I am looking for advice on how I should identify ethnically when applying for college. I know that socially, it is acceptable to select Asian (I am filipino) and it is probably true that many filipinos do that. However, there are other options that filipinos sometimes tend to identify with. I have known some filipinos that identify as both Asian and Pacific Islander and may be inclined to select the latter in their application. What I am concerned is whether selecting the latter will make a difference. I know that ultimately, colleges will use other factors to determine their admissions and race is not a “make or break” factor. But it is undeniable that certain minorities (underrepresented) tend to have a better chance (i.e. African American). Asians are a minority but from a college perspective are overrepresented so there is reason to believe that it may affect one’s chances even slightly. The first question is whether or not Pacific Islanders are underrepresented minorities and whether Filipinos are considered UNDERREPRESENTED (for college) within the Asian ethnicity.
Also, it would help to give me advice on whether I can and should identify as also Hispanic. I’m not considering it just because I am Filipino and my last name sounds Spanish like many other’s. There is no doubt that I am part Hispanic, actually; my great-grandmother from my mothers side is pure Spanish (obviously not literally pure, but she is Spanish and not Filipino or Asian) and my grandfather from my father’s side is also part Spanish. My last name also happens to be very Spanish and actually, I don’t know any other Filipinos who share my last name. If you search it, the name is most prominent in Spain and not elsewhere. The point is I am definitely part Spanish and I can argue that but would it be a good decision to identify as that when applying for college.* Thank you.
*I plan on applying to multiple Ivy Leagues which is why I am trying to consider every factor of my application. Harvard has also been known to be more selective with its Asian applicants.
it depends, again, on the college, but I suspect most colleges will not further divide Asians.
Can you identify as Hispanic? Sure. Should you? Well that depends. If you have not identified as Hispanic for ~17 years, now is probably not the time to start. Alternatively, if you’ve always identified as Hispanic, then, OK.
Identify whatever you identified yourself as throughout your lifetime. So, if you put Hispanic on the SAT and such, then put Hispanic on the Common App.
In the end, it probably won’t matter too much if you put Hispanic or Asian.
skieurope, this is helpful. Assuming that there are two questions like many other race “selectors” on paper, would it be safe or questionable to select both “hispanic” rather than hispanic other under ethnicity, while also selecting Asian as race?
There is no “both hispanic.” Hispanic is an ethnicity, not a race; there are white Hispanics, black Hispanics, Asian Hispanics, and Hispanics with the swirl.
The exact questions on the Common App are:
So you could say “Yes” to the first and “Asian” to the second. Note that your current school records may have something that refers to your ethnicity, and so may indicate that you are not Hispanic. Additionally, being Hispanic, but not being a URM, gives you no boosts in the admissions process.
Philippines is considered Asian, not Pacific Island. On Common App, there’s a question, “Which best describes your Asian background?” Then there’s a menu with boxes. The boxes are China, India, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Vietnam, Other East Asia, Other South Asia and Other Southeast Asia. Then there’s a fill-in-the-blank box to elaborate. (So if you’re from Indonesia you’d check Other Southeast Asia and write in Indonesia, if you’re from Sri Lanka you’d check Other South Asia and fill in Sri Lanka, etc.)
BTW there are also many Indians from Goa, Kerala etc. with Latino surnames – Fernandez, Pereira, D’Souza (as in Dinesh D’Souza), Pinto (as in Frieda Pinto from Slumdog Millionaire), etc. If you think they could truthfully check Latino, it’s your call. It’s only natural that you’re looking for any slight bump, but IMO the ethical thing to do is to check the one or two ways that you truly identify yourself in daily life, when it doesn’t matter one way or another in terms of benefits that might accrue (or might even be a negative).
As mentioned in post #1, the Common App specifically excludes the Philippines as an option for Pacific Islander. Colleges are not going to play a semantics game; Taiwan is also located in the Pacific Ocean and nobody should possibly think that Taiwanese fall under “Pacific Islander.”
If anything you should put what you ACTUALLY IDENTIFY AS. If you go through your day and interact in a manner typical to a specific group or empathize with one group much more than another put that one. Just because you have the ability to put multiple options does not mean they all apply to you. Furthermore you shouldn’t identify as any ethnicity to try and get an advantage when applying to college. The fact that you go through your day and say to your self “I am such a pacific islander today.” does not have any impact on your ability to perform at the level expected by a college. If you deserve to get into a college based on your actual merits then those are all you should apply with. If you aren’t smart enough or don’t deserve to get in put down all the irrelevant information you can that will make you more attractive for all the wrong reasons.