Do NOT make the same mistake as me... take advantage of the system if you can!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>Last year I was in the same situation as you all, applying to colleges using the commonapp.</p>

<p>I got to the "Identify Yourself" question, and noticed that it said "Black OR African American"</p>

<p>My dad is white, but from South Africa, so i technically am South African-American.</p>

<p>Thinking I was being moral and honorable, I did not check the "African American" box.</p>

<p>DO NOT BE LIKE ME IF YOU ARE IN A SIMILAR SITUATION</p>

<p>Check the box. Just do it. I'm not saying I ended up in a bad school. I am super happy about choice for college and the program I am in. It's great. It really is. </p>

<p>But now that I think about it and talk to my peers here, I realized I passed over a great opportunity to take advantage of a flaw. They all seem to know people who benefitted from checking the box in a racy situation like this. </p>

<p>Everyone is trying to get that "edge". If you can, do it.</p>

<p>Learn from my mistake.</p>

2

<p>You should be ashamed of yourself for encouraging others to cheat the system.</p>

3

<p>I think pointing out your ‘edge’ is not cheating the system. In fact not doing so is a big mistake.</p>

4

<p>Everyone clearly knows that white South Africans were never a disadvantaged minority in the US. By using your dad’s white (probably white Dutch and/or British) heritage that passed through colonial or apartheid South Africa for a generation or two on its way to the US, to claim to be “African American,” you would using sophistry to subvert the system. </p>

<p>If you would feel like an imposter as a member or officer in the Black Student Union or African American Club at the college, then don’t check the box.</p>

5

<p>It’s not clear to me that you missed out on any advantage at all, as admission officers still have discretion–which they use–to pass over applicants of any declared race. They may be especially eager to decline to admit applicants who lie on their applications. </p>

<p>The race categories asked about on college admission forms are specified by federal law, as is made exhaustively clear in the FAQ thread on the subject here on College Confidential. </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1235538-race-college-admission-faq-discussion-9-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1235538-race-college-admission-faq-discussion-9-a.html&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>Harvard College (the main topic of all threads in this subforum) every year admits a substantial number of students who did not declare ANYTHING about their race or ethnicity on their application forms. Even though Harvard interviews just about all the undergraduate applicants, a large percentage of Harvard students are reported to the federal government (subject to penalties for false reporting) as “race/ethnicity unknown.” </p>

<p>[U-CAN:&lt;/a&gt; Harvard University](<a href=“http://members.ucan-network.org/harvard]U-CAN:”>http://members.ucan-network.org/harvard) </p>

<p>So this need not be an issue for someone who wants to make an honest, thoughtful application to Harvard but who chooses not to self-identify.</p>

6

<p>That awkward moment when you go to your interviewers house and you’re not black…</p>

7

<p>You’re not African-American if you aren’t black. There is no error in the wording and the intent of the question is clear even if there were.</p>

8

<p>^^^I’d like to see the interviewers reaction! LOL</p>

<p>Hmmm…welllll…in reality though White South African’s are African (No one can say anything against that), they are not Black. So checking off the African American would have been morally iffy. What i would have done, is checked white, but then explain in a clever essay your situation.</p>

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<p>It would be especially fun to watch the interviewer’s reaction if the school sent a Black alum to interview this fellow “African American” applicant - so that the interviewer could also address what life as a Black is like at Harvard. The interviewer might take one look at the poser and rip up the application on the spot.</p>

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<p>Honesty goes a long way, even past your time at college. It’s something that will stick with you for all your life, no matter where you graduate from. </p>

<p>That’s my opinion.</p>

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<p>I don’t think its a good idea to change your self-identity just for college admissions =P</p>

12

<p>The whole effing thing IS dishonest. Granting preferential admissions due to an arbitrary attribute due to race is a violation of the constitution. So, while Harvard is being unlawful, you might as well exploit it if you can. Oh, and by the way, South African is “African-American”. If you are from South Africa, you are probably more “African” that 80% of Harvard’s black population. As well, this guy probably has no more or less advantage in his life than the majority of the “African-Americans” admitted to Harvard. So, really, why not click it?</p>

13

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<p>Wrong. The federal definitions make that clear, and they are linked to from the FAQ thread already linked to above in this thread. </p>

<p>It may indeed be that a person who grew up in the country Republic of South Africa, of whatever race, has interesting life experiences and a non-American perspective that could add to the intellectual life of a highly selective college attended mostly by American students. But the way to make that case would be to write a sensitive college application essay based on personal life experiences. That’s a different issue from checking off the OPTIONAL checkboxes on the Harvard application form, which are there because of a federal regulatory requirement. The federal regulations define each category, and persons classified as “white” in the country of South Africa are NOT “African-American” persons for purposes of fitting that category, even if they travel to the United States with a Republic of South Africa passport. </p>

<p>P.S. Several replies above mistakenly assume that no one who looks “white” can possibly be categorized as “black.” That is also incorrect. Both in apartheid South Africa and in the Jim Crow United States south, there were various people who were classified as “coloured” by ancestry (even if they were indistinguishable in appearance from white people) and who would very legitimately be able to indicate “African American” (the synomym is “black”) race on a college application form, if they so chose. Any black person in the United States who gets out much is likely to be familiar with black people who can “pass as white,” and the whole issue of arbitrary racial classification in the history of the United States and other countries is one reason I developed an interest in this issue. </p>

<p>It is simply a fact that Harvard, despite interviewing essentially all applicants, reports to the federal government that a large percentage of enrolled students are “race unknown.” </p>

<p>[U-CAN:&lt;/a&gt; Harvard University](<a href=“ucan-network.org”>ucan-network.org) </p>

<p>The interviewers are not tasked with being race classifiers during the interview process. The federal government makes clear in its published regulations that colleges are not to be in the business of using third-party identification (which is often flawed) to categorize students by race. </p>

<p>[U.S&lt;/a&gt;. Department of Education; Office of the Secretary; Final Guidance on Maintaining, Collecting, and Reporting Racial and Ethnic Data to the U.S. Department of Education [OS]](<a href=“http://www2.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2007-4/101907c.html]U.S”>http://www2.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2007-4/101907c.html) </p>

<p>With that in mind, it is enough that each applicant simply make an honest application, and mention the personal characteristics that applicant can bring to a highly selective, internationally attended university, where a very diverse student body is guaranteed.</p>

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<p>To dapotatoman:
Yeah of course South African white or Black are African, but in my opinion if you have to ask yourself whether you “count” as African-American…your best bet is to not mark the box at all. Honesty is always the best policy and if you are African-American you will know it. The person who started this thread made the right choice and I respect his morals.</p>

<p>Also where did you get that statistic that he is more “African” than 80% of African-Americans at Harvard and in which dictionary did it say that you must be disadvantaged to mark the box as African-American? I’d like the link for your source, because by shooting out blank statistics…you just sound ignorant. </p>

<p>Just pointing that out, but really if you have a source please pm it to me.</p>