I’m 1/2 Lakota Sioux, and I’m wondering if saying so on my CommonApp will be helpful at all. I’m already a fairly high-achieving student (own my own nonprofit, president of several clubs, 36 ACT, 1570 SAT, 4.6 GPA, national merit, local government, I have “a big spike” etc), and I’m a hardworking self-starter from a low-income rural family (I’m on reduced lunch and have worked since age 14), so I think if I can tell my story effectively, I see myself as having a fairly good shot at most mid-tier in-state schools as is (like Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason University) and a decent shot at some of the better in-state schools (like University of Virginia and University of William and Mary.)
I plan to include it either way, because it’s an honest fact, but I’m just curious as to whether it will help me out at all at some of the more selective schools.
Definitely URM, more so than black/Hispanics imo.
Yes, it is an URM. You will need to include your tribal registration number on the application.
Yes, URM. This, coupled with your stats, will likely make you an attractive applicant at many highly selective schools. Good luck!
Absolutely yes. Native American is URM.
And if you have a registered tribal number, your grades/standardized scores are going to get you into schools above the ones you are currently looking at. Dartmouth has a mandate for accepting Native Americans.
You have the golden ticket for admissions to a Top-20. URM who is a high achiever in academics plus the SES factor. Write your ticket to HYPS now…
I would say cast your net wide for Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Chicago, and any other Ivy/Top-20 you’re interested in. Apply via Questbridge match.
Top-20 is a crapshoot for anyone but if you don’t get into a Top-10 college next year, then there is something wrong with the college admissions system.
yes
Questbridge is a great idea!
@collegegrrl Yes, Native American is very much a URM. However, be prepared to send in copies of your Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB) and Tribal Enrollment cards. My DD ended up sending copies of her cards to all the universities she applied to after she received her first request for them. If memory serves, that initial requirement was from Georgetown. She ended up at the UChicago where she is one of 26 CDIB carrying, tribal enrolled students. That number includes undergraduate and graduate students.
Native American is the only minority where just “saying so” isn’t enough. Be prepared to prove it.
Keep up the excellent work, and good luck with your applications!
@NorthLeftCoast uh oh. I’m not registered with the tribe. My dad had a falling out with his family when he was my age. He ran away to join the military, and we’ve never met our paternal grandparents or done anything with our cultural heritage or anything like that. Can I register if I’m only half? And how do I get the paperwork? I should still have 6–8 months until regular decision applications are due (I’m applying RD to all the schools I mentioned, I’m pretty confident), is this enough time to get certification?
Thanks for telling me this, because I wouldn’t have known! The CommonApp asked if I was registered with a tribe, and I just said “no” and then told them what the deal was when prompted. I figured that was the end of it!
I don’t exactly feel dishonest or bad about putting Native as my race, because I checked white as well and I do think that my dad growing up on a reservation put me at a disadvantage (we were poor, he didn’t go to college, etc), but I do kind of feel like I don’t “deserve” it, since I’m not in touch with my roots at all and basically just live like any other working class white American. It would be kind of cool to explore that side of me a little more in addition to URM status 
PS: Thank you! I’m very proud of my stats and of my nonprofit business. (we have given free therapy and psychiatric care to six local low-income teenagers/college students. a humble start, but a good start!) I’ve had a lot of late nights and early mornings and tears over the past couple of years, and it’s nice to see it paying off.
@collegegrrl
Best of luck to you!!! I am sure you will do well in the admissions process! You seem like a great kid!
@JBSeattle thank you!
If your dad grew up on reservation he should be registered.
@VickiSoCal He is registered, but as far as I know, I am not. Unless I’m automatically registered by virtue of my father being registered, in which case I am, but don’t have my registration number or paperwork. 
I think if your parents are both registered with a specific tribe you’re registered at birth, but my mom is a white anglo-saxon protestant from North Carolina, so needless to say she’s not registered with the Lakota tribe, and I don’t know what the rules are for that.
I think you can pursue tribal registration on your own. I’m not any expert by any means, but I believe you can trace your family to the tribal registry and then put your details on it, independent of your father’s decisions.
Whatever effect this may or may not have on your college profile, it will be a rich (and probably unpredictable) experience for you to explore your own heritage. Good luck on your adventures!
Each tribe has its own enrollment criteria and procedures but with a father who is enrolled and grew up on a reservation it should be relatively straightforward. Your father should be able to provide the information on his parents. Here’s an example of what one tribal group requires:
@collegegrrl Every nation/tribe has their own enrollment requirements. Since your dad is enrolled, this should be a fairly painless process. First you would apply for your CDIB. That is the federally issued card that specifies what percentage blood Native you are and which federally recognized tribe you are from. You apply for it through your tribe, but it comes from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Once you have that, then you apply for enrollment with your tribe. The forms for the cards as well as the needed supporting documents, like a birth certificate, should be listed on your tribe’s website.
It is not dishonest or bad for you to tick the Native American box. Some people on CC will say you need reservation experience for the Native American designation to really help, but they have never offered data to support that. For my daughter, it would have been impossible for her to have that because our nation does not have a reservation. She is very aware of our history and our traditions though, even without that. For your own benefit, I would suggest that you read up on your tribe’s history too.
@northLeftCoast Its not that if you haven’t grown up on a reservation its no help, its just very rare for someone to have grown up on a reservation (and be culturally immersed in their tribe) and be academically qualified to go to a top school. Those are rare jewels indeed and coveted by elite universities.
The OP is a unicorn/rare jewel. The GPA and test scores are good on their own but add in the SES factor. And she didn’t find out about her URM status until recently and isn’t necessarily depending on that to get into school.
If I were an AO, her application is on the top of my list. Any school would be proud to admit such a student. And given the recent news with families trying to buy admission, I am glad to hear some good news about somebody who worked hard to achieve so much success.
@hamhurtle I disagree, they aren’t looking to check a box for NA they are looking for those who have NA culture in there background (e.g. there were notes from a Princeton AO on a NA applicant application noting that the applicant had no real connection to their tribe other then being registered and was subsequently rejected).