<p>Will it hurt me if I don't put what ethnicity I am on the common app? I'm a white male, and I know colleges want diversity among their student population. So I figured they may look down that I'm not some other ethnicity. Should I go ahead and put it down?</p>
<p>The long answer can be found in the College Admissions Forum, where I would have thought you would have seen it already. </p>
<p>The short answer specific to Harvard is that the answer to that question is truly optional, and thus the question can be left unanswered without harm, and every year Harvard admits a large number of students who are subsequently reported to the federal government as "race/ethnicity unknown." </p>
<p>College</a> Search - Harvard College - At a Glance </p>
<p>(Scroll down on that page to see the most recently reported ethnicity figures for that college, and look up comparable figures for any other college with the same online tool.) </p>
<p>Good luck in your applications.</p>