<p>Because the politically correct falsehood promoted today by education leaders today is that all races are equal in intelligence and therefore must be equally represented at elite universities. </p>
<p>The best way to test for race would be for applicants to send in a piece of hair as DNA evidence. I’m not a geneticist, but couldn’t they test for “race” this way? On that subject, it would be rather cool if they could DNA test for intelligence Gattaca style…but I doubt that’ll ever happen.</p>
<p>So are hispanic people considered URM’s?</p>
<p>I like the term “postracial.” Very 21st century! :)</p>
<p>good for you</p>
<p>U.S. Department of Education:[The</a> Use of Race in Postsecondary Student Admissions](<a href=“http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/raceadmissionpse.html]The”>NOTICE):</p>
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<p>^ Good catch, StitchInTime. I’ve seen other interesting pages on that site, but never that page before.</p>
<p>navyarf said:
“Because the politically correct falsehood promoted today by education leaders today is that all races are equal in intelligence and therefore must be equally represented at elite universities.”</p>
<p>this is not true AT ALL. the reason that race is an issue in schools is because race is plainly AN ISSUE. latinos are underrepresented in many areas of life, be it politics, education, business, etc. As are african americans and native americans. It’s unfair because it’s just the kind of crap URMs have been dealt–more white people are wealthy and have more opportunities, so why should they have a better opportunity to get into a good college, just because they took SAT prep courses and their parents knew exactly what classes to sign them up for and what neighborhood to live in.
the fact is that URMs are often not educated about these kinds of things–i know for myself, i didn’t know that the SAT existed until 9th grade–and SAT IIs? ACT? not til the end of 11th. I realize that some URMs have the exact same opportunity as whites or asians, but URMs are still underrepresented and need the biggest help. The logic is that if URMs are admitted into good schools, they are more likely to be role models for other URMs and are more likely to serve their ehtnic groups and help them become just as represented and have just the same opportunities as whites. i also realize that there are poor whites who are just as clueless and have just as little opportunity to succeed in college as many URMs. HOWEVER, there are enough whites that they do not become underrepresented. until people have equality of opportunity, a leg up for URMs will most likely continue to be given, as it should.</p>
<p>I agree that poor people have fewer opportunities than wealthy people, but I strongly disagree “there are enough whites”. I am not white, I know white people have more opportunities than minorities. While you want equal opportunity, you can not deny other people’s opportunities. You have to properly use the opportunities that are available for you. I am an immigrant myself, in my culture education is everything to a family, people will do almost anything for their children to get better education. In US k-12 education is free, how many people (does not matter what race you are) waste this opportunity for better education? how do their families really care? My son is in high school, he does his homework or study everyday; his backpack is about 30 lb with books and notes, while I saw at least 60 percent of his high school students do not bring anything to home. That makes me wonder how they will do their studies, are these students denied any opportunities to get better education? Do their parents know their children do not study but facebooking or gaming? Ironically this high school actually is a model school in the state. As far as I can tell many graduates from this high school are far from prepared for their college education.
In college this is the most common words I hear “In high school I always get an A in my classes, but why I can not pass this coures even I study x hours?” believe me that x hours is always a single digit which is often less than 4. “Do we get extra credits if we come to the class?” “Is anything I can do to let me pass the course?” you hear these words when it is too late for them to catch up.</p>
<p>Not going to say we’re not well-off, and white, because we are. But for years we lived in a smallish 3 bedroom house, with 4 kids, because we were paying for their education and that was the most important thing.</p>
<p>At any level of income (and all races) you can see people who do not have this attitude. They spend their limited income on TV and cable, when books would be better. And the public library is free! But so many people do not use it.</p>
<p>And more well-off people buy huge houses and then complain they can’t afford college for their children. </p>
<p>Priorities.</p>
<p>And these priorities are passed on to the children. In some families a kid who wants a college degree is “getting above himself.”</p>
<p>I definitely agree with mommusic. I have always believed that this is a socioeconomic issue.</p>
<p>But, that’s not to say that terroristlatino doesn’t have a point. I don’t think it’s a race issue, but there are issues with race - notably with the “culture” of members of a certain group, as well as with the opportunities afforded to each. Racism is alive and well in America. Additionally, this generation and last generation of minorities (and probably the next as well, but hopefully it will fade out) are affected by earlier, more systematic racism. More African American, Hispanic, and Native American students are first generation or low-income (again, a socioeconomic thing) because of the doors closed on their parents and grandparents. The cycle was started with institutional and societal racism, and in the world we live in today, the cycle continues. Not only are today’s generations fighting against the tides of the past, they have to deal with racism now. This means it’s more difficult for minorities to achieve - not to mention the problem “cultures” that have arisen for some minority groups (especially African Americans).</p>
<p>I would say, then, that most of those issues could be mitigated with some form of socioeconomic understanding. That’s NOT to say that race isn’t an issue, or that race doesn’t have skin in this game. Like it or not, this is certainly not a post racial world.</p>
<p>The unfortunate paradox comes when liberals insist the preservation of these “cultures” is a must without realizing that we MUST change the culture to break the cycle of poverty.</p>
<p>If you are not part of a minority, would it be better not to answer the race question?</p>
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<p>The definition of Hispanic ethnicity used by the federal government </p>
<p>[Persons</a> of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2000](<a href=“http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/meta/long_68188.htm]Persons”>http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/meta/long_68188.htm) </p>
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<p>makes clear that a great variety of people of varying ancestry or “heritage” or “country of birth” can categorize themselves as Hispanic. You have the choice to indicate Hispanic ethnicity, by that definition, and to indicate white “race” after indicating Hispanic ethnicity. (The forms used in this application season first ask a Hispanic ethnicity yes-no question, and then suggest “select one or more” for the “race” question.) You also have the choice of not indicating any ethnicity or race at all. What a college does with what it sees on your form varies from college to college. </p>
<p>It’s always a good idea to let a college know about any diversity factor you might bring to a new enrolled class at the college. It’s unclear how weighty different kinds of ethnic heritages are in college admission decisions at which colleges. </p>
<p>Good luck in your applications, and good luck to everyone else applying in the coming application season. </p>
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Hispanic is the broader term for people with descendants from Spain. Latino is a subset of Hispanics and generally refers to people from NA, CA & SA.
