I was adopted fro China. I always considered myself Chinese, raised by a white family in the United States, but with heavy Chinese influence in my life. Recently, I was finally able to contact my biological parents, and I Iearned I’m actually only half Chinese, and I’m actually also Puerto Rican. Until now, I’ve selected Asian on every form (PSAT, AP tests, etc.) If I select Mixed Race, will the admissions office check that against all the times I’ve selected Asian and think I’m lying? I have no idea how any of this works, I’ve never put much thought into it because I was almost completely sure I was just Asian.
Just select mixed race. Not only is it more accurate, it’ll give you a slight boost during the admissions process. There’s little chance that they’d notice your race selection on standardized tests and enquire about your racial background. If they do, you could provide an explanation of what you found out recently from your parents.
Common App doesn’t seem to have an option for only “mixed race.” You’re asked to specify. So you’d check the two ethnicities. But I understand that abandoning a child anonymously is the only way to give up a child for adoption in China. So I’m surprised that you’d know you were part Puerto Rican and be able to contact your birth parents if you were adopted FROM China.
Wait…so you’ve lived all your life believing you were Chinese and have grown up in Chinese/White culture…but now all of a sudden when you find out about your birth parents (very close to application season) you want to reap the benefits of being Hispanic or Mixed?I guess you can say it’s accurate, but morally, are you okay with doing that? Affirmative action is a thing for a reason and by selecting mixed or hispanic you’re breaking down what it was made for: minority applicants. Minorities have gone through much more socially than a white or asian family thus why they’re benefited by AA. Assuming you aren’t lying and you’ve lived your life believing your Chinese, how can you say you’re hispanic on your application and benefit from the same program trying to give opportunities to those who have gone through racism and discrimination even in today’s society. Your choice but think about this and what you would be doing by selecting to identify as hispanic.
@Gatortristan your post just went way off topic. The OP never said anything about doing it to benefit in admissions. You put those words in their mouth. If thats the OP’s actual background, they have the right to put that. Also, not every single hispanic person is a victim of racism like you’re making it seem. Some do, but it doesn’t happen to every one. OP just wants to know if they can do that and there is nothing morally wrong about it.
@virsha24 My post went off topic, yes, but still pertains to their situation. By signaling that you’re hispanic you WILL receive affirmative action boosts so the two are directly related, and so by receiving a boost that you may not be morally entitled to, it may be something they need to think about in my opinion. Like I said before, YES they can officially say their hispanic or mixed or whatever, but what would that be doing? I’m not trying to get into any fights especially on CC but I sincerely believe that the OP needs to think about this topic so if I have to move off topic I will(and by the way I def wasn’t way off topic lol)
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
No actually, you won’t 
Affirmative action tends to be a hot button issue which leads to debate which throws the whole thread off the rails. If the OP wants to start a new thread asking is checking a certain race or ethnicity will be a hook for admissions, then you can answer accordingly. Since that was not asked, I’m kindly asking that future responses center on the question posed.
It was actually a really crazy story — I went back recently and visited my foster mother and I was talking to the tour guide about how I’ve never looked completely Chinese and a lot of people ask if I’m latina. He said that he knew a couple that was half Chinese and half Puerto Rican that put a baby up for adoption right around the time I was born who also had another son (they now live in the United States as well) When I got back I actually had the chance to meet them and I looked a lot like their son, plus with the dates matching up… The woman (my mother I guess) talked about how her baby girl had had two moles on her right knee and a birthmark on her back. While I don’t have a birthmark, I checked with my adoptive parents who said I used to… so we went and did the tests just to see (my adoptive parents paid for it) and it was a match. Kinda crazy, I know lmao it was insane.
I mean I have faced pretty considerable discrimination considering I’m a young, attractive (according to some people, it’s so awkward to say that, sorry) asian girl in a country that has fetishized asian women beyond belief while also facing a lot of racism pertaining to being Hispanic even before I knew, since I do apparently look partially Hispanic and I live in Texas so everyone just assumes. I always brushed it off because I though there was no way any of that could be true, but now it is. But yes, I’ve faced discrimination regarding both my Chinese heritage and my Hispanic heritage (even before I knew about it). I have considered what it would mean morally and I still don’t know what I’m going to do, but thank you for your perspective. It’s never my intention to offend anyone, which is partially why I posted here before actually doing anything.
Also, I’ve never heard of “affirmative action.” What is that? Why does race give your admissions a boost? (Sorry, I probably seem so stupid and ignorant to you right now)
[QUOTE=""]
and so by receiving a boost that you may not be morally entitled to
[/QUOTE]
So rich URM’s or very sheltered URM’s are not allowed to select their true race?
@rebeccadh - You’re lovely.
Put whatever you feel comfortable with; as long as it’s factually supported, colleges will be fine with it.
Being an underrepresented minority can make you an attractive candidate for a school because some schools are looking for high performing underrepresented students to fill their desire to be more diverse and their desire to help groups that don’t attend college at the same rate. This is usually hispanic and black but it can be Asian too in colleges that don’t have a lot of qualified Asian students. Like some of the midwestern colleges. “Affirmative Action” is organized policy of supporting disadvantaged groups via quota or other means and it is required by law sometimes and not permitted other times, such as in CA, public universities are no longer allowed to use it.
I don’t think there is any question that you may put both races and that you represent these races in diversity at a school that may be interested in such. Some schools won’t because they get enough diversity. Some colleges are especially interested in exploration of race and culture and identity.
Your story is quite interesting and would make a good article.
I’m mixed race as well (Asian, Native American, white), so hopefully I can give some advice!
When I have to check one box, I’ve checked Asian, multiracial, or Native American–I’ve done it differently on different forms, so if colleges are looking for uniformity in that then I’m screwed too. As for the common app, I’m checking all three races that apply to me, because I feel doing otherwise would be dishonest. And no, I’m not just pulling the native card to benefit from affirmative action. It’s true that I didn’t grow up on a reservation, but just because I don’t have the same upbringing as the archetypal native kid doesn’t mean my heritage is invalid. The same applies to you. Just check both boxes. It won’t feel right otherwise.