<p>Hello, I am Indian and I am planning on applying to Stanford this fall. I've heard that Asians have a tougher time getting into Stanford; would it be advantageous for me to not list my ethnicity on the application?</p>
<p>Doesn't your name sound...Indian?</p>
<p>good point...didn't really think about that, well i guess i might as well tell them anyway then</p>
<p>See </p>
<p>for much more detail. Colleges are neither required nor expected to guess any ethnicity you may have. You decide for yourself whether or not to self-identify with a race or ethnicity--that's the federal law on the subject.</p>
<p>it looks weird if you don't put down Asian if your last name is obviously Asian. </p>
<p>I know it sucks... I hate it too.</p>
<p>Lots of people are children of "biracial" marriages or have family names by adoption, so a college has no business guessing anyone's ethnicity from a family name, which is not even to mention that many family names are ambiguous as to ethnicity. Just tonight I saw a TV interview with a man named Vang who was evidently Scandinavian rather than Asian.</p>
<p>well, if you have a last name that is obviously Asian, --as in Chang, Zhang, Kaji- I think they'll know that you're Asian anyway from your last name, so it honestly makes no difference.</p>
<p>Allow me to repeat myself: colleges ask for race self-identification in a question they distribute to students. They don't guess about it. Here's an example, from post</a> #5 of the FAQ thread of how little colleges are supposed to assume if an applicant doesn't self-identify with a race: </p>
<p>From the Association for Institutional Research FAQ: </p>
<p>FAQ</a> Race/Ethnicity Topics </p>
<p>
<p>Q: How do I know if a student or employee refused to answer the questions or just overlooked them? A: You don't.</p>
<p>Q: What is the level of effort needed to collect the new information? A: Presenting the data collection form to students/employees is sufficient to ensure that individuals have had an opportunity to respond. Postsecondary institutions can report unknown when the respondent doesn’t reply—there is no need to use third-party observation to supply race/ethnicity.
</p>