<p>when applying, many colleges (or is it all colleges) leave your ethnicity section to be optional... i think its the law or something</p>
<p>anyways, since im asian: chinese/taiwanese, should i leave it blank? lol</p>
<p>I don't think it matters.
I'm Chinese/White - that's not gonna help me anywhere. But I just fill in Asian, cause it's not gonna hurt. (Or both if the form offers it).</p>
<p>if your name sounds asian, then i bet they would be able to identify your etnicity...just my opinion though.
and you would be able to mention anything abt ethnicity/cultures in your essay...
other than that, i think it doesnt matter whether you leave it blank or not. not going to make a big difference i suppose.</p>
<p>sorry, i meant, WOULDN`T BE able to mention it in your essay.</p>
<p>what about affirmitive action/etc.?</p>
<p>im sorry, what do u mean by affirmitive action? do you mean that colleges may reject you over a URM, even though your stats are high? I don` t think it will hurt you if you put down your ethnicity. Like I said, they will probably have an idea of your ethnicity from your name. </p>
<p>Or were you wondering if you will benefit from affirmitive action? In that case, asians arent considered as an URM.
So...my point is.. it doesnt matter if you leave it blank or not. If you do feel uncomfortable, leave it blank.</p>
<p>It won't HURT you to admit you're asian or white. However, it MIGHT help you to say you're black.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure it will hurt if you admit you are asian/indian, but that may just be me...</p>
<p>For example, Harvard consists of "only" around 16% Asian, lower than the combined numbers of African-Americans and Hispanics.</p>
<p>I think there must be some sort of quota, or that adcoms just get to many "ordinary" asians</p>
<p>That section shouldn't even be on an app. If every minority wants to be equal and everyone should have an equal shot, there should be NO REASON TO ASK THAT QUESTION. Everyone seems so angry about stereotyping with race, why are we, as a society, bringing it up on applications for almost every position, job or college? </p>
<p>If you can't tell, i hate affirmative action. Be a good man and leave it blank, regardless of race.</p>
<p>They can't really tell someone's ethnicity by their name. seriously, for example...i have a friend whose last name is Johnson. I mean, that person might be white or african american.</p>
<p>If you're half asian half white, I would check white at ivies for better odds and asian at LACs.</p>
<p>Colleges don't use last names to decide your ethnicity...says so in "A is for Admission", so you would be better to leave it blank...by law they can't judge you any differently if you left it blank.</p>
<p>^ wait a sec..so when i did my college applications, i coulda left my last name unwritten??!</p>
<p>No, blackbeltcdjunkie means that it would be better to leave the ETHNICITY box blank. Obviously, if you left your last name blank,.. well, you know the rest.</p>
<p>"They can't really tell someone's ethnicity by their name. seriously, for example...i have a friend whose last name is Johnson. I mean, that person might be white or african american."</p>
<p>Well... its easy to tell some asian guy... Think about the Zhangs, Wongs, Lis, and Jiangs. I don't think their last names could pass off as being white if their lives depended on it :-p.</p>
<p>hahah wongs, zhangs, lis, jiangs..haha what is dat chinese?</p>
<p>thats not tru sentient. im asian and my last name is spanish b/c im a pinoy</p>
<p>LOL leaving your last name blank. at first i thought that was stupid (i was thinking about school tests), but since you fill in your address and all.. it shouldnt matter.</p>
<p>i hate affirmitive action (maybe only cuz im asian). you dont see the NBA affirtivingaction to keep a certain quota of Japanese and Mexicans ROFL.. so how is college different -_-</p>
<p>i dont think filling in WHITE for harvard helps. filling in Native american or african american is always a huge plus... i hate legacy too ;(</p>
<p>even if u leave it blank though your interviewer will still know your race and might mention it in his report</p>
<p>"hahah wongs, zhangs, lis, jiangs..haha what is dat chinese?"</p>
<p>Yeah, is there anything wrong with that? Do I need to elaborate even more? I'm sure Jangs, Jongs, Yeols, Ho, etc. stand out equally as much. My point was that you can easily tell.</p>
<p>bio_freak,
Generally they can tell if you are 100% asian. That was what I was refering to. </p>
<p>If you are mixed, they obviously can't tell. And yes, so in your case, they can't.</p>