<p>You were a bit unclear about whether or not you claimed it. If you did - then don’t be a hypocrite.</p>
<p>I don’t know why you feel the need to be such a busybody. If he gets caught, then he’s screwed. If he doesn’t get caught, then good for him, he beat the racist system.</p>
<p>Yeah, right, Forkingjamie, because Asians are definitely considered URMs. :D</p>
<p>To Colege, are you saying that you have no hobbies, sports, or other interesting activities that you participate in? There is nothing distinguishing you from every other kid at your school? </p>
<p>You and I both know that that just ain’t so. My advice is to note or write about the things that make you who you are on your essays whenever possible. You mention that you’re a Buddhist and a Unitarian; write about that, how it’s affected your aspirations (education, career, or otherwise). </p>
<p>White middle class kids on this website focus so much energy complaining about how, for once in their lives, their race is not an advantage that they forget they have a million other things going for them. These kids are hard-working, intelligent, dependable students who are all unique and have something to offer to whatever college they end up with. Choosing to use your race as an anchor to weigh you down is foolish when you have the unique opportunity (one that is certainly not always afforded to others) to shed rigid racist stereotypes and show people who they are as a person.</p>
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<p>So by claiming to be an urm when he wasn’t, thereby making those who actually ARE underrepresented, even more underrepresented- that underrepresentation is a throwback from racism, by the way- he beat the racist system?</p>
<p>…Uh, yes. If by ‘beat’ you mean ‘perpetuate’ and by ‘racist system’ you mean ‘systematic racism in America over a long period of time, in this case in college admissions.’</p>
<p>Although this case may be different- I thought admissions went by a 1/4 basis, or by grandparent. I could be wrong, but if I’m not, then I guess they can claim it.</p>
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<p>To answer the informational question (also answered in the FAQ posts of this thread, into which the thread raising the question was merged), a person from Egypt would ordinarily be considered “white” by the federal definitions. There are persons who in the context of Egypt would be identified as “black” over there, and they would still be classified as black if they came over here to America. But by the federal definitions, coming from Africa doesn’t make someone “African American,” which is a synonym for “Black.” Being black and being in America makes someone “African American.” </p>
<p>See the FAQ posts near the beginning of the thread for more details.</p>
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<p>I wanted to make sure that this question wasn’t neglected among the ongoing debates here. It’s my understanding that the current federal definition of the American Indian or Alaska Native category, “A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment,” puts an emphasis on current ties to the tribe or the community. What do you have in your family’s case to show those ties? This definition appears to say that genes are not enough, nor is tribal registration on the part of an ancestor necessarily enough to be counted as an American Indian.</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone still waiting for admission news.</p>
<p>When my child filled out the common application, (s)he self-classified as white european and Native American - not registered. (S)he did so since she has always been told of her Native heritage and derives a source of pride from it. Otherwise (s)he looks white. Upon contacting MIT, to verify the interpretation, they said this was not a problem, that they would follow up at a later time with their own questionarre (as did Yale). </p>
<p>Now she is receiving acceptance letters from other colleges and anxiety… She is being contacted by the diversity offices at the Universities. They are offering trips to the colleges etc… as part of their diversity program. All the attention related to race makes me question whether there is enough Native American to warrant the attention. How much weight does this self identification have? Since there seem to be no defined guidelines, what impact does it have on the offers already received? The student’s scores, GPA, and resume all place in the top 1-2%. The whole matter seems unclear, even now, I do not know whether I would advise for or against including the Native American classification.</p>
<p>I have some concerns:</p>
<p>1) Is the college application process now “tainted” by what was thought to be a thoughtful self classification? Is any admission offer valid?
2) Since the classification was made in good faith (not intended as a lie) can if affect an acceptance already received?</p>
<p>Right now, I feel like I should compulsively gather family records to substantiate the claim. Perhaps blood tests or something. Are they going to give a quiz on Indian history? My stress level is pretty high. I do not want to mess things up by going into detail with the schools, but I also do not want this matter to come back and haunt us at a later time. I am not sure whether it helps that the section on the Common App says that " No information you provide will be used in a discriminatory manner. " Why does race even come into play in this day and age?</p>
<p>Opinions?</p>
<p>“I am not sure whether it helps that the section on the Common App says that " No information you provide will be used in a discriminatory manner. " Why does race even come into play in this day and age?”</p>
<p>Sounds like someone’s feeling pretttty guilty…</p>
<p>So long as your daughter was truthful, I don’t think you have anything to worry about.</p>
<p>If she is, as you say, a top 1-2% student, then she is qualified to attend anywhere.</p>
<p>Why would you even do something like that? It seems as if you and your daughter intentionally put Native American as her race because you thought you would get some type of benefit. And now that she is getting diversity letters, you’re scared. I doubt that anything negative will come out of it, but if it does, sorry to say, it would be your fault. If race didn’t matter as you said, why put Native-American in the first place, especially if she doesn’t truly identify with it?</p>
<p>To the OP’s credit, they did say that their daughter/son “derives a source of pride from it.” But, I agree with you, kamilah. It sounds like the OP is afraid now.</p>
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<p>She may as well take some of the trips and see what is said on the trips. Just answer questions from the colleges truthfully if they come. </p>
<p>(Question was merged into the current FAQ thread.) </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I don’t want to sound harsh, but it just sounds like you and your daughter flat-out lied and are now wondering if any negative consequences could come as a result of this untruthfulness.</p>
<p>The heritage is actually from my spouse’s side of the family. I have no reference for such treatment (positive or negative) hence my question. Race has never really been a big deal and not until I started reading these forums did I understand that it was such a hotbed question.</p>
<p>^ One issue to bear in mind when considering self-identification as an American Indian or Alaska Native is whether or not the applicant has any tribal affiliation or community attachment, as expected by the federal definition of that category. </p>
<p>[Black</a> or African American persons, percent, 2000](<a href=“http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/meta/long_68176.htm]Black”>http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/meta/long_68176.htm)</p>
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<p>If this is what colleges are looking for, it would be helpful if the common app. said so, but it doesn’t. I assume that is why colleges like MIT have a follow-up questionnaire.</p>
<p>How Under Represented is the arab population @ top universities? especially engineering programs. Are they affected positively by Affirmative Action?</p>
<p>also, I know that Middle Eastern is grouped with white, but do we get a chance at stating that in “Other:____” type of entry fields?</p>
<p>I think you could. But the -how much is it affected- won’t be easily determined, since it counts as white.</p>
<p>There are many Middle Easterners at top engineering and other science programs. You will not benefit from AA.</p>
<p>My mom is asian. Can AA Afirmative Action help me through my claim of asian race through my mother?</p>