM campus organizations the names of URM students who are admitted and who accept admissions offers. I can only imagine how a nonURM who lied about being a URM would handle a call from a black or Hispanic student who was trying to get them to accept the college's offer.</li>
</ol>
<p>If the URM students meet the student who lied, the URM students could easily figure out the student lied, and then would tell admissions offices.</p>
<p>They also could get caught if, for instance, they have sky high SATs and also are National Merit Commended or a National Merit semi-finalist yet do not list "National Hispanic Scholar" or "National Achievement Scholar" (an award for top black students on the PSAT) among their honors. Colleges could call GCs to find out if there has been a mistake, and then would learn that the students were not black or Hispanic.</p>
<ol>
<li>If they aren't caught in the lie, people may assume that they really are a URM. There are Hispanics with white skin and blond hair ("Hispanic" is an ethnicity, not a race. Hispanics can be any race.) There even are people of black African American heritage with white skin, blue eyes and straight hair.</li>
</ol>
<p>I have friends like that and I know someone who headed a black organization in a major city who had naturally blond hair, blue eyes, white skin and considered herself black (and was accepted as black by African Americans) because she had black ancestry, which she was proud of and identified with.</p>
<p>Many people still are prejudiced against URMs, and to be falsely seen as a URM would be a stigma that many nonURMs would prefer to avoid. Many families, for instance, frown on interracial dating. It wouldn't be worth it to give up white privilege for a possible tip factor at a college.</p>
<p>northstarmom - thats real interesting, especially the solid example of not listing National Hispanic Scholar etc...other than that it seems like theres plenty of room for people to lie, and i bet a fair number do</p>
<p>Im a little new to the american post-secondary brand of affirmative action and URMs...correct me if im wrong, but it basically includes native americans, blacks, hispanics, and other ethnic groups that are underrepresented in colleges...but what about multiethnic individuals? Do they benefit from this policy? I mean, this whole concept seems so subjective that its absurd how much of an effect it has on peoples lives.</p>
<p>"and other ethnic groups that are underrepresented in colleges...but what about multiethnic individuals? Do they benefit from this policy?"</p>
<p>Traditionally, in most parts of the US, having any black ancestry meant that a person was considered African American, "black," even if they had blond hair, white skin, blue eyes. </p>
<p>"Hispanic" is more iffy. Often now, people are considered "Hispanic" if they had at least one grandparent who came from South or Central America or the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. People of Puerto Rican or Mexican ancestry are the most in demand Hispanics for colleges because they are the bulk of Hispanics in the US, but are very underrepresented in terms of Hispanic students who are college-bound.</p>
<p>"other than that it seems like theres plenty of room for people to lie, and i bet a fair number do</p>
<p>Im a little new to the american post-secondary brand of affirmative action and URMs..."</p>
<p>Because apparently you are not from the US, you are not aware of the big stigma in the US that accrues to being of black or Hispanic ancestry. For instance, African American women are in general considered by Americans to be less attractive than are women of other races. Research by a professor in NY State indicated that black males are viewed in general as being lazy, criminal and ignorant.</p>
<p>I am an Ivy-educated, doctorate-holding black woman who and every few months am either mistaken for a prostitute (trust me. I don't dress like a hoochie mama), a domestic worker (And I also don't dress wearing a maid's uniform), or a potential thief (such as when I am obviously followed around stores or am told the price of goods that I have asked to look at). I have cab drivers speed off when I approach them. The same cab drivers will stop for white people.</p>
<p>Probably most white people in the US would not want their kids to marry a black person even if that black person was of a higher socioeconomic status than they were. </p>
<p>There also are plenty of people in this country who are prejudiced against Hispanics and assume they are drug dealers or other criminals, and are lazy and ignorant. There also are plenty of nonHIspanic people in the US who would not want their kids to marry Hispanics.</p>
<p>There also is a lot of prejudice against Native Americans, who are considered by many to be lazy, stupid and alcoholic.</p>
<p>For all of the above reasons, white or Asian students are not likely to lie on their college applications and say that they are black, Native American or Hispanic. I think the deterrent is that they fear that they would be believed -- by everyone -- and then they would be subject to the prejudice that URMs get routinely. Friends and associates who may right now be quite comfortable with them and respect them may regard them quite differently if it seemed that the students were not white, but had been hiding the fact that they had ancestry that is Native American, Hispanic or black.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that one may be of Native American, Hispanic or black ancestry and look as "white" as anyone else.</p>
<p>Has anyone watched The Human Stain? Pretty interesting show about a black guy (who was pretty white) who lived a lie, pretending to be a jew.</p>
<p>I think there should be a movement to fill in the other option on college applications. I don't think they should look at ethnicity AT ALL. I don't see the point of doing so.</p>
<p>I second that. Colleges should make admissions SOLELY on merit, not race, legacy, economic status, disability, minority status, sexual orientation, etc</p>
<p>Well, w1cked, that's going a little bit too far... Race boxes are one thing, but if you base everything on merit - those who are from higher socio-economic statuses will go to better schools, thus getting better qualified for merit, so it screws the poor kids over, no matter how motivated they are.</p>
<p>Not really..All my uncles went to IIT and they had poor parents..My two cousins went to NYU and Carnegie Mellon despite they went to NYC public schools. Motivation and effort are supreme to economic conditions.</p>
<p>i find it odd that race is such a huge deal here...the very notion of filling in ure race for any type of assessment or application (SAT, College apps, almost every test taken as a child) is unique to the US. Cross the border up north and youll realize that not only is it illegal to ask questions like that, but it is socially taboo. Canadian universities are color blind, as are California publics...it seems odd that such liberal bodies are color blind but affirmative action is often blamed on US liberals...it just goes to show that affirmative action does not neccesarily correlate with liberalism.</p>
<p>I have a question: I was born in Seoul, South Korea, and I have a Korean mother. However, I have a Peruvian father. Can I still write Hispanic?</p>
<p>You should just write Korean/Peruvian under "other".</p>
<p>stupak,
You are an Asian Hispanic, so can put "Hispanic" or could check "other" and explain that your dad is Peruvian, mom Korean.</p>
<p>aca0260, its il legal for the colleges to REQUIRE you to fill it out. The race box is actually optional. But obviously, pretty much anyone who could benefit from it will check it off</p>
<p>I normally ignore these conversations, but someone above made a comment that intrigues me. How do you define "merit"?</p>