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<p>For purposes of filling out a college application, the overall topic of this forum, Hispanic and Latino are synonyms, because they are used as synonyms in the federal regulations about ethnic surveys of students. Other usage of these terms in English-language discussions of how people describe themselves may differ from this, but the federal government ethnic category of Hispanics or Latino is designated by both terms, taken to be synonyms for this purpose, to maximize the number of people who feel they will fit into this category. Whether or not you mark yes to this ethnicity on a college application should depend on the facts that fit your situation (including your preference possibly to decline answering the question). </p>
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<p>A well posed question. To the surprise of some onlookers, people from Spain or with origin from Spain are perfectly welcome to check yes to Hispanic or Latino ethnicity on college application forms by the federal definitions. What a college specifically does as to admission factors, if anything, varies from college to college and is not well publicized. It may be (or it may not be) that some college will consider origin from one country to be a more desired admission factor than origin from another country. Most colleges are not at all clear what their policies are in this regard. Colleges that care about this issue will look at any information in your admission file that indicates what country you are from (which you can tell the colleges, or not tell the colleges, as you wish). </p>
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<p>Correct as to the current federal definitions, which don’t imply any particular pattern of physical appearance. Definitely a person of any pattern of physical appearance, including fair, blue-eyed, and blond-haired, can be Hispanic. And, as the federal definitions say, a Hispanic person can be of any race. </p>
<p>See also the thread posted by moderator entomom </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hispanic-students/641650-hispanic-latino-defined-aka-am-i-hispanic.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hispanic-students/641650-hispanic-latino-defined-aka-am-i-hispanic.html</a> </p>
<p>with more details on various definitions of “Hispanic” or “Latino” used not only by the federal government but also by the National Hispanic Recognition Program.</p>
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<p>I’m all but a flaming liberal, and I don’t see it. Either does Bill Cosby. Which other flaming liberals are you considering? Just out of curiosity. I didn’t realize that was a platform for us liberals.</p>
<p>Huh? WHO thinks we must preserve the culture of children dropping out of school to have babies or sell drugs?</p>
<p>As a flaming liberal, I resent the libelous implication. ;</p>
<p>Thanks for the interesting comments and questions. I’ll try to follow up on some of the specific questions posted in replies above in a day or so (or perhaps some other participant will answer them meanwhile). There are a lot of points of view on the policies related to college admission practices in this regard, and we can all learn a lot from one another by stating a factual basis for a personal opinion politely and respectfully, and reading other people’s posts dispassionately and thoughtfully. </p>
<p>Good luck to all of you awaiting admission news in the current admission cycle.</p>
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<p>Every admission season, a lot of applicants make a lot of inadvertent mistakes. The questions raised in this FAQ and discussion thread illustrate that it is possible to misunderstand what the optional ethnicity and race questionnaire on a college application means. Throughout the application process, at the great majority of colleges, students are not penalized if they make inadvertent mistakes. </p>
<p>That said, most colleges in the United States, and especially the most highly selective colleges, tend to ask follow-up questions of students who claim American Indian or Alaska Native as a race category. That is because many American Indians today living in the United States also have European ancestry and a fairly large number of self-identified white people may think (whether or not they know for sure) that they have American Indian ancestry. The federal definition of American Indian or Alaska Native includes the defining phrase “who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment.” A person, of however much American Indian ancestry, who doesn’t maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment is not an “American Indian or Alaska Native” by that definition. So many colleges ask applicants for tribal registration numbers or for descriptions of their attachment to some American Indian community during the admission process. </p>
<p>My wild guess (this is not based on any statement from a college admission office) is that a student who says, “Oh, I’m sorry, I misunderstood the definition” when asked follow-up questions will be considered to have made an honest mistake, and consideration of the student’s application will still go forward based on other information in the student’s application file. But colleges are certainly within their rights to decline to admit any student who appears to be actively dishonest in how the student self-reports application information. If being an American Indian provides a big boost in admission chances (as it is reputed to do at some colleges, other things being equal), then falsely claiming that would invite scrutiny by an admission committee. </p>
<p>Good luck to everyone applying this year. Report about yourself what you can in good conscience report to be true according to the current federal definitions (which can include declining to answer the optional ethnicity and race questions entirely) and fill out the rest of your application honestly. Answer follow-up questions from the admission office, if they are asked, according to the facts. Good luck in your applications.</p>
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<p>If that fits the facts of your life, that you have “Hispanic origin” and black “race,” you certainly could do that. Did the later FAQ I posted after you posted your question help?</p>
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<p>That depends on the specific question, but that would be a reasonable response if what you indicated as a “race” is American Indian or Alaska Native and what you see on the form is just a line to add more detail to that choice. I think you’ve already seen the posts above that indicate that some colleges (but perhaps not all) will follow up to find out more details about an applicant who self-identifies as an American Indian.</p>
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<p>That depends on your definition of “minority” and your definition of “better.” It may or may not be expedient to not answer the question, for admission chances. It may or may not have societal externalities to not answer the question. Colleges are quite vague about how they use ethnicity and race information they have as an admission factor, so it’s hard to know what’s expedient or not in an individual case.</p>