My white child checked ‘white’ on all applications, my Chinese child thought long and hard about it and finally checked Chinese. She considered checking nothing. She really identifies as American - just a kid who wears surfer clothes, likes country music, drives a 1970 VW bus,. All the culture, language classes, and trips to China had no influence on her.
If the question is set up correctly (as it is on the Common App), both. Race and ethnicity are two different concepts. One can be white Hispanic, Black Hispanic, Asian Hispanic, mixed Hispanic.
If I’m a man that was born, raised and currently live in Maine, but spent 2 college years in Fla., does that make me a Florida resident? I once dated a German exchange student, does that make me German, or make my son part German? Or does it mean my son is actually female, because I associated with females? What if I liked that young lady a lot, and was learning to speak German in hopes of impressing her, does that mean I’m German? I have eaten Spanish omelettes, does that make me Hispanic? I live next door to a fellow that traces his ancestry to a Va. slave. Does that make me part African-American? He also can draw like “nobody’s business”. Does that mean I am an artist? In college, if I watched porn flicks, does that mean my… is like a porn star’s?
I can be fond of other cultures, languages, or national origins, I may have lived with or near those other cultures, but none of that changes who my ancestors were. I “second” post 39, on why it is a struggle for potential student to claim ancestry as hers that isn’t hers.
I’ve frequently argued on CC that hispanic can be ANY race, and have frequently pointed to the Japanese in peru as an example. Those people are CITIZENS, not transients. You on the other hand were a transient visitor in Spain.
My longest foreign posting in one country was over 8 years. I worked there, lived there; our kids went to school there; we learned to speak the local language, paid taxes, and learned to cook the local foods. But none of us have the chutzpah to claim our ethnic classification had magically changed because we happened to be GUESTS.
When you think you’ve seen it all, along comes this thread.
But even full blood Mexican, which is one of my daughter’s friend, first generation, poor(my guess), does not get that much off a leg up, even in non tip top school like USC, I mean non HYPS. USC is a private school in California, not a UC where affirmative action is not allowed. The kid was rejected from USC. That was her dream school.
LOL Zoosermom.
Actually, I agree with GMT and Zobroward…the term “Hispanic” is grossly misused in the U.S. But that is our wont in America. We always look for short cuts and shorthand for broad circumstances (or as in the OP’s case, an advantage), particularly when it comes to social concerns. The use of the descriptions “African-American” and “Black” are becoming equally muddled in the U.S.
Maybe the white dentist dude who shot Cecil tbe Lion should try to pass his kids off as African American on the Common App.
Your daughter is not Hispanic. Her parents are not Hispanic. She didn’t grow up in a Spanish-speaking household and have to learn English as a second language. She hasn’t had to deal with cultural issues or discrimination due to being hispanic. Her interest in the Spanish culture, her friends, are a choice, not a disadvantaged background she was born into.
This strikes me as an opportunistic grab for admission advantage and I wouldn’t be surprised if admissions officers feel the same way.
“I’m turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese, I really think so
Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese, I really think so
I’m turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese, I really think so
Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese, I really think so”
Sorry. Had to go there.
such a double entendre, mom of dragons, given what many feel the meaning of the song! You might get edited!
Urban legend à la Abbey Road/ “Paul is dead” that’s been debunked by song writer, but let’s not go off topic.
Give it a rest. There are PLENTY of hispanics who are white are don’t get discriminated against. It’s just that the OP’s circumstances don’t make him/her hispanic.
I assume that the common app publishes or refers to externally published guidelines for these racial/ethnic classifications?
For the primarily racial classifications, do they adhere to the “one drop” theory? IIRC, in the aftermath of the Sally Hemings/Thomas Jefferson DNA issues, published pictures of some of Hemings’ descendents appeared, entirely white. Re: Elizabeth Warren - I think in the end (not sure on this) she couldn’t even prove as much as 1/32 or whatever Indian ancestry, but what if she had?
I hate checking the boxes. I have an adopted son from Central America. I believe he is physically 100% Mayan or close to it. He has spent almost his entire life in a predominately white affluent suburb in MA. I never know which box to check. Some times I check native American, sometimes Hispanic. I don’t even know what his current school records say. So I asked my son which race he identifies with the most. He told me black, because a lot of people just assume that he is. He plays basketball, like rap music, and his best friend is black. I guess that does it for a lot of people.
I’ve been paying a lot of attention to threads like this lately, trying to figure out what I will recommend for him to put down when time comes for him to go college. I’m still not clear on what the answer is.
Can’t remember what went on the Common App–but the SAT (which you will fill out prior to the Common App) allows for both ethnicity and race. @me29034 In your son’s case, I would say he is Hispanic and Indigenous Native American. (I believe that’s how they phrase it.) I would not check black since that usually implies that his roots are African American, which they are not.
And definitely check Hispanic on the PSAT as it can lead to an award by the National Hispanic Recognition program and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.
I find this question pretty shocking, to be honest. I am hispanic, born and raised in a Central American country. I find pretty disturbing that there are people trying to pull tricks like these. One would hope that college adcoms have ways to uncover bs like this. Excuse me but everyone knows what the spirit of that question in the common application is.
I surely know about people with strong affinity with another culture/ethnicity. My husband, for example, is from the caribbean region of central america. For those not familiar with that region, central americans along the atlantic coast share strong cultural and racial similarities to people from West Indies. As opposed to mainland central americans, caribbean central americans speak english, albeit broken, and have a stronger black racial component. My husband feels a special affinity with Jamaica, immediately befriends any Jamaican person he meets, roots for Jamaican teams, eats Jamaican food, listens to Jamaican music. It is safe to say that “there is a Jamaican living inside of him.” However, it has never occurred to him to designate himself as “Jamaican.” NO WAY! He talks about how similar his culture is to Jamaican culture, including the accent, the food, the music and everything.
OP’s daugther is welcome to talk about how much she loves her Hispanic friends and their culture. She can talk about special aspects of the culture that she embraces, enjoys and identifies with. Up to that point, everything sounds genuine. Anything beyond that would be a flat out misrepresentation. My goodness 
throckmorton disagrees with you, kittymom. Throckmorton believes just embracing the Hispanic people makes her D Hispanic.
Makes me want to embrace beautiful, young, wealthy people, so I will then become one of them!
Don’t fool yourself. The spirit of the question is so colleges can make their quota of URMs to report to the US Dept of Education and to USNWR. That’s why Harvard shamelessly touted having a blond-haired, blue-eyed, 1/32 cherokee woman as a URM faculty member. U really think E Warren suffered a single day of discrimination in her life for being Native American?
It’s a cynical numbers game. I just don’t think the OP meets the qualification to be counted in that bucket.
Native American reporting is actually different than other groups who, like the OP asked in her question, can identify with a group and put it down. For most, if it asked what group you identify with, it is not illegal to check any of the boxes. Native Americans actually have to prove it and the questions will go on to ask if you are registered with a tribe, etc. Eliz Warren said she identified as NA. Too bad, she’s not.
California schools still ask the questions for statistically reasons. They still report the racial and ethnic (Hispanic or not) to the Dept of Education even though by state law race is not considered for admissions.