Both my parents didn’t do undergrad in America, so they dont know anything about undergraduate admissions. On christmas eve I found out I have some native american blood. It goes pretty far back. I guess I am 1/8 or 1/16 native american and the rest middle eastern. Does this mean I put down “Native american” AND “other” on my apps?
<p>I believe that you can put down "native American" ONLY if you are registered on a tribal role.</p>
<p>It's really up to you. I was in the same situation and decided to email my first choice school at the time about it (Harvard) and they sent a reply saying that it was up to the applicant to decide how to identify themselves and that blood quantity didn't matter.</p>
<p>Your call.</p>
<p>Btw, you don't HAVE to be registered.</p>
<p>Au contraire, lindseylujh, but you indeed MUST be registered with a tribe to be considered a Native American. You can claim to be the Queen of Siam but making the claim doesn't mean the title is yours. Since Indian tribes are sovereign nations, claiming to be a native American has important -- and sometimes legal -- ramifications. People who claim to be native Americans can PROVE their claim -- yes, dear, by demonstrating that they are bonafide members of a tribe. Having native American ancestry is completely different than claiming to be an Indian.</p>
<p>By the way, dukedreamer, if you can prove that a grandparent or great-grandparent was a native American, you might be eligible to be registered with a tribe.</p>
<p>Responding such a condescending tone is absolutely unnecessary and unappreciated. I didn't realize that yours was the end-all-be-all word on this issue, apparently even able to override the positions of admissions officers at top colleges. I simply shared my personal experiences with this issue with the OP.</p>
<p>"People who claim to be native Americans can PROVE their claim -- yes, dear, by demonstrating that they are bonafide members of a tribe."
Yes, dear, they certainly can. However, there are other ways to prove this. I never told the OP to make a claim that is false or unable to be proven. </p>
<p>It's also true that dukedreamer might be able to register with a tribe. Then again, tribes occasionally close their rolls and other conflicts occur. </p>
<p>Dukedreamer, it's your decision. Mark the box if you want to mark the box. You don't have to be registered, but don't be unprepared to prove your claim with family trees, etc. if that becomes necessary. I know of many students who marked the box, had similar blood quantity as you, weren't involved in their tribe, and no questions were ever asked. Some people think its unethical. In the end, it comes down to your decision and what you feel comfortable with.</p>
<p>"I was in the same situation and decided to email my first choice school at the time about it (Harvard) and they sent a reply saying that it was up to the applicant to decide how to identify themselves and that blood quantity didn't matter."</p>
<p>That's awesome. I hope all schools are like that. Thanks for posting.</p>
<p>i'm also 1/8 indian, however i decided not to put it down on my application. we are not registered with a tribe. also, i have INCREDIBLY fair skin. i got to thinking, if i were to go in for an interview and the counselor noticed that i looked nothing like a native american he/she might begin to wonder if i "fudged" anything else on my application. i figured it would be easier to be accepted as a caucasian and not have to deal with the repercussions of being accepted based on "minority status".</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your input. There still seems a lack of consensus tho. I called certain schools I am interested in, and they said its up to the student. I am not registerred with a tribe, and i am in the same boat as chelsea - fairly light skinned and afraid they wont believe me. My first choice is a big reach so this would help me out. As you can see am i confused as what to do...any advice??</p>
<p>Just call the college about it. Anyway, regardless of what you put down it looks like you will do well when it comes to the whole URM thing, which, as some do not know, is all the minority field is really used for. (Well, also you might get offers from some of your school's minority organizations.</p>
<p>My son had to send in proof of registration of his tribe before they would accept his minority status. It would suck to make a claim and not be able to prove it, wouldn't it?</p>
<p>Wouldn't it? That's why people shouldn't make claims that aren't true. </p>
<p>If they are true, they shouldn't be worried - because there are other ways to prove the claim than being registered in the tribe. </p>
<p>Sure, some schools may require tribal registration in order to consider a student a URM. However, that is not the policy of many, many schools out there.</p>
<p>The point of having minority status is that you would have suffered effects of said status during your life. To call and say you just found out about this "blood" is pretty ridiculous and should raise eyebrows at any school.</p>
<p>Kirmum, in an ideal world that's the way the system works. However, the system is far from perfect and, in the end, its up to the student to decide how they morally feel about the issue.</p>
<p>I'm just suggesting the poster consider how the adcom might view his sudden change of race. God forbid it's a native am adcom!</p>
<p>I'm just suggesting the poster consider how the adcom might view his sudden change of race. God forbid it's a native am adcom! There is no free lunch.</p>
<p>Why not just mark down both races? You're not lying by marking down both.</p>
<p>"The point of having minority status is that you would have suffered effects of said status during your life. To call and say you just found out about this "blood" is pretty ridiculous and should raise eyebrows at any school."</p>
<p>By this definition, a black american that is the child of two doctors or lawyers would not be a URM. Obviously that is not the case. Many of the URMs are legacies of top universities and have suffered no ill effects that plague lower economic status kids of any race. Socio-economic status would make more sense than URM status, but that's not how the game is played, is it?</p>
<p>I wholeheartedly agree with bandit_TX. Nowadays I am not sure very sure as to what exactly URM and AA policies entail, but it seems that they are rife with double standards and popular misconceptions.</p>
<p>So how many people think that upper-class URM's don't have any signficant differences of experience compared to their White and Asian counterparts?</p>
<p>And how many of you would trade places to get the AA advantage?</p>
<p>Upperclass URMs do not get the tilt that lower SES URMs get at the vast majority of schools. Schools are not stupid, they expect more of all who have had advantages.</p>