<p>Ok, I am having trouble understanding the ethnicity question on some of my applications. It says to mark one, but I am not just one ethnicity. I am 50% Mexican American and 50% Caucasian (Italy/Ireland), so what do I do? On some applications it says, mark all that apply, so I mark 2 boxes, but what about other applications which have me only pick one. If anyone knows the correct answer please let me know. </p>
<p>P.S: People say that being half of a certain minority helps you get into college, but I don't believe this at all. If anyone knows the truth, just let me know. I am one of what seems like a few mixed-race students going to college, because everyone has usually only "one" race selected.</p>
<p>A lot of mixed race students go to college, but mark only one because usually it says to choose "the race with which you most identify." But trust me, buddy, it will help you a LOT to check the Hispanic/Latino box instead of the white one if you have to choose. I mean A LOT. </p>
<p>i'm in the same situation as you, as i'm 1/2 chinese and 1/2 caucasian. Many places say that you should just mark the box that you feel most identifies you. If you speak spanish, love mexican food, going to Mexican culture celebrations etc. then you'd probably be best off marking that you're Mexican/hispanic. If you don't really care about any of the above and identify more with your white side, then mark caucasian. If anything, just pick that you are Mexican/latino/hispanic (while it may not always give you a leg up on admissions, it wouldn't be wrong to do so either). Also, being part of an underrepresented minority (hispanic american, native american, or african american) does give you a slight advantage to those colleges that are trying to diversify their population. And it might make you seem more interesting to boot. There is no one correct answer to choose; go with your gut.</p>
<p>That may be true, but I don't want to get an easier way in just because of my race. That doesn't sound fair to me. I could see if I got in because my educational opportunities are limited, because my school isn't as great as many other schools (we only offer 8 AP classes overall, yet most of them never get enough students to sign up), but just because of my race is stupid affirmative action. It makes it sound like Latinos or Blacks don't have to work hard to get into college. Like everything was just handed to them.</p>
<p>My D is half Latino and half Asian and applied last year. As I recall, if applications asked you to check only one box, they always provided a "mixed" or "other" box and gave you room to explain. </p>
<p>There are many mixed-race kids applying to college. If you are part URM, they will put you into that category.</p>
<p>I don't know....I wouldn't feel guilty about putting Latino/Hispanic, just because....college admissions are obviously really competitive (<em>cough</em> on the verge of "vicious," today), so I know literally a dozen half-Latino kids: ALL of whom are checking just that box on their application. So...if that's what you choose to do, you certainly won't be the only one o.O.</p>