<p>Okay, sorry if this has already been discussed but this made me quite shocked. They say that the section with your race/ethnicity is optional right? I thought leaving this blank would prevent my race from being used as a factor so I was like, "Yeah, I won't fill it in." But then, right below that, it asks for parent's country of birth. I don't know about you, but this blatantly shows that I am Asian(indian). If the point of the section above is to be optional so it doesn't have to be revealed, isn't it unfair to those people whose parents' birth countries obviously indicate their background? I know I shouldn't be upset by this, but its like anyone who is first generation from an immigrant family has their race immediately revealed whether they want it to or not, whereas others do not have to if they don't want to, and it doesnt get inadvertently shown like in my case (as well as many others). What are your thoughts on this?</p>
<p>Just because you are born in a country doesn’t make you a specific race. If a person who has 2 african parents is born in India, they are still African. Nationality is different from race.</p>
<p>There are many different ways colleges can figure out your ethnicity. One of the most obvious is your last name. If you have an asian last name and you don’t fill out the ethnicity question then it will be very obvious to the admissions officer what you are… Also colleges can find out your race from your counselor, scholarships you have earned, interview if you are going to have one, sat, psat, transcript, ect. Honestly, I don’t know why they even make race an option when it is basically written all over you the moment you are born.</p>
<p>Also think about it this way, if you are a underrepresented minority then you would most certainly check your race. It will be a boost to you. Those who aren’t, are the ones likely to not check the race box. I don’t know if this is how adcoms think but this is what I would think.</p>