<p>I have a serious, albeit odd, question. My DS is Hispanic; there is no question in our mind. His mother is Bolivian & he was in fact born in Bolivia, although we came to the US when he was 1. My wife took him back for a year in 6th grade as it was important for her to share some of her life experiences with her children and she kind of felt a void with them living in the US. My DS grew up very much exposed to his Moms Hispanic culture (food, traditions, parties, futbol, Spanish mass, etc). My wife is involved in the Hispanic community, whose parties we have attended over the years. My mother-in-law and brother-in-law live nearby & his exposure to them has been intensely cultural & they always speak in Spanish. That being said, I am American of German ancestry with very fair skin. My son fully captured my genes for his appearance (complexion & facial feature). His nickname throughout my wifes family is gringito. Now, I know ethnicity has nothing to do with what you look like, but at times it seem like what interests colleges is racial and ethnic appearance. My DS is a NHRP scholar & has recently received invites to diversity visits. He is excited, but at the same time has a nervous sense that people (esp. the college) might think he is sort of gaming the system or something. Trust me, if he walked into an event for Latinos and African Americans, people would think he was lost. I know that sounds harsh but most peoples initial impressions are very visual & they tend to rush to judgment. Anyway, I know this is kind of a touchy question, but is there any bias by admissions with respect to appearance as relates to ethnic diversity. I know how universities love to show diversity on their marketing brochures, so I am sure indirectly (or subconsciously) they take that into consideration (although theyd never admit it). I know you dont include a photo with your application, but between interviews & diversity weekends, he would possibly expose himself to this bias and although he is Latino, since he doesnt look Latino could it hurt him in any way. I know we are probably over analyzing this, but I was just curious if anyone else had a similar situation or concern. Thanks for your thoughts.</p>
<p>Relax. We (Hispanics/Latinos) come in all kinds of shades. It sounds like your S was exposed to his wonderful heritage and feels comfortable in all types of settings. My children are in their school system as Hispanic but unfortunately not as exposed to their Hispanic culture as much as yours. My son attended a college Diversity weekend and was never given any problems. I kind of got some looks from some parents at the diversity function for parents (Mexican American, first generation) but who cares? Apply to colleges as Hispanic, definitely.</p>
<p>He should apply as the ethnicity that he is. Don’t worry about it. I had friends who were Hispanic but looked Caucasian, and it never mattered. I didn’t care, they were never questioned about it, and it was never an issue. People come in all shapes and sizes. Don’t fret about it, and just be honest. No one will fault you or your son for that.</p>
<p>I understand your thoughts and feelings, my kids had a similar situation. </p>
<p>Their dad from South America, of Spanish background and racially white. I am Asian. My kids identify as both Hispanic and Asian as we have tried to keep them involved in both communities through family, activities, travel, etc. </p>
<p>What’s interesting about my kids is that D1 looks like she’s ‘something’; she definitely passes as Hispanic, might look somewhat Asian-ish and has been asked if she’s Pakistani and other nationalities by various people. D2 looks pretty much Asian, perhaps hapa, but no hint of the American stereotype of Hispanic (ie. mestizo).</p>
<p>So I had a similar concern when D2 went to fly-ins, summer programs, interviews, etc. From her admission results (she’s currently a jr in college), I don’t think it was a factor. While there may be subconscious bias about who adcoms think of as Hispanic, I think they also have enough experience to understand the extremely wide range of Hispanic appearance and experience. As a matter of fact, I think that SES can play a larger part than appearance.</p>
<p>FutbolDad, let us know how things go for your S in the diversity programs. I’ll be interested to know how things turn out (for my D who will be applying in a couple of years as well as helping some Hispanic kiddos applying soon).</p>
<p>Agree with entomom that colleges appear to be paying more attention to the socioeconomic diversity factor.</p>
<p>Just from my corner, it’s not appearance, it’s identity and engagement.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your feedback. I am glad to hear others have faced similar situations & found it to really be a non-issue. The more I think about all of our Latino friends, they really do seen to cover the racial spectrum. Just haven’t seen many that appear straight up Northern European. Also, glad to hear you rally don’t think it is considered much at all.</p>
