I’m trying to make the most out of the college admissions process, and I believe being multiracial serves as an advantage. I’m half Filipino, a quarter African American, and a quarter Caucasian, but I usually identify as just Filipino and African American on minor applications or surveys.
On college applications, would it be more beneficial to present myself as multiracial, despite the reverse affirmative action on Asian and white students? Or should I only check off the African American box in order to benefit from being a URM?
(It’s truly a shame that Filipinos are considered Asians instead of Pacific Islanders on the Common App, considering the cultural differences and the fact that I’ve seen news regarding the US census planning to reclassify the Philippines as a Pacific Island rather than an Asian country… do you think the application will change along with the reclassification?)
Check as many boxes as you feel that day.
“I usually identify as just Filipino and African American on minor applications or surveys”
I think this answers your own question – check the boxes for how you self identify.
But would it be more beneficial to only classify as African American due to the advantages of being a URM? Basically the core of my question is: Would colleges prefer a whole black student over a mixed student?
IMO, colleges that consider URM in admissions (and not all do) are not going to parse levels of “blackness.” In these cases, swirled will have the same advantage as 100% (if there really is such a thing in this era of DNA analysis) African-American.
To be clear, there is not a box on the Common App that says “Check here if you are URM.” You answer the questions on race/ethnicity (or not since it’s optional) and the college will do with it what it will.
Every article I’ve seen on this topic has been posted on a fake-news website. So take the “news” with a grain of salt. The Census Bureau (and for that matter, colleges) are not going to debate semantics. Taiwan and Japan (among others) are also island nation, but nobody should classify them as Pacific Islanders anymore than a white American whose ancestors for the last 400 years would be considered African-American.
As every college that considers URM can decide it’s own definition, there is no standard definition. A college may consider a Native Hawaiian/Guamanian/Samoan as URM, but not a native Fijian. Others might only count Native Hawaiians and no other Native Pacific Islander.
@stanloona – I don’t know the answer about colleges preferring ‘full African American,’ but I do know that gaming the system rather than being truthful about how you identify is not a good look nor how you should start your college career.
I mean if you have fully identified as AA your whole life, then only check that box. But if you have identified as both, which you said you have, then check both boxes. Seems pretty clear to me.