@“Snowball City” - I hope they are outliers. The name change story goes back to the late 70’s and the law school to the early 80’s.
What college was it? If its a school that prioritizes URMs then its bad. If its a place where it does not really matter then you are fine
People draw the box around where they are most advantaged. Aunt Bea feels it should be smaller, I feel it should be larger. Some people want the box smaller because they are excluded and want more people excluded. Some would prefer it only include disadvantaged people.
I knew a woman in college whose grandfather was a Supreme Court Justice in Puerto Rico. She grew up with bodyguards, private lessons in everything, and had a monthly allowance that this poor boy from NYC couldn’t even wrap my head around. A lot of rich people from Latin America are highly educated. They get to check the box.
You were entitled to check the box. End of story.
Hell, I took Spanish, have a mustache, and like Santana. Maybe I could have checked the box :-).
@“Snowball City” :
Again, if colleges want to use shortcuts, that’s their prerogative and also their fault.
We don’t teach kids to take shortcuts. Why should adults not have to deal with the consequences of using shortcuts?
@ANormalSeniorGuy it’s a really good school with a great library and acceptance rate below 10%. It’s in the midwest and is basically an Ivy League. It’s located in a major city so I am assuming that URM matter.
@Soxx2021: Why do you think URM status matters more for a college in a city? In general, urban colleges don’t value URM status as highly because they get more URM applicants than rural colleges. It’s the rural colleges where it may be a bigger deal because they have more difficulty attracting URM candidates.
@PurpleTitan good point. I guess I was just thinking that URMs want to be in urban regions where there are more people like them. But, your point makes sense.
@ANormalSeniorGuy My GPA/test scores were all above average. I also want to make a point that I have an extremely Anglo name. Wouldn’t that have been a red flag in my claim as being “Hispanic,” specifically Dominican? I kind of do agree that if they really cared about my heritage, they would’ve contacted me asking for an explanation or further description. I would’ve been happy to explain the circumstances and allow them to formulate their opinion on whether or not I was Hispanic. But, they never asked for information other than a box. IDK I’ve gone back and forth about the whole thing so many times that I can’t even keep track about if it was right or wrong.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
This should not be construed as an invitation to play “Guess the College.” If the OP wanted to name the college, s/he would have, and perhaps still will. However, the website is called College Confidential.
@Soxx2021 I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I did the same sort of thing with UC Berkeley as I applied to music (granted I had vast experience in orchestra and toured internationally, so it made sense), and while Berkeley was unique in that it did not take music supplements (I.e. an audition tape), I asked later if it really mattered, and they said it didn’t as they assessed me in context with everyone else in Letters and Science. Granted, I got the regents scholarship, and so my major choice may have applied there, but overall I was well above the average GPA and ACT, and so the guilt went away. I would say the name does not tip anyone off as really they cant assume that (a black person could be named john smith, and a white person could be named Deandre, etc), and like I said as long as you are above average all you did was secure a spot. Now, the scholarship could have to do with race, especially if you research and more URMs get it then not or if its based on race or who they deem need the money, then that is where the race went in. There are so many factors that you really cannot isolate the cause of admission. It could be that they didn’t care about and your scores/ECs got you in. If you are really curious, then go ask for your application back to see what they said. You are legally allowed to do this, and I will do it for some of the colleges I was rejected at. Overall, dont feel too bad unless you directly find out that race was the factor that got you in. All I know is that Uchicago specifically sent out a letter saying no academic safe spaces, and no race/BS reason entrances. They are really conservative in admissions, and really you got into the place where I personally think race would matter the least. If they wanted URMs they would pull any local black kid from south-side Chicago who needs it to escape being shot. Dont feel bad until you actually KNOW that race was the factor that got you in
@Soxx2021 I think you are still working through some misconceptions. Last names generally have come from a father. If a latina woman married a german man, usually the kids would have the dad’s last name.
I have so many points I’d like to make, will just pick a few. This thread really reminds me of one a few years ago, same fretting.
The bulk of my message is: y’all make too much of the check box and too easily assume any kid who checks Hispanic or AA is a shoo-in. Not. You seem to think elite adcoms get as far as the box, swoon, and push aside all the white or Asians, in some mad rush. Not.
Then, the stereotypes. You assume one has to “look” Hispanic, have been immersed in the culture since birth. And probably some worse ideas.