<p>Don’t know that he will score many socioeconomic points though. He has had a fairly comfortable upbringing. Although his maternal grandmother is probably below the poverty line & his uncle would certainly be on the low end of middle class, our family is solidly middle to upper-middle class. However, my wife has no Higher Ed degree & works part time only making about $10-15k a year. I am the primary earner & with support we have given to her mother & brother over the years, at times our financial situation has been quite precarious to say the least. So in certain regards he has experienced & been a part of the socioeconomic diversity that can be found in large sectors of the Hispanic population. Interestingly this has caused some stress as we do not have much saved for college, in part due to support to our family. However, Not sure how this can be captured on an application & be a hook or help with aid. </p>
<p>Will keep you posted on his diversity weekend experiences.</p>
<p>OP- we fall into the same situation. We take care of my mom so although we have saved all of our children’s lives for college we don’t have enough for a full-ride at college. We solved this issue by focusing on schools that award merit money for the type of grades/scores our children have. Read the book and website “The College Solution” for more advice on finding merit money. </p>
<p>Like others have said appearances don’t really matter and are not demanded to prove someone is Latino. I am full Mexican-American and my spouse is not. Children look exactly like their father plus dad has a super waspy last name. I gave my oldest my mother’s maiden name as a middle name so at least he has that but DD has a middle name that is a common middle name in our family “Marie”. I sometimes call her by her name in Spanish. Children definitely identify with our culture especially since their grandfather (my dad) is a Professor of Chicano Studies. </p>
<p>Only people who hassled my children were “former friends” who are white and told them they were “cheating” the system. We told them to “stick it” Collegeboard defines who can be considered Hispanic and my children exceeded those definitions. Plus their grandparents would have a bone to pick with anyone who tries to say my children are not Hispanic. </p>
<p>Both my children did/are doing diversity visits and no one ever gave them a hard time.</p>
<p>itsv makes some really good points- focus on schools that give merit. This is what we underestimated. By the time everything was in my son had choices. He had a very particular interest so we went with his reach which gave no merit but we hope it will be worth it. He received a scholarship (tuition + housing) at one school, full tuition at another and partial tuition at still another. At all of above, it was only based on merit- no financial need considered at all. These schools were interested in him because he pulled their stats up I think. He also reached out to admissions reps. Sometimes I have buyer’s remorse because we went went with the reach but all good- he loves his school and the city it’s in.</p>
<p>A side question, how much counts these days? My mother is first generation in this country. Grew up as a migrant farm worker. I’m just half Mexican. My daughter a 1/4. My daughter doesn’t look Hispanic at all unlike my son (genes are funny things.) My mother is pushing us to use it. We’re still connected to our heritage. Most of our family married and had children with other Latinos but DD is down to 1/4, I guess it feels a little weird.</p>
<p>Congrats on NHRP. As long as he knows his families history, he’ll be just fine.</p>
<p>turtletime- I believe that for NHRP the website says that at least 1/4 Hispanic roots. Check this out to make sure. As far as college applications go I don’t think that it is that explicitly stated in the applications. Have your kids identified themselves as Hispanic in any school form or school census form?</p>
<p>Yes, NHRP stipulates 1/4 Hispanic heritage to qualify; other scholarship programs may have different policies.</p>
<p>turtletime, you should read the first post in the Definition sticky thread at the top of this forum. Percentage of Hispanic background, appearance, surname, etc. are not factors in whether or not an applicant can mark Hispanic for college admissions. Admissions follows the US Census definition that an applicant must identify as Hispanic.</p>
<p>While it’s not absolutely necessary that your child is recognized as Hispanic in their HS records (many HS GCs don’t have a very good understanding of the definition of Hispanic), if they do qualify for NHRP, their GC will need to verify that they are Hispanic.</p>
<p>The purpose of this forum is to provide information about being Hispanic in the college admissions process. It is up to each member to determine if they identify as Hispanic or not, but there is no reason not to mark Hispanic if your child identifies with their Hispanic ethnicity. And this identification does not have to be exclusive, many candidates identify with more than one race or ethnicity.</p>