Could you lie about your race?

<p>Could you actually lie about your race on your college apps? I mean, how are they going to know for sure that you're not Native American? Or Mexican? At this point, they can't judge it based on your last name, things have gotten too mixed up lol.</p>

<p>I suppose that someone could misrepresent him/herself, unless ethnicity is transmitted on some other document like a high school transcript, SAT scores, etc.</p>

<p>Some many people are from multi-ethnic or blended families these days anyway.</p>

<p>dude. if u get caught, you're going to get screwed. Play the admissions game fairly.</p>

<p>My transcript has my race on it.</p>

<p>Wow, lying about race. I think its really sad how insanely competitive college apps have become. However, while saying you were in some obscure high school group is hard to verify, saying you have a minority heritage is easier to verify through birth records and other things.</p>

<p>I was wondering this also, not that I would lie about my race. What prevents people from lying about other things on their application, I mean, other than basic honesty? Do people lie on these things?</p>

<p>it would be niave to think that they didnt.</p>

<p>Somebody at my school may have gotten into Columbia b/c he told his guidance counselor he speaks 4 languages (he speaks english/french & took 3 yrs of spanish & 1 yr of chinese --> nowhere near fluent in the other 2)</p>

<p>Nothing you can do but hope people are honest and hope dishonest people get caught.</p>

<p>actually..if you put down a ethnicity dat is a minority, they will check obviously. I mean, colleges arent dat lazy enuff to check up stuff. LIke, they even called my counselor to verify my clubs. dey also called kids i tutored to check if i really did tutor them.</p>

<p>wow, no college checked up on me</p>

<p>and I was worried that some things wouldn't match up perfectly too because I used two different names</p>

<p>I'm guess there are people who do lie about their race or heritage, or atleast contemplate the idea.</p>

<p>But what I don't understand is why anyone would even consider negating their roots, for any reason, especially for something like a college acceptance. To me its more of a matter of pride and principle. I am who I am and I'm proud of it. IMO, nothing would be more personally degrading than to have to lie about my race or heritage.</p>

<p>When I went to the AU honors program, I met a girl there who had <em>sort of</em> lied to Columbia about her race. Her great-grandfather was hispanic and therefore she felt she could identify as such. Whitest girl ever, with red hair and freckles. I thought she was Irish. She did get in btw--1420 SAT, top 10% of class and was one of the editors on the school newspaper. She actually said: "I guess the essay was way more important than any of us thought!" I guess so...</p>

<p>Sure you can lie about your race. You can lie about anything that is not specifically documented, such as grades or SATs. You can lie about race, awards, jobs, public service, organizations you founded, achievemnts, or anything like that.</p>

<p>And when the school discovers your lies and fraud you will be kicked out. Some schools will go so far as rescind a degree you have already earned if it takes them a while to discover the deceit.</p>

<p>Honest person or liar - it's your cholce.</p>

<p>Here's an (apparently) novel idea....if you think you can't get into your reach school without gaming the system (lying), perhaps you are 'reaching' too high. What makes you think you'll be able to make it through 4 years at such a school, if you don't think your legit stats will get you in the door? How about a more realistic look in the mirror - and at the schools you're applying to.</p>

<p>
[quote]
What makes you think you'll be able to make it through 4 years at such a school, if you don't think your legit stats will get you in the door?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>...because everyone knows the only difficult part is getting in the door. Look at the case of the kid who had a 2.0 from a CCC. He lied and forged his way into Yale as a transfer, where he graduated with a 3.9+.</p>

<p>Possibly....or he finally got his head out of his --- and started to - ooohhh - four-letter word - W-O-R-K.</p>

<p>Um beachy, something like four fifths of applicants to the top colleges are fully qualified (in "stats" like you mention) to graduate with great gpas. The Yale CCer mitigates your point. The problem is really to get in.</p>

<p>I am 25% Portuguese. Some people consider it hispanic and some others do not. On the SAT they do not ask if you are hispanic, they only ask if you are latin american, however if they did include a hispanic box I would have checked it. On college applications do they ask if you are hispanic or latin american? Also, does it just depend on the school, which you are applying to whether or not you are hispanic?</p>

<p>But here's the thing...if you look at the wording of the race question on the common app, it says something along the lines of "With which race do you MOST CLOSELY ASSOCIATE yourself?" So, technically, you could be one race but claim to associate yourself most closely with another one, and based on the wording of the question they couldn't do anything about it.</p>