OP, elite adcoms are savvy to the fact that different families have different levels of experiences, challenges, and successes. There’s considerable difference between admitting someone because they achieved great things despite challenges and lesser opportunity (SES diversity) versus hoping someone brings a different cultural perspective, overall, different recollections, back stories, frame of reference, sorts of drives, etc.
Because you came here to ask with some humility, I think you have nothing to worry about. Having seen adcom reactions, kids who don’t show some other factors (that show immersion in the culture,) are reviewed same as anyone, for their own strengths and drives.
As for Warren, one shouldn’t assume the popular hue and cry is definitive.
And all that was “then,” this is “now.”
I would not go back to admission at this point. In the end you have to live with the decision you made.
For most schools, including the UC’s and CSU’s who cannot use race by law in determining admissions, the boxes are for federal reporting of race, and whether you are hispanic, and if so, white or not white hispanic. There is no requirement for you to check any boxes. Most schools do nothing with that information other than report it
If schools are looking for more than statistics, and really want diversity and want to attract URM, they are looking at more than a checked box on the application. An essay about a life event that involved the culture, a list of EC’s that is heavy on cultural activities, fluent in a second language, and interview where you talk about your culture or heritage.
My daughter is Chinese by race, American by culture, and if you want a little ethnic flair probably more Irish than anything else (Irish name, and a lot of people do a double take when this chinese kid walks up when they call her name). If any school accepted her based on her checking they box “Asian” and wanting to make the school more diverse, the joke is on them because she doesn’t even like Chinese food.
^^^If your daughter has an Irish last name, she was probably taken for white. That’s good because whites make up 50% of elite college’s class. ORM’s make up 14%, so they are at a disadvantage.
where did u get in? just curious lol u don’t have to share if you don’t want to.
^Yes, it gets complicated. If @twoinandone’s daughters or mine (also adopted from China, without much personal identification with the culture) didn’t/don’t check off the Asian box, or if their future children one day don’t, would most CC-ers here feel they are gaming the system by NOT claiming to identify with an ORM background ?
Why do you assume that you only got in because you are Hispanic? There are many URMs that get in because they are qualified and are good candidates for the university, believe it or not.
After reading through this whole thread again, I’ve realized something about being Hispanic and the minority title we associate with it.
This might sound controversial but this post is already controversial as hell so I’m going to go with it. Technically, couldn’t you say that I accurately identified myself by putting hispanic and only white for race? I know plenty of people (I’m thinking of two Mexican-Americans at my school that I know in particular) who put that they’re hispanic and then checked ONLY white for race on their college apps. I’m not saying that this bothers me and these people do have European descent because they have Spanish last names. But, aren’t they also Native American? They have a NA appearance and many Mexicans are NA in some descent (I’m just telling you my observations, no hate). By including NA, it shows more indigenous roots; the NA appearance is why people think that there is a “Hispanic Race” or “Hispanic look”. The problem might be that people (of all backgrounds) don’t accurately identify themselves. If I was an AdCom and I saw Native American and European roots in a Latino applicant, vs if I saw JUST European roots in another Latino, I might see the one with NA roots as having greater struggles with regard to racism/discrimination because I know that their physical appearance is brown (you cannot argue that it is harder to be brown in the USA than white). I would choose the NA/mestizo candidate to admit.
There needs to be a separate option for people who don’t identify as African American but identify as just being “brown”, which is a minority unlike white. If they read brown as an option, my two Mexican-American friends would check that, I’m sure of it. But, the whole NA option throws them off because they either A) don’t realize they have NA roots or B) don’t relate to NA culture so end up only checking white which is then misrepresenting themselves because they aren’t in fact white.
Being Hispanic doesn’t equate to one who is disadvantaged, poor, or faces discrimination. Like my family, you could be Hispanic and own a hotel. However, there often is a correlation with being Hispanic and being disadvantaged/facing prejudice because of appearance specifically. That’s the problem with these colleges, the questions are too narrow. Does any of that make sense? I don’t know I’m just trying to make myself feel better about my decision lol…
“Technically, couldn’t you say that I accurately identified myself by putting hispanic and only white for race?”
Yes, you are correct. (Of course I could argue at some point down the chain as the latino/hispanic part gets diluted, how much can one claim? In your case, it sounds like 1/16.)
But yes, you have the option of selecting your ethnicity as hispanic/latino and your race as what it is. For some that would be white or white/native american (as many are from indigenous peoples of the Americas or partially asian or partially black. Hispanic/latino is not a race.
As long as you are not misrepresenting your background or embellishing, technically you are fine.