<p>My son received a merit scholarship offer. Great. The scholarship is to foster leadership and academic achievement in African American and Latino students . My father was born and raised in Puerto Rico as was my grandfather. My father came to New York when he was 18. I think he had a hard time with discrimination when he first got here because he raised us just totally different. He did not speak Spanish in our house, he wouldnt teach us Spanish despite us and my mother asking him to.. I do not speak Spanish. My son is a Spanish National Honor Society student and on his common application he checked American and Puerto Rican. My question is: How minority status determined? Can he legitimately claim that he is partly Puerto Rican? There does not seem to be any requirement of proof of ethnicity on his scholarship offer. Is this something we should mention to the school that offered him the scholarship? Thanks in advance</p>
<p>The short answer is that your son self-identifies as Puerto Rican, and that's all that matters.</p>