<p>But yes, the U.S. Census Bureau would consider Americans of North African origin to be "white." The U.S. Census Bureau would consider Indians from India to be "Asian." Should a person from India specifically note that he is from India, he would get a code of 013 by the Census Bureau.
012 Asian alone
013 Asian Indian alone
014 Bangladeshi alone<br>
015 Cambodian alone
016 Chinese alone
017 Chinese, except Taiwanese, alone
018 Taiwanese alone
019 Filipino alone
020 Hmong alone
021 Indonesian alone
022 Japanese alone
023 Korean alone
024 Laotian alone
025 Malaysian alone
026 Pakistani alone
027 Sri Lankan alone
028 Thai alone
029 Vietnamese alone
030 Other specified Asian alone</p>
<p>Repeat: Race is not "real"/scientific/biological.</p>
[quote]
The term race is often misunderstood and misused. It is often confused with ethnicity, an ambiguous term that refers mostly, though not exclusively, to cultural (non-biological) differences between groups. An ethnic group derives its identity from its distinctive customs, language, ancestry, place of origin, or style of dress. For example, the Hispanic ethnic group comprises people who trace their ancestry to Spanish-speaking countries in the Western Hemisphere. Although some people assume Hispanics have a common genetic heritage, in reality they share only a language. Members of an ethnic group with a common geographic origin often do share similar physical features. But people of the same ethnic group may also have very different physical appearances, and conversely, people of different ethnic groups may look quite similar. People may also mistakenly use the term race to refer to a religion, culture, or nationality—as in the “Jewish race” or the “Italian race”—whose members may or may not share a common ancestry. The term race is also sometimes used to refer to the entire human species, as in the “human race.” In everyday language, the distinction between race and ethnicity has become blurred, and many people use the terms to mean the same thing.
<p>
[quote]
Today, the measurement and analysis of human variation at the genetic level provides convincing evidence that refutes the existence of distinct human races. This research shows that the visible physical variations among people are generated by minor genetic differences, that individual and not population differences account for most genetic variation, and that human physical variation does not fall into discrete categories. But racial classification continues to play an important role in many modern societies. For example, the United States census has included a question on race since the first census in 1790. All federal agencies, including the U.S. Census Bureau, must follow federal standards for collecting data on race and ethnicity. These standards define five basic racial categories: American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Black or African American; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; and White.
<p>See the thread-opening post in this very long thread for links to official definitions of ethnic categories. See the long list of colleges that admit a lot of students categorized as "race unknown" (which appears in several posts in this thread) for reassurance that you can really, truly not specify any ethnicity and still get into college.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that an applicant's race is self-reported. You are the one who will choose which race best describes you. There is no wrong answer.</p>
<p>"If your name isn't Asian, I would go with "I prefer not to answer." Just my opinion.</p>
<p>Another suggestion: Don't send out that SAT score unless someone has to get it when they get your SAT II scores. Your ACT score is better and colleges will accept either the SAT or the ACT."</p>
<p>My name is... fairly asian lol, so i think I'll just put my race.
My SAT score is already sent to UMD-CP, UConn, U Delaware, and George Mason... You can't change which colleges see your score after you find out your score, right?
But I think I'm not going to apply to UConn & UDel because they're not as good as the other colleges on my list in terms of engineering and physics + I need to shorten my list. As for George Mason, I think my SAT score is fine. And as for UMD-CP... I'm screwed... :(
Edit: oh yeah, I'll be taking the SAT again in october, so there is hope...</p>
<p>
[quote]
indians (india not oklahoma) are considered caucasian.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>As noted above in several replies, this statement is wrong as to the federal definitions of ethnic categories. See the thread-opening post for links to the definitions. A person whose ancestors all lived in south Asia in historic times would record "Asian" as the ethnicity if following the federal definitions. But it really is a matter of self-identification. One example I saw in a discussion among college institutional research officers was students from east Africa who grew up in one or another country in that part of the world but whose ancestors (and thus family names) came from south Asia. The students spoke various east African languages at home and in school, spoke no south Asian languages, and had only lived in Africa and never in Asia. The college officer who particularly mentioned this thought that such a student could legitimately check "African American" on a college information form. There really isn't any way to second-guess such a personal choice.</p>
<p>wait, can u check more than one box? like...white and other. lol. thanks for the responses tho :)
p.s. stevehwan-i know, can u believe we lost? ahsuiwkwnjh\su :(</p>
<p>Yes, you can check more than one box. Under the new federal guidance, which must be fully implemented for college forms available to students in high school class of 2010, the forms will say something along the lines of "choose one or more" for the race question, which will follow the Hispanic ethnicity question. See the thread-opening post in this thread for links to the Federal Register pages about the new rules.</p>
<p>MODERATOR'S NOTE TO "Affirmative Action: "Rich" URM vs. "Poor" URM" THREAD: </p>
<p>This is an interesting question, and I'll merge it into the main FAQ thread on ethnic self-identification in college applications. In this reply, I'll post a link to one comment on this issue from a few years ago by a former economics advisor to President Clinton. </p>
<p>There is some interesting research on what kind of diversity colleges are looking for the most diligently. Perhaps the situation has recently changed from that described in the article I just linked.</p>
<p>I haven't and plan not to fill out any of the boxes asking my race. It is purely reverse racism and I'll let the racist adcoms figure it out for themselves if it really matters that much.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you were asian.. could you actually check off ethnicity unknown?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>There is no such category as "ethnicity unknown" on any college form that I have seen. There is, however, most definitely the choice of not marking any of the ethnic categories that appear on your college form. Now that I've merged this question the long-standing (ahem) FAQ thread on this issue, read the thread-opening post and other linked posts for more information.</p>