<p>I am between 8 and 9 percent Native American (probably Cherokee), however, I have neither an enrollment number nor a clear tribal affiliation.
Over the last four years or so my Native American heritage has played a larger and larger role in my life. I have been very involved in local pow-wows and such. I say this because I want to make it clear I am not trying to bamboozle colleges into giving me better shots at matriculating.
My point is, I want to apply to colleges (probably through the Common Application) as both a Native American and white, but I don't know where to start. Will colleges not take me as a serious Native American applicant if I have neither an enrollment number nor a tribal affiliation? Do I have to have those to have those in order to apply as one? Is it possible for me to get them?
I'm quite lost! So, any ideas or thoughts are absolutely welcomed and appreciated.</p>
<p>Agh. I had a post typed out then went back a page by accident.</p>
<p>Okay, dude. If you identify as Native American then go ahead and put that. Granted, I’m not sure how that would really be possible given that you don’t even know what tribe you’re a part of (“probably Cherokee”) – and also the fact that you’re only 8-9% Native American. However, connecting back to your posting this question in the first place, the nature of ethnicity and one’s culture is very subjective and personal… While I don’t identify with cultures that comprise 10% of my personality that doesn’t mean that others are the same way.</p>
<p>Given that I know a kid who put down ‘Native American’ on his application who was only 1/16 Native American… I really need to say go for it. Kids are lying and skewing crap left and right… 8-9% sounds like a bargain (as far as shopping for applicants within the admissions process goes). And it’s not like they’ll know what percentage you are.</p>
<p>Check out the Common App and see what your options are on the ethnicity section. Usually it asks you to fill out how you identify primarily, and then says how ELSE would you identify… so you could say NA and then Caucasian.</p>
<p>As a note, do I think it’s morally acceptable that people skew their interpretations of different parts of their identity in order to get a leg up in the college admissions process? Nope. But you know what… that’s life.</p>
<p>Was that little sermon directed at me? I certainly hope not because I could have sworn I made it quite clear in my original post that my intentions were not to “skew different parts of my identity.” I am very proud to consider myself Native American and I don’t appreciate you trivializing it. Whatsoever.</p>
<p>If you consider yourself Native American and you have significant ties to the Native American community, it doesn’t matter what you put down for your race. Your experience with a Native American identity means that you offer the ‘diversity’ which schools would be seeking when looking at what you put down for your race.</p>
<p>However, your identity certainly merits explanation in your college app process. Perhaps an essay about it. </p>
<p>You’re also allowed to refuse to identify your race.</p>
<p>I fully sympathise with your outrage at the sentiments of at the above poster. I’m not a URM, but I feel that people are unfairly taking advantage of their skin colour for the purposes of college admissions. Your skin colour doesn’t identify you. Your experiences do. If you’ve had the experiences of a black American and grown up with the difficulties and challenges which many black people face, then you offer diversity as a black person. If you’re someone who happens to be black and grew up just like a rich white kid, you offer nothing new just because of your race. If nothing separates you from a rich white kid other than the colour of your skin, then the difference between you and a rich white kid should be negligible. It’s an insult to one’s ancestors to use one’s skin colour to supplement a few hundred points on the SAT or a few points on one’s GPA. </p>
<p>If you just put yourself down as Native American without a tribal affiliation number or any official ties to a tribe and without any further explanation, adcoms will suspect that you’re trying to game the system and will not be pleased. However, if you discuss the meaning that your heritage, albeit distant, has had on your life, they will consider it something that you validly bring to the table in terms of diversity.</p>
<p>No that “sermon” wasn’t directed at you. I was speaking in general about people I know who don’t give these kinds of questions any thought whatsoever. Clearly, you are not one of those people. I’m sorry that you misinterpreted my post – as I said there are distinctions between how one person may identify with their heritage (such as… myself!) and how others identify (i.e. yourself!)… obviously. Actually, I think I was quite clear about personal interpretation in my first paragraph – the thing that I think you should be using to help you determine what YOU are comfortable putting down.</p>
<p>It’s not like ethnicity or one’s heritage are quantifiable – because clearly they’re not. I have difficulties understanding my heritage, and colleges sure as hell aren’t judges of how “ethnic” a given person is.</p>
<p>Granted, you can’t say that it was completely off base of me to sense a bit of hesitation in your ethnic claims given your use of “probably” in your very first sentence. It was that, more so than the percentage, which raised my eyebrow a bit.</p>
<p>Also, you’re clearly not like the other people (i.e. the person I gave as an example… and the type of people I was targeting with my subsequent statements which is, again, a group I separated you from in the first paragraph) because you said “I say this because I want to make it clear I am not trying to bamboozle colleges into giving me better shots at matriculating.” </p>
<p>And finally, you can hardly say that I was trivializing an entire race… Because I wasn’t. I was more ranting about people who play the system in order to get a leg up… which is a legit issue in my opinion.</p>
<p>I’m sorry. I did genuinely think it was directed at me. Anyway, I really do appreciate you guys helping me out. :)</p>
<p>gc: my apologies, as well.</p>
<p>haha no problem… things can come off really obnoxiously online. i could’ve had better delivery. just don’t think that i was trivializing your race… please… ahh.</p>