Thanks for taking the time for reading this… so please answer : I am indian and ::
my maternal grandfather immigrated to peru and married a hispanic woman , making my mom 50% hispanic and my dad is 100% indian, making me 1/4th hispanic… so do i qualify for hispanic in commonapp??
P.S. : I’m asking this in harvard forum because im also appying there
Are you a US Citizen?
Under Represented Minority (URM) status is a college admissions term that applies to US Citizens who are African Americans, Mexican-Americans, Native Americans (American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians), Pacific Islanders, and mainland Puerto Ricans.
International students, no matter what ethnicity, do not qualify as URM’s for the purposes of college admissions.
@gibby @gibby yes i am a us citizen, as i have immigrated during my sophomore year… so will i qualify for hispanic?
The demographic questions on the Common Application are
So, while you could certainly answer yes for the first question. What is your answer to the second question?
IMHO, You check the box for Hispanic (URM), but will check the box for Asian (ORM - Over Represented Minority), so it’s basically going to be a wash. Your demographic status will be a neutral.
@gibby thanks
Most selective colleges have interviews, and I’m guessing that the moment you walk into your interview they are going to see that you’re Indian (with maybe 1/4 hispanic). And, your interviewer might ask how long you’ve been in the US. Your answers will go into the interview report, which will be read by the Admissions staff.
In addition, I’m sure your guidance counselor in their Secondary School Report (SSR) will mention your recent immigration to the US, and your teachers might do the same in their recommendation letters.
Plus, you may want to write your essay about transitioning between India and the states, or write about some sort of cultural background that only you could write about.
For all of those reasons, I suggest you DO NOT leave the section blank. If you do, your credibility will not be an issue, but you might be seen as trying to game the system (which you are). In any case, Admissions will easily see through that, so check the boxes for Asian and Indian, and let the chips fall where they may.
I think you are URM. We have a close friend who is hispanic and caucasian, and she was definitely invited to URM trips to colleges and considered such. I think being multiracial is URM as well.
Is this true? Would the interviewer really note a person’s ethnicity in their report? Why would they? This is a serious question, just to be clear. I can’t imagine the reason to mark it down. The Admissions Office itself would make any judgements about minority status; would the interviewer?
@dragonflies: It could be noted in any number of ways. For example, an interviewer could write: “Although the OP immigrated from India several years ago, they seem to have made an easy cultural transition to the US, and can converse about everything from American politics to flavors of Easy-Mac they like the best.” With that one innocuous statement, an admissions officer would know the applicant’s ethnicity, URM status, how long they’ve been in the United States, and how well they might assimilate on campus once admitted. An interview report can sometimes be a page long, so who knows what else an interviewer might write about. Assume, that whatever you talk about during the interview, how well poised you are, whether you look the interviewer in the eye, and the interviewer’s assessment of an applicant’s “character” will be noted.
Just to be clear, you mean the subcontinent of India right? Not Native American?
You know,** technically**, you could check off the Hispanic and Asian boxes when you apply, but no one is going to be fooled in the admissions office. Do you really think they will look at you in the same way as another kid who is fully Hispanic, or even half? But who knows, maybe the person reading your application will be more interested in the rest of your